Doctor stresses on stress for joyful life

A certain level of anxiety is a must to make one feel young, argues the author of a bestseller that advises drug-free methods to stay healthy.

DENVER // Olympic athletes do not set records on the training field. Theatre actors rarely give their most electrifying recital during a rehearsal. And that is no coincidence, says the author and acupuncturist, Dr Peter Hanson. He argues the stress that comes with performing before huge crowds is what brings out their finest moments. Based in Denver where he runs a health clinic, Dr Hanson is on a one-man mission to teach the world how to look on stress as a positive force. "Stress is not always bad," he said. "You need it to lead a fulfilling life." Dr Hanson's book, The New Joy of Stress, teaches readers how to manage and contain negative anxiety, while harnessing positive stress for personal advancement. He got the idea for the book in the early 1980s when he worked as a family doctor in Canada, treating thousands of patients, as he put it, "from the cradle to the gave". Over time, Hanson began noticing a similarity in his patients' ailments: the vast majority seemed to be related to or aggravated by perceived stress in their lives. "One of the things that compelled me to write this book was that people only associated stress with horrible events," he said, adding that few recognised how joyful events, such as weddings, family gatherings and school graduations could also be stressful. In 1985, when no Canadian publisher would touch his manuscript, Dr Hanson decided to self-publish, actually driving around the country to drop off copies at major bookstores. Within weeks, The Joy of Stress shot to the number one slot on the Canadian best-seller list, where it remained for a stunning 69 weeks. Dr Hanson went on to sell more than a million copies worldwide - and the book has been translated into a dozen different languages. The recently updated The New Joy of Stress has just been published in Arabic by Jarir Bookstore, and is available in Abu Dhabi at their store in the Meena Mall. As Dr Redford Williams, a stress expert at Duke University, writes, a person under stress has two choices: "You can either do something to change the situation or do something to change your reaction." Dr Hanson's book takes this basic formula a step further. It assigns numeric values to common stresses, such as having unrealistic goals, an unstable home life or poor physical health, and teaches readers to chart their personality type - and how they will handle stressful situations. The method allows individuals both to identify their weak spots, and also to calculate whether too much anxiety will lead to health problems. "Long before I did my own research into stress, I had always sensed that something was missing and Peter's book clarified this with his addition of lifestyle elements," said Brian Walsh, another physician who has researched stress. "This addition created a more-balanced gauge of how stress influenced people's health." Dr Hanson said his years as a family doctor taught him that an individual's personality was a critically important factor in how a disease or anxiety would take root. "Doctors normally try to figure out what kind of disease a person has. What I realised is that we need to ask the question in reverse: What kind of person does this disease have? And also, what kind of person does this stress have?" Looking at the issue in the reverse direction, he said, helped him identify "who was a sitting duck and who was bulletproof to stress". The Joy of Stress combines this kind of think-outside-the-box philosophy with the type of folksy recommendations you might hear from the family doctor. Dr Hanson said staying busy - thus keeping a certain level of stress in your life - is critical to feeling young and staying healthy. "The old people I have always admired are always the ones with the busiest schedules," he said. "And busy people live longer. The orchestra conductor always outlives the band." Extended periods of inactivity, such as a retiring from work without a replacement activity, can create debilitating negative stress and even lead to senility, he said. "A weekend break or a vacation is an important form of rest, but a permanent break can cause the brain to atrophy just like a muscle in a cast." The family doctor-turned-acupuncture-specialist also advises readers on drug-free methods of staying healthy, arguing the old saw that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Dr Hanson suggested mitigating negative stress by eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight. It might sound like basic common sense, but, as Dr Hanson said, "it turns out common sense isn't all that common". The New Joy of Stress is not about new scientific findings, or complex medical philosophy, said Dr Hanson. "I'm just trying to turn on the light bulb for ordinary people facing ordinary problems." [e-mail]