Dealing with Stress

We all have a lot of stress these days and, according to the experts, it can be damaging. Remarkably, studies show that positive events in our lives can be almost as harmful to us as disasters. The Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS), created by Dr. Thomas Holmes and Dr. Richard Rahe, assigns points (referred to as life change units or LCUs) to each type of stress we incur. For example: Marriage = 50 points, Divorce = 73 points; Voluntary change to a different line of work = 36 points while being fired from work = 47 points.
According to the SRRS, if we accrue too many LCUs within a short time, our natural defenses are lowered and we are more susceptible to accidents and illnesses. If we accumulate over 300 points in a year, there is an 80% chance of illness or accident in the near future. Obviously, it would be impossible to totally eliminate stress from our lives so, in order to preserve our health and our sanity, we need to find ways to cope with and manage our stress.

In my current work in progress, Secrets in Storyville, the main character, Kate Morgan, is at a crossroads in her life. She's under a lot of stress so, to escape for awhile, she goes to her secret place. 

 

"The woods! Ever since I was a little girl, I’d gone for a walk in the woods behind my parents’ house whenever I wanted to be alone. I sat on a log under the huge, old tree I’d climbed until I reached puberty. Long ago, I’d named it “the elephant tree” because the trunk and a huge branch combined to form what looked exactly like an elephant’s face and trunk.

Sometimes, when I went to my secret place, I took a book to read and, other times, I watched the squirrels, rabbits and birds - and daydreamed of the day I would become a published novelist. I pictured myself signing stacks of books at our local bookstore, a long line of people eagerly waiting to get their copy.

No matter what the weather, I’d always found peace and a sense of well-being there. I’d solved many of my childhood problems in my favorite spot and, when I was a teenager and was grounded for missing curfew or some other violation of my parents’ rules, I would sneak out of the house to go there. I’d even carved mine and Bobby’s initials in the trunk of the elephant tree all those years ago. But time and weather were gradually stripping KM & BB away. A hint that it was time for me to move on? But I shrugged the thought away; I had enough on my plate right now."

What are some of the ways you (or your characters) deal with stress?