CHRONIC STRESS
For those of you in other countries, yesterday was ANZAC day. Anzac Day is our national day of remembrance in both Australia and New Zealand commemorating all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the WW1 Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey. Maybe it’s because I am older, but to me it has a very different feel to Remembrance Day in the UK. Much more inclusive, Anzac Day seems to mean many more things to many more people.
Anzac Day speaks to duty, courage, and of course sacrifice. Anzac Day captures camaraderie, hoped-for adventures, and the importance of loyalty, trust, and ‘mateship’. Anzac Day and the role of (the military disaster that was) Gallipoli, was also, and to some extent still is, about nation-building. And Anzac Day is also about the British Empire, industrial warfare, the futility of WW1, the loss of much of a generation, and the impact of intolerable levels of stress on soldiers and their families.
Today I want to talk about the last of these, chronic ongoing stress, in the context of out-of-home care (OOHC). A clumsy offensive segue? I don’t believe so, but maybe hear me out. While recognising the excellent work that many organisations do, far too many in or transitioning from OOHC, and their families, are living with ongoing chronic levels of stress. They are in ‘survival mode’. While they are unlikely to be gassed, bombed or bayonetted, for a few, this will have devastating impacts on their lives.
Today we know so much more about stress than we did even a decade ago: We know that chronic ongoing stress causes or exacerbates:
Constant worrying racing thoughts, forgetfulness and disorganisation, inability to focus, poor judgment, and a lack of hope
poor sleep and low energy
mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders
increased use of alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities and
cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, and stroke.
When I think of both of my grandfathers and their brothers, cousins and friends going off to war, I would suggest that today we have a much clearer understanding of the impact of chronic stress on those who served in WW1 and WW2. Paradoxically what they went through was both unimaginable – and in some senses at least, entirely imaginable. In some abstract way we can relate to them and their experiences, and know that had we been born in another era some of us may have been there too.
Today, we also have a much clearer understanding on how ongoing chronic stress can impact upon the ‘modern warrior’, the entrepreneur or corporate leader, and the applicability of their lessons to us, whether that be the myriad of books and commercial courses on stress management, sleep, exercise, mindset, meditation or productively.
So what about those in or transitioning from OOHC, and their families, who are living with ongoing chronic levels of stress? Beyond the broad mantra of mental well-being, are we specifically doing enough with and for them?