Eilenna Denisoff, treatment leader of the work, stress and health program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto: With a worsening economy, peopla are repeatedly checking bank accounts online, she said. 'Those are signs of stress and anxiety," Denisoff says. "People are getting exhausted. Throw some unhealthy coping in there, and we're more likely to see major depression.'
Photograph by: Peter J. Thompson, National PostPanic attacks, obsessive thinking and binge drinking. More anxiety and depression. Psychotic episodes in people vulnerable to them.
The deepening economic turmoil will bring a worsening of anxiety, personality and mood disorders, experts believe.
They also see another danger: worrying itself can turn catastrophic predictions into self-fulfilling prophecies.
People who panic do dangerous things, says Frank Farley, past president of the American Psychological Association and a native of Edmonton. "Some jump out of windows. Other people walk away from the life they're in. They leave their families, or they don't look after themselves and begin thinking, 'It's all over for me', and so, down they go."
New research suggests increased emotional reactions to constant strains and constant worry may even trigger psychosis-like experiences — feeling suspicious, hearing voices others can't hear, seeing things that aren't there — especially in those genetically at risk.
Some experts believe the recession will be enough, in and of itself, to push people over the edge into major mental illness.
One of the greatest sources of human fear and anxiety can be captured in a single word, they say: uncertainty.
People with anxiety are "allergic" to uncertainty, and the economic situation is filled with it, says Dr. Eilenna Denisoff, treatment leader of the work, stress and health program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
People are calling their financial advisers obsessively, and repeatedly checking bank accounts online. "Those are signs of stress and anxiety," Denisoff says. "People are getting exhausted. Throw some unhealthy coping in there, and we're more likely to see major depression."
Farley, a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, predicts more low-level depression "and a significant amount of anxiety."
"If that gets aggregated across large numbers of people, you have de-motivated people, apathy," Farley said. "They would lose a lot of their drive and motivation at a time when it's sorely needed. People give up. They begin to feel hopeless. They begin to think, 'We're never going to turn this corner.' "
And it becomes self-fulfilling.
Stress becomes corrosive. Worries over losing a job begin to eat away at people, he says, "and pretty soon, things start to head south at home. Even though you have a job, your interpretation of the possibilities can begin to hurt you."
"If you're employed, are you happy because you're employed? Do you think, 'Wow, I'm lucky?' But if that's not the way you frame it — if you think, I'm next, the look the boss gave me the other day, I think the axe is coming — then you're not as effective on the job. You're worried all the time, you're not behaving in the usual way, and people begin to notice it."
But the economic turmoil is just the latest in a constant bombardment of stressors, experts say. It wasn't long ago people were stressed over SARS, and before that, flying and terrorism.
"It's important to note most people are very resilient," says psychologist Richard Shadick, a member of the New York State Disaster Response Unit.
"We've seen this in lots of different types of disasters, from 9/11 to hurricanes to recessions."
One exception to the resiliency is suicide, which increases during times of severe economic stress.
In January, eight children from two families — one in Quebec, the other from California — were killed by their parents in alleged murder-suicide pacts, both of which have been linked in news reports to job loss and financial troubles.
"It's absolutely not what most people would do. Most people would never come up with that as a reasonable solution," Denisoff says. "When we get such anomalous occurrences, we have to stop and think: What was pre-existing, even in terms of family history? What else was going on?"
Still, some people worry: Will I lose control?
Chronic stress boosts the production of a hormone in areas of the brain associated with fear and emotion. A study by University of Calgary scientists released this week shows that a protein that acts as a break on the brain's stress response, after a threat or challenge is over, stops functioning properly in chronic stress. "When the brain goes to hit the breaks on the stress response, it actually accelerates the response to stress," says Jaideep Bains, an associate professor in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.
Two things feed our stress: First, the external stressors, such as the "perfect storm" Farley says we're in today — a massive piling on of job losses, falling house prices, mortgage and credit problems. But the internal causes of stress are more insidious: an inability to tolerate uncertainty, pessimism, negative self-talk, perfectionism and unrealistic expectations.
"For some people, additional stress from any source will push their ability to cope over the limit," Denisoff says. "What we already know with episodes of anxiety, episodes of depression and even episodes of psychosis is that, often, these major illness are preceded by increased levels of stress."
She worries people are making catastrophic predictions about the future.
"Definitely, there's a current economic crisis, but that doesn't necessarily mean we will never take another vacation, or I won't be able to put my kids through school."
Farley and others say the current downturn could be an opportunity to re-think careers or work life, spending and saving habits, and to get new skills and training to better prepare for when the economy does turn around.
"FDR said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. How profound was that?" Farley asked. "We can get through this. It's not going to destroy us. These are the themes you have to have, because it is so heavily psychological."
That's why Farley wishes the pundits "would shut up."
"They're relentless. They're swarming. There is an epidemic of pundits, many of whom are ill-informed and haven't lived a life outside punditry, and so many of them are wiling to comment on what might happen, what will happen, etc., etc., and that just stirs the pot.
"It's confusing. It raises fear levels, and predicting the future is a dismal science. Very few sciences, including my own, are good at predicting the future."
To help combat the stress, Denisoff recommends exercise, proper sleep and social support. "Having somebody to talk to, at least one close friend or family member, makes a difference."
Signs stress levels are getting too high and you should see a doctor:
Problems with memory and concentration
Only seeing the negative
Constant worry you just can't seem to turn off
Trouble sleeping
Irritability and moodiness
Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
Smoking and drinking more
Stress in your personal relationships
Physical complaints, such as stomach aches, back aches and headaches
