It comes as no surprise. As the gloomy economic news mounts and more and more Americans find themselves unemployed or underemployed, stress is on the rise. The number of respondents reporting that the economy is causing significant stress jumped from 66 percent a year ago to 80 percent last September, according to the American Psychological Association. Calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline surged from 39,465 in January 2008 to 50,158 this past January.

In a recent New York Times poll, 70 percent of respondents worry that a member of their household will become jobless. A vast majority say they’re convinced the recession will last another year or more.

Emotional stress, many studies show, can cause physical woes, from outbreaks of chronic infections to a greater risk of heart palpitations and even heart attacks. Stress gets in the way of a good night’s sleep–and sleeplessness itself is associated with a host of health problems and a heightened danger of accidents.

What can you do if your household is living under a cloud of anxiety? Although many sufferers are showing up in doctors offices asking for anti-anxiety medications, we think there are better ways. The good news: a variety of different relaxation approaches all seem to help. When researchers at the Togus Veterans Administration Center in Augusta, Maine recently compared a five-week course in mindfulness meditation with progressive muscle relaxation, for example, both of these very different strategies were equally effective at taming stress. Other studies have found that just sitting quietly for 20 minutes listening to music you enjoy can take the sting out of stress. So can a brisk walk around the neighborhood. Studies of volunteers show that an hour a week spent doing something for others also eases anxiety.

Perhaps one of the lessons we’ll all learn in these times of distress and uncertainty is the importance of taking time out–a chance to chat with a friend or lend a helping hand to a stranger, a few minutes to close our eyes and calm our spirits, a welcome break from the 24/7 chatter of television and the internet.  If these bad times remind us of the simpler pleasures that make up a good life, we’ll all end up richer for it.

Tags: economic downturn, joblessness, stress