Healio recognizes Stress Awareness Month

Key takeaways:

• April is National Stress Awareness Month.
• Healio’s most-viewed content on stress in the past year highlighted burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic and treatments for stress.

Each year, the NIH recognizes April as Stress Awareness Month.

Stress is connected to all areas of life and can affect mental and physical health, according to the NIH. Because of this, it is important to properly manage your stress.

Here, we recall our top stories from the past year related to stress.

‘We’re not surprised’: Physician burnout continues into third year of pandemic

On Sept. 15, 2022, the AMA released a statement saying that the burnout rate among United States physicians spiked during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, citing research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Read more.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction noninferior to escitalopram for anxiety

Mindfulness-based stress reduction was found to be noninferior to escitalopram for the treatment of anxiety disorders, researchers reported in JAMA Psychiatry. Read more.

Physician burnout rises in 2022 amidst lack of faith in US public health system

U.S. physicians experienced more burnout and work-related stress in 2022 than in 2021, according to a recent survey. Read more.

Physicians report stress, burnout, anxiety amid COVID-19 pandemic

Stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and fear of COVID-19 were reported among general practitioners throughout the pandemic, a global study published in the British Journal of General Practice found. Read more.

Childhood trauma may contribute to adult stress dysregulation, anxiety, depression

Adults with childhood trauma had greater bodily stress dysregulation, which made them more susceptible to psychopathological and somatic disorders, according to a poster presented here. Read more.

VR shows promise in reducing stress, anxiety among health care providers

Use of a virtual reality device shows promise in alleviating stress and anxiety in health care providers during high-stress intervals such as a pandemic, according to a study published in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. Read more.

Nearly half of Americans report greater stress sensitivity with pandemic

A recently published survey revealed that nearly half of American workers report they and their coworkers are more acutely aware of stress than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.

One-third of Americans more stressed about holidays than COVID-19

Thirty-one percent of American adults expect to feel stressed about the upcoming holiday season, an increase of 9 percentage points from 2021, according to a poll from the American Psychiatric Association. Read more.

First-episode psychosis, stress and abuse linked to increase of suicidal behaviors

Those with first-episode psychosis demonstrated more suicidal behavior compared with healthy controls, while perceived stress and emotional abuse were linked to an increase in suicidal ideation and risk, according to a recent study. Read more.

Reference:

• National stress awareness month. https://hr.nih.gov/working-nih/civil/national-stress-awareness-month. Accessed April 20, 2023.