The stress test
TV show Trust Me, I’m a Doctor runs the rule over three ways to answer their viewers’ most-asked mental health question
HIT TV show Trust Me, I’m a Doctor is returning to our screens with a programme dedicated to mental health.
In conjunction with their Mental Health Special episode, a survey of more than 2000 people was conducted to find out which mental health questions the public wanted answered.
The No1 question was: How do I combat stress?
This wasn’t a surprise to Dr Michael Mosley, who co-presents the BBC series.
He said: “Perhaps back in the 80s stress was seen as a good thing. You know, the type of people who said, ‘Hey, I’m a yuppie, I’m stressed’.
“Now, it’s seen as pernicious and we’re aware of the long-term and damaging side effects that come from being continuously stressed.
“Some of us are so permanently stressed we think it’s normal to feel palpitations or to wake at 3am every day.”
THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS
Stress can lead to sleep deprivation and weight gain. Dr Mosley said: “Over time, it actually leads often to anxiety and depression, which in turn can lead to chemical and physical changes in the body.”
THE STRESS RESPONSE HORMONE
Cortisol is a hormone which plays many roles in the body and brain, and it’s also known as the stress response hormone because it revs everything up for a fight-or-flight response.
Dr Mosley said: “Once upon a time, cortisol would have been there to pump up the body, get the heart going and make you hyper-alert so you could escape from danger when hunting and at risk of being eaten by something. It continues to play a positive role in helping people
cope in potentially dangerous situations. hyper-alert in that sort of way all the time is absolutely not what we were designed for.”
REV THE CAR
As shown in the programme, there’s a pattern of cortisol you’re looking to achieve throughout the day. It is also an energising hormone, so a surge is needed to get you out of bed in the morning. This is called cortisol awakening response – or CAR for short. Dr Mosley said: “Your cortisol levels will start rising before you wake up so your body is prepared for that awful moment when the alarm goes off. Then it should rev up a bit and drop off fairly rapidly over the course of the morning. "It's preparing you for the challenges of the day, but you don’t want that all the time otherwise you’re constantly twitching and on the alert. If someone is stressed, they’re likely to see less of a peak of cortisol in the morning.
This sluggish start usually leaves someone less able to cope with daily activities.”
STRESS MANAGEMENT
In the show, 68 volunteers were divided into three groups and given eight weeks to try three different forms of stress management – yoga, mindfulness and gardening – alongside a control group.
At the beginning and end of the experiment, the participants were asked to give a sample of saliva so their levels of cortisol could be measured.
All the activities were found to have a positive impact, helping to raise the group’s CAR and enable a healthy reduction of cortisol during the day. Here’s how they work.