Juggler's Syndrome

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Juggler's Syndrome

Multitasking isn't just stressing us out -- it's endangering our health

http://www.utne.com/issues/2004_122/view/11088-1.html

—By Dan Beskind, M.D.,

Utne magazine

March / April 2004 Issue

 

 

As a physician involved in preventive medicine, I often ask my patients how

they rate their current level of stress. Few ever say their stress levels are

low. Most admit they're completely stressed out. In the process of exploring

why, I've discovered a common denominator. These people feel overloaded. Most of

us are trying to do too much. And it's a hard habit to break, because our age

views multitasking as the normal way of getting things done. If we're not

juggling a dozen different commitments at once, we tend to think there's

something wrong with us.

 

From a medical perspective, however, the opposite is true.

 

Scientists are studying what happens to us when we try to do too much for too

long, and the results are eye-opening.

 

There's no doubt that the human body is exquisitely adapted to deal with

stress in brief doses. Our " fight or flight " response is one example of the way

that short bursts of heightened energy and vigilance can actually save our

lives. But we aren't well adapted to deal with surges of adrenaline and cortisol

--

two major stress hormones -- day after day. In evolutionary terms, traffic

jams, two-career marriages, and kids involved in six after-school activities

were not part of the plan.

 

Bruce McEwen, director of the neuroendocrinology lab at Rockefeller

University, has studied the wear-and-tear effect of chronic stress on rats. As

he

describes in a book he co-authored, The End of Stress as We Know It (Joseph

Henry

Press, 2002), McEwen and his colleagues began restraining lab rats during their

normal resting period. The resulting surge in stress hormones began to drop

off earlier each day as the rats seemingly grew accustomed to the ordeal. But

within three weeks the chronic stress began catching up with them. They grew

anxious and aggressive. Their immune systems weakened. In their brains, the

nerves in the hippocampus, a region involved in memory, began to shrink and

stopped regenerating. The rats were burning out.

 

It appears that humans respond in much the same way. Chronically high

cortisol levels lead to a number of health effects, including insulin resistance

and

poor sleep patterns. This reinforces bad eating habits, which then can trigger

a fatigue that saps our desire to exercise. It's a vicious cycle. High

cortisol levels can also lead to the production of cytokines, a protein that

promotes inflammation. Cytokines have been linked to heart disease, depression,

and

inflammatory illnesses like arthritis and fibromyalgia.

 

Eventually, chronic stress can overtax the endocrine glands that make

cortisol and other hormones, including the adrenal glands (atop the kidneys) and

the

thyroid (in the neck). Given that the endocrine system controls so many

crucial processes in the body, depleted hormone levels can seriously disrupt our

health.

 

I saw a man not too long ago who could only get five or six hours of sleep.

We ruled out the obvious causes for insomnia, including sleep apnea, restless

leg syndrome, depression, excess caffeine, and chronic pain. He was a doctor

who often found himself lying awake at night thinking about his

responsibilities. Along with his sleep problem, he had begun having bouts of

atrial

fibrillation, a disorder marked by an irregular heartbeat. He had begun to feel

very

" old. "

 

Endocrine tests revealed low thyroid activity as well as extremely low levels

of testosterone and cortisol. Thanks to a look into his brain via MRI, we

noted that his pituitary gland, a key regulator of the endocrine system, had

shrunk as well.

 

The treatment was two-pronged: We put him on hormone replacements, and he

retired. In his words, " the stress was just too much. " Within six months he

reported feeling well, his dentist noted that his gums were " rejuvenated, " his

sex

life improved, and so did his heart irregularity. Even more interesting, he

started getting the restorative, undisrupted sleep he badly needed.

 

What started his troubles? We had no definite answer. His sleep problems may

have been caused by his endocrine disorder, but there was another possibility.

It could be that his overloaded life led to chronic stress, and the resulting

cascade of ill effects included a withered endocrine system. If I had to

hedge my bets, I'd go with the latter explanation.

 

Chronic stress has been shown to weaken our immune system, strain the heart,

damage memory cells in the brain, and cause the insulin resistance that leads

to type 2 diabetes. It has been implicated in cancer, depression, and even

rheumatoid arthritis.

 

The bottom line is that we need to take responsibility for slowing down. To a

stressed-out patient (or friend) I'd say: Try to limit your commitments. Give

yourself time to rest, to exercise, and to eat sensibly. Stop at one drink,

limit the caffeine, and definitely don't smoke cigarettes. Here's one more:

Control your impulse to multitask! In the effort to do too much, we actually

accomplish less. Rediscover the pleasure and surprising efficiency of doing one

thing at a time. Most of us harbor a nagging belief that a slower life is a

luxury we can't afford. Our bodies tell us otherwise. Slowing down is essential

to

our health.

 

 

 

Dan Beskind, M.D., M.P.H. is medical director of Southwest Preventive Health,

an integrative health center located in Tucson, Arizona

( www.southwestpreventivehealth.com ).

He also lectures on preventive health and hosts a radio show on KNST in

Tucson called An Ounce of Prevention.