How to Not Let Stress Get the Best of You with Dr. Brenda Powell

Podcast Transcript

Nada Youssef:   Hi, thank you for joining us. I'm your host, Nada Youssef. As we continue our celebration of women this month, we are putting you first talking about stress. Stress can be caused by many things, and it affects everyone. It could be either motivating or productive or could be negative and destructive. Tension and anxiety, as well as depression, are frequent emotional consequences of stress. It's very important to talk about women and stress as well as how to cope with it. Our featured expert for this topic today is Co-Medical Director of the Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine, Dr. Brenda Powell.

Brenda Powell: Hello.

Nada Youssef:   Before we get started today, please remember this is for informational purposes only, and it's not intended to replace your own physician's advice. Thank you so much for being here.

Brenda Powell: Oh, thank you. It's a pleasure.

Nada Youssef:   Now, did you want to just take a few minutes to introduce yourself to our viewers?

Brenda Powell: Yes. I'm Dr. Brenda Powell. I'm in integrated medicine here at our Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine. I'm one of the co-medical directors. What I love best about this job is that I get to see individuals and provide consults on integrative approaches to whatever they want. I can see two year olds up to 92 year olds or higher, I have seen a 92-year-old, and who wanted an integrative approach to their lifestyle. It can be anything you want. It could be I would like to lower my cholesterol to I have irritable bowel syndrome. We'll see you and give you information.

Nada Youssef:   That's excellent. Thank you so much for that introduction. Now, mind and body are both linked throughout our lives, so we must respect both our emotional and physical needs and ability to adapt to it. Stress is a normal part of life, but I want to talk when it's not normal anymore and how to cope with it. First of all, I want to talk about women and stress. Why do some experts feel that women are particularly susceptible to stress? How does it differ for women?

Brenda Powell: They tend to take on many, many roles. They feel that in the caregiver role, they need to make sure the person they're taking care of is doing well before they look to themselves. If there are many things to take care of, you just get forgotten. It's the next day and the next day, and they're just not doing things that help them to stay healthy and manage their stress.

Nada Youssef:   Sure. Then do you think hormonal balance issues, it contributes to this issue?

Brenda Powell: I think it can, but in a way where if there's a hormonal imbalance and you're wondering about when your menstrual cycle is going to come or if it's disruptive or it's particularly painful, it makes you more vulnerable to stress when you're not feeling well.

Nada Youssef:   Sure, sure. What do you think about women, is it harder for us to say no?

Brenda Powell: Oh, absolutely. We need to be able to say no and not have to feel compelled to give an excuse for why we say no. We just know we can't do something, and it's done.

Nada Youssef:   Let's talk a little bit how stress can cause anxiety or overthinking and what we can do about that.

Brenda Powell: Sometimes, you say no or you say yes, and then you've gotten yourself in to deep or you worry that you said no and you've insulted somebody. Just letting things go, knowing the answer is correct, and moving on is very helpful.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: Ruminating is not a good habit.

Nada Youssef:   How about personalities? Do you think personalities contribute? Can personalities take stress better than others?

Brenda Powell: Oh, absolutely. Some of us like more stimulation, and that means we can handle our stress a little better. Some of us don't like our overstimulation. Other people are introverts or extroverts, and that personality affects how well you tolerate stress, meaning at what point do you find it overwhelming?

Nada Youssef:   Sure, sure. Now with causes of stress, we can talk about everything from jobs to difficult relationships, family issues, finances. I want to talk about new moms 'cause that's a very, very stressful situation to have a newborn that you've never experienced anything like that before, body changes, hormonal, mental, everything like that. Can we talk a little bit about that?

Brenda Powell: Yeah. First of all, your sleep is disrupted. Now you can't handle stress at all because you haven't gotten any sleep. You have this wonderful, cute little baby that you don't know this person.

Nada Youssef:   Right, it's a doll.

Brenda Powell: You're trying to figure out who this little person is. When do they eat? How much do they like to eat?

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: Did they poop? Did I clean them up well enough? It's just very, very stressful, and then you're trying to feed yourself and trying to get sleep and manage everything else around you. Everything is disrupted. We need to really pamper our new moms.

Nada Youssef:   [inaudible 00:05:10] a support system.

Brenda Powell: Absolutely.

Nada Youssef:   Sleep as much as you can.

Brenda Powell: Sleep as much as you can. Be okay with having a family member take the baby for a while so you can get several consistent hours of sleep because if you've been waking up every two, two-and-a-half hours to feed the baby, you're going to feel amazing when you get four to six hours, and that's not even what I want you to have.

Nada Youssef:   Yeah, more, right?

Brenda Powell: Yeah, absolutely.

Nada Youssef:   Oh, wow.

Brenda Powell: Eight hours if you can get it.

Nada Youssef:   Eight hours.

Brenda Powell: Not with a new baby.

Nada Youssef:   Wow.

Brenda Powell: Unless you're tag teaming with a partner.

Nada Youssef:   Do you sleep eight hours a night?

Brenda Powell: I try very hard.

Nada Youssef:   Really?

Brenda Powell: Yeah, I try very hard to get to sleep.

Nada Youssef:   Eight hours is a long time, it seems like, with kids at least.

Brenda Powell: Yeah, with little ones it's very hard because then it's not just the new babies. The toddlers have figured out how to get out of their bed and crawl into yours.

Nada Youssef:   Yes, and asking for a million things. All right, so can the way we view the world or particular situations determine whether it causes stress? Let's talk about attitudes and perceptions. The response is the stress that are happening to us and how we can get better at that.

Brenda Powell: One of the things is you can do it mindfulness or stepping back. When we can read a situation correctly, then we can respond to it. We can respond to something reflectively rather than reflexively. Something hits you, then what you should do it take a moment, take some deep breaths, give yourself a little time out. Maybe just stop and say, "how curious," and see what's going on and how you should respond to something. We need to be able to read things correctly to create that right correct response.

Nada Youssef:   We need to be calm to think clearly.

Brenda Powell: Absolutely.

Brenda Powell: A few deep breaths to focus on what you should do.

Nada Youssef:   Sure. Great. Well going from that to I want to talk about social media. We can't deny how social media has affected the society. We always want an ideal image, whether it's social media or a dating app that you just swipe right or left, just that easy. Everything's literally at our fingertips. Many women have unrealistic expectations and constant need for perfections. What do you say to that?

Brenda Powell: Our social media is playing into that. We see people post things only when they look their best. They find the best angle. They show the exciting parts of their life, and we feel like we're being left out.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: That's a not a good feeling.

Nada Youssef:   No.

Brenda Powell: We're not living up to what somebody else's life is or how good they look and things like that. You need to put away the social media and put it down and not be given these images that are just not attainable.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: The other thing with social media is once you start looking at things, you follow a link, and you follow a link. You just get caught up in it. You see bad events over and over again. You hear bad news, which creates a stress reaction. You have accidentally now spent two or three hours on your phone or on the computer. Then you feel guilty 'cause you could've been doing more productive things that were self-care.

Nada Youssef:   Right, right.

Brenda Powell: If you can just set it down and walk away.

Nada Youssef:   Now, I want to talk about unplugging from technology from the bad news on TV, from social media, from all that. What does nature do to our body that can help us with stress? Just stepping outside, fresh air, you know, fresh air smelling.

Brenda Powell: Ah, that fresh air. We take nice deep breaths. We get our vitamin D, and we actually know that going for a walk among the trees, which are behind me if you can see them, it improves our immune system. We actually have a better immune system and a calmer autonomic nervous system just walking in the forest. There's a term, it's called forest bathing, and it's very good for you to do that.

Nada Youssef:   How many hours are we talking to really affect your immune system, like an hour or five minutes?

Brenda Powell: No, just going for a 10 or 15-minute walk periodically.

Nada Youssef:   Really?

Brenda Powell: They've had people they've actually studied this. You can do this. You check someone's immune system before they walk through the woods. They go on a nice little walk through the woods, and you check the immune system afterwards. All that inflammation is calming down ...

Nada Youssef:   Wow.

Brenda Powell: ... just on that one walk.

Nada Youssef:   That's fascinating. That's amazing.

Brenda Powell: It is.

Nada Youssef:   That's all nature. That's all here, free.

Brenda Powell: It's just being out there. Being attentive to where you are and what you're doing. You're living your life. You're attentive to it and what's going on.

Nada Youssef:   Being present.

Nada Youssef:   Excellent. Now let's talk about some of these symptoms of stress. Let's talk about sleep 'cause I know we talked a little bit about sleep. Let's get a little bit deeper about sleep and how that affects stress.

Brenda Powell: When you're really stressed, your autonomic nervous system, that's the one the fight or flight nervous system, is activated, and then it also activates your adrenal glands, which helps you react to stress, but they're intended to keep you awake and keep you alert. It's very difficult to go to sleep when you're stressed. If you're not sleeping, you feel more pain. You can't focus on things correctly. You actually can't read people's faces and what they're saying and emotionally giving you through how their face is moving when you're sleep deprived.

Nada Youssef:   Wow.

Brenda Powell: Stress can spiral you downward to not recognizing what's truly going on in a situation by not getting sleep. You really need to try and get sleep.

Nada Youssef:   So not getting sleep can make you sleepless?

Brenda Powell: Yes. Getting stress plays into that being sleepless.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: Then you can't really interpret what's going on around you accurately, which could make you more stressed.

Nada Youssef:   Now, I'm in my bed trying to sleep, stressed out, can't sleep. What is the first thing you would say to me to do to help me go back to bed? Should I get up?

Brenda Powell: Get out of the bed.

Nada Youssef:   Really?

Brenda Powell: The bed is just for sleeping. We're training your body that when you lay down, you go to sleep. You actually have what's planned insomnia. If you can't fall asleep in a certain period of time, you get out of the bed, and you do something quiet. You maybe read, but you should read a book with the lamp behind you because you don't want this bright, stimulating light. You also need a cold room because your body temperature needs to go down for you to sleep. Exercise can be good in helping you manage your stress, but you shouldn't do it too close to the time you want to go to bed because you'll raise your body temperature and then you'll stay awake. You want to let everything cool down. That's why that nice bath before you go to bed, it actually cools your body down when you get out of the bath, and then you can sleep.

Nada Youssef:   Perfect.

Brenda Powell: You don't want to lay in bed worrying that you're not asleep. That just is terrible for you. You just get out and do something else and then you go back to bed. You keep trying, and eventually with this behavior therapy, you can learn to lay down and your body says, "Now it's time to go to sleep."

Nada Youssef:   Like a habit, gets used to sleeping, right. Yeah, that's great. Let's talk a little bit about hair loss. It seems like that's a big one. When women are stressed out, hair loss is a big one.

Brenda Powell: It is, and you're not going to lose all your hair, I promise you. Your hair goes through three stages, and it's a growth phase, a resting phase, and then it falls out. When you're really stressed, you tend to be in the falling out phase rather than being stable. The hair follicle is still there, and the hair can still grow. Once you start managing the stress and keep up with your good nutrition, the hair will grow back.

Nada Youssef:   Good to know.

Brenda Powell: The hair may not fall out for a while till after the stress.

Nada Youssef:   Till after you've gone through the stress.

Brenda Powell: You may have your stress, and then it falls out a month later. Just think back to what that stress was.

Nada Youssef:   Oh, very interesting. So it could be a month after whatever happened.

Brenda Powell: It may not be right away. It's not like you're going to be stressed and your hair falls out. It's this long-term thing.

Nada Youssef:   How about gray hairs? I hear a lot, "Oh, you got gray hair. You don't have kids." I don't know if it's a funny joke or is it a myth? Is it real?

Brenda Powell: I don't know on that one. You have heard everybody say, "Oh, you're turning me gray."

Nada Youssef:   Right, exactly. All right, so I want to talk a little bit about how it could really mess with your moods. You can go from depressed, and then it can cause bad habits like smoking, substance abuse, all that. When do you know that stress is just you've had too much and now you need to have help? Because everybody goes through stress ...

Brenda Powell: Oh, yeah.

Nada Youssef:   ... but when is it severe? When do I know?

Brenda Powell: Oh, I would say it's really severe of course when you're having a panic attack, or you're just anxious about everything and every decision, or you can't find any joy in what you're doing and you're so depressed that you can't make decisions to eat right. You're losing your good habits. You find no joy in anything and just sadness or being blue.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: Then it's too much, and you do need some help.

Nada Youssef:   Speaking of eating, a lot of people eat their emotions away. There's a lot of weight gain with stress, but then there's people that don't eat when they're stressed at all. What do you recommend diet wise? Is there anything that you can do to help with stress? Is it good diet?

Brenda Powell: Eat your fruits and vegetables, of course, is the first one. Then try and finish dinner two or three hours before you go to bed so that you can then metabolize that food and rest and sleep better. It's coming back to sleep, but it changes hormone levels for you to. If you stop eating two or three hours before you go to bed, then your insulin levels that have been helping you digest your food come down. That allows your melatonin to come up, which sets your body to say, "It's time to get ready to go to sleep." Then during the night, because you've stopped eating, your human growth hormone can come out, and your body can repair. You need that time to repair through the night. Eating the correct foods, eating as our Jim Perko says, eat foods that love you back.

Nada Youssef:   Yes.

Brenda Powell: It lowers inflammation. It gives you the nutrition you need. It gives you the vitamins you need. Your digestive system isn't bothering you, which can be stressful. Managing stress, of course, can help your digestive system too. We're looking for good foods. I know we go for those comfort foods, but we need to change the way we talk about foods. Instead of saying, "I can't eat that," and a good way to manage stress with food is you say, "I don't eat that."

Nada Youssef:   I don't eat that, not I can't eat that.

Brenda Powell: I don't eat that.

Nada Youssef:   Very good. Convinces yourself.

Brenda Powell: Yeah, I've made this choice. I don't eat that.

Nada Youssef:   Yeah, I don't eat that. Perfect. Well, since we're talking about our gut, let's talk about some gut stress issues. A lot of people when you go through stress, you're feeling it in your gut before anything. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Brenda Powell: Yeah. Again, it comes down to this nervous system called the autonomic nervous system. There is the sympathetic, which is the one that makes you ready for a fight or to run away. In order to run away, you've got to stop digesting, and your bowels don't work well. You get your heart rate up, and you get sweaty, and you get energized. There's the parasympathetic, that's when we're relaxed. We can digest. Our bowels can move. Our heart rate can come down. We can breathe a little calmer. What we want to do is eat in a way that this communication back and forth between the gut doesn't activate the vagus nerve in the wrong way.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: When we get stressed, we can't digest. We create this heart rate that goes up, and then we feel anxious because just creating that rapid heart rate will do that.

Nada Youssef:   Right. Now, how to cope. Talk about some stress relieving habits even, something that we can do on a daily basis.

Brenda Powell: Well, of course, trying to eat as healthy as possible and trying to get the sleep in. Taking that time out when you're getting stressed. Taking your vitamin D if you don't get outside, and just taking your medicines as you're supposed to if you do take prescription medicines.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: Other things people can do, I have some lists of things here too, is actually stretching. Stretching is really important to feeling better. It actually reduces inflammation and improves your immune system to just stretch. It calms down that autonomic nervous system and makes you feel calmer. Listening to music that you love can be a great way to relax. Cleaning up a little bit. Get rid of stuff in your environment that stresses you, things that make you feel guilty. For some women, it's clothes they can't wear anymore. Just get rid of it. You don't need objects to make you feel guilty and feel stressed, so just clean it up and get it out.

Have a gratitude journal. Write down what you're grateful for, and write it down so you can look back when you need some help that you can't recall anything good. Give someone a compliment, and when they compliment you, just accept it and take it back and then write it down so you can remember all those lovely compliments that you got. Taking the walk is important, and taking time to breathe deeply. It's often just taking five counts in and then counting seven out to exhale just a little bit longer. That's what laughter does for us too.

Nada Youssef:   Oh, yes, laughter.

Brenda Powell: You take a big breath, and we laugh really hard, and it calms our body down. Read or watch something funny.

Nada Youssef:   How about meditation and yoga?

Brenda Powell: Absolutely. If you have the time and the attention for it. That's the other, women often just feel guilty if they don't do things correctly and 100%.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: You can do yoga, or you can just stretch. You can just stand to the side and stretch, do movement like that. Meditation can be those five breaths. Actually, I think very mindful of practice is just doing something you love. Return to a hobby that you've lost, something that you like doing so much and is so engrossing you don't think of anything else the whole time you're doing that. For some women, it's knitting or sewing or painting or gardening. Something where that's all that's in your head.

Nada Youssef:   Dancing.

Brenda Powell: Mm-hmm (affirmative), absolutely.

Nada Youssef:   How about getting rid of toxic people in your life? To have a good, supportive group and positive connections, that has something to do with stress.

Brenda Powell: Absolutely, surrounding yourself with the community, whether it's one or two people or 10 people that you can talk to and reduce your stress. Don't surround yourself with people who complain a lot.

Nada Youssef:   Right.

Brenda Powell: Actually, it can make you feel worse and more stressed if you're around people who all they do is complain about work, especially if you work with them. Then they build that up, that displeasure. You actually don't want to be around those people.

Nada Youssef:   Sure, sure. Great. Well, we have a lot, but we actually have live questions coming in. I'm going to just start reading those off. I have Linda. "Does stress cause numbness in the limbs?

Brenda Powell: It can when you hyperventilate. When you breathe too shallow and too fast, you can get tingly around the mouth and feel numb or tingly in the hands and feet.

Nada Youssef:   So deep breaths?

Brenda Powell: Just those five deep breaths.

Nada Youssef:   Really?

Brenda Powell: Just taking those breaths.

Nada Youssef:   Very interesting. Laura's asking, "How do I deal with stress of 88-year-old parent living with us, actually mother-in-law?"

Brenda Powell: You may need a babysitter, actually. Time, you've got to be able to step away. You need to step away and refresh so that you can then take care of that person. It doesn't do them any good if you have no further compassion because you're too worn out and too stressed.

Nada Youssef:   Sure.

Brenda Powell: Take that time out.

Nada Youssef:   Alice wants to know, "How best do you cope with health issues, finding out you have a disease, and should you try to conquer it or just let nature take its course?"

Brenda Powell: That's an interesting one. I just had a patient today who was struggling with that. She wants to make sure she follows all the avenues she needs to to be well, but she also wants to come to terms with her illness and live with it. She's trying to decide, "Have I done as much as I can or have I not? Am I at my stable point?" You need to be very careful about that. You need to understand that you're doing the best you can, doing everything that seems possible for you and then see where your baseline is. Then it's living with that in a way that you want to live your life. Despite having this diagnosis, are you doing the things that you want to do to be happy?

Nada Youssef:   At the end, it's up to you?

Brenda Powell: It's this balance. You know when you've done what is possible.

Nada Youssef:   Sure, sure. Then I have Sarah. "How does daily exercise reduce stress?"

Brenda Powell: Well, some people find that the energy of exercising just really calms them down. It calms down that autonomic nervous system, gets rid of that excess energy. It makes you more fit for the day, which is nice. It helps you breathe deeper, so you get the deep breath going. Sometimes exercise is fun for people because they're doing it with other people.

Nada Youssef:   Right, right.

Brenda Powell: You're creating a community where you're doing something healthy for yourself.

Nada Youssef:   Doesn't it release happy hormones?

Brenda Powell: Endorphins, yes. We called it a runner's high 'cause we thought it was endorphins, but there is this system in our body called the endocannabinoid system. It's another way we get a runner's high.

Nada Youssef:   Oh, nice. All right.

Brenda Powell: We feel good.

Nada Youssef:   Great. Then Emily, "Can stress affect your immune system?"

Brenda Powell: Oh, yeah.

Nada Youssef:   I would think so, right?

Brenda Powell: It just does not work as well. It's suppressed. Your vaccines don't work as well when you're stressed. You’re more likely to get sick when you're stressed, so it's very important to manage that.

Nada Youssef:   Take that walk for the immune system, right?

Brenda Powell: Absolutely.

Nada Youssef:   Let's see. Lisa wants to know, "What do you do when you feel like giving up?"

Brenda Powell: Oh, if it's really severe and intense, you need to seek somebody out immediately to let them know how you're feeling 'cause we just can't have you in danger like that if you're giving up.

Nada Youssef:   Sure. Cheryl wants to know, "I'd love to see an integrative medicine specialist, but where do I start?"

Brenda Powell: Well, with our center, we would love to have you here. We're the Cleveland Clinic Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine. Because we're a part of the Cleveland Clinic, we take everybody's insurance, and anybody can make an appointment. All you do is call. Would you like me to give the phone number?

Nada Youssef:   Please, yeah.

Brenda Powell: The phone number is (216) 448-4325. That spells out "heal." You can select anybody you want to see here. We have integrative medicine physicians who can guide you in what you need, but if you know you would like acupuncture or you want to take one of our classes, you can just sign right up for that. Everything is accessible to you.

Nada Youssef:   Great. Thank you so much for that. Thank you for giving the number as well. Alyssa says, "I'm a single parent of two little boys, so I'm constantly stressed out, and I'm worried they're only seeing me anxious and stressed. I also work full-time. Is there anything I can do with my kids that will alleviate some of the stress and help us make happy memories together?"

Brenda Powell: Oh, yeah. If you like to do art. How old did she say the boys were?

Nada Youssef:   She said two little boys.

Brenda Powell: Do art with them, run around the yard with them. If they're learning to ride bikes, that'll get you out and walking while you're supervising them, say riding a bike or a tricycle. Kick the ball back and forth.

Nada Youssef:   Swimming.

Brenda Powell: Swim. Ah, kids can spend all day in the water.

Nada Youssef:   Yeah, they can.

Brenda Powell: It's amazing. Find activities that they like that you would enjoy or how you would combine your activities so you can get out and move, and they can have fun with you. Bring them in the kitchen.

Nada Youssef:   Kitchen.

Brenda Powell: There are little tasks that they can do, and everybody cooks together. It's amazing. What you do around the house, they can be incorporated in that. It can be fun, or it can a game.

Nada Youssef:   Sure, sure. Thank you for that. Sarah, "Can a healthy diet restore my stressed out brain? I seem to eat my stress away."

Brenda Powell: A healthy diet can help your stressed out brain. It won't make it go away completely. If you realize that you're eating because you're stressed, you have comfort foods, then what you do is you try and institute these other things that are rewards for you that don't involve food. You get to have a pedicure and a manicure. Part of that, self-care is not selfish care because what you're doing is something nice for yourself. You're interacting with someone else. Always when you get these facials or things like that, you're getting touched. You're getting massaged. It's relaxing for you, so things like that.

Nada Youssef:   Sure, excellent. Get a massage. That'd be a good one too.

Brenda Powell: I did my homework this weekend. I went and got a facial, which I hadn't had ever.

Nada Youssef:   Ever?

Brenda Powell: I thought that was a good idea. I really enjoyed it.

Nada Youssef:   Yeah, facials are amazing. Those are great things. Hallie wants to know, "Can stress cause dehydration?"

Brenda Powell: I would say so if you're doing a little more mouth breathing and hyperventilating, you're going to lose water through breathing. Then if you're not drinking enough to make up for that because people sometimes, their sense of thirst or hungry shuts off. Again, that's that fight or flight. You can't be hungry and run the run or whatever you need. You may not be taking in enough fluids because of that.

Nada Youssef:   So drink more water?

Brenda Powell: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Nada Youssef:   Then Peggy actually also asks, "Can excessive sweating, head or face, can be caused by stress issues?"

Brenda Powell: Yes, that's, again, a part of that autonomic nervous system. It's almost a physical symptom you feel before you even realize that stressor came. Your body is fast in reacting to things.

Nada Youssef:   Emily, "I don't have time to meditate. Are there any other things to do that can be just as powerful if I don't have enough time?"

Brenda Powell: Yes. Inspirational readings, things that you read that inspire you. If you like to read murder mysteries or romance novels, just take some time to read those things and get immersed in a book.

Nada Youssef:   Nice, powerful quotes probably are one too.

Brenda Powell: Yes, those are good.

Nada Youssef:   Right. Anne wants to know if stress is contagious?

Brenda Powell: For the right personality, it is. If you have a personality that's pretty empathetic and picks up on what other people are feeling, you can take on other people's stress. That's why you have to be very careful about stepping back, taking that time out, and saying, "how curious," or "Is this something that's mine to deal with?" Maybe it's not yours to deal with, and you just have to not take that on.

Nada Youssef:   Just like you said, being around people that maybe complain a lot or being very negative or makes you think in that way when you're around them, right?

Brenda Powell: Because people can incite excitement, they're worried about something, they're stressed, they're stressed, they're stressed, and they can get you fired up. You have to make you don't get fired up.

Nada Youssef:   Sure. Great. Lindsey wants to know, "I have major stress issues when it comes to driving, which leads to road rage. Any tips on that?"

Brenda Powell: Lots of time to get wherever you need to go and know that everybody's crazy out there.

Nada Youssef:   Turn up the volume on the music, right?

Brenda Powell: Like, what is this? You need this lane? Okay. I left enough time to drive where I need to go.

Nada Youssef:   Give yourself more time, take your time, and listen to some good music.

Brenda Powell: Yes.

Nada Youssef:   Great. Then I have Nancy, "Does fertility, is that affected by stress?"

Brenda Powell: It can be, yes. Unfortunately, the way our hormones cycle is related to how well we're being fed, our nutrition, how well we're sleeping. You can get hormonal cycling off so that men's testosterone levels come down or women don't ovulate regularly.

Nada Youssef:   How about for pregnant women with stress? Could that cause any miscarriages, anything, does stress cause?

Brenda Powell: Oh, no, I can't say that. No, it won't affect a pregnancy outcome.

Nada Youssef:   Great, great. Well, that's all the time that we have for today. Before I let you go, is there anything you want to tell viewers that maybe we haven't touched on?

Brenda Powell: Mostly it's taking time out to find out what makes you happy and doing a little bit of that. If you can't do it every day, do it a couple times a week or once a week. Now you're taking that time for you because we all have so many responsibilities, and we want to do them well. We want to be able to be in the right place to be proud of ourselves when we do things.

Nada Youssef:   Very, very good discussion. Thank you so much for being here.

Brenda Powell: Thank you.

Nada Youssef:   It's always good to remember it's not about living stress free, and it's all about changing your response to stressful situations. That's all the time that we have for today. For more health tips and information, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat @clevelandclinic, one word. Thank you so much. See you next time.

Nada Youssef:   This concludes this Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials Podcast. Thank you for listening. Join us again soon.