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20 economist suntribune health thursday dec 23 1999 were trapped by time whether its family obligations work overload or simple fatigue all stressed out and idaiaszlo when the stress gets too much i drive sometimes ill drive for miles by joan ransberry staff writer life revolves around the clock so much theres no time to live as we embark ona new century most of us are under a great deal of stress including ida laszlo a teller at a stouffville bank laszlo has juggled work and family for years a single mom her day begins at 630 am and ends about midnight do more with less is the battle cry of business including financial institu tions the staff at the bank swap stress stories talking helps and laszlos colleagues lend a sympathetic ear stress has a grip on this hurryup society and laszlo has certainly not escaped its grasp today life really has her on the run and in fact has thrown her a special curve a month ago laszlos rented house was sold out from under her she was given two weeks notice to vacate laszlo has neither the time the energy nor the funds to fight her landlord furniture in storage laszlo and her daughter are staying with a friend her son is with his dad and the cat is fending for itselfv so in addition to a job and the kids laszlo is house hunt ing christmas shopping and then theres the cat when the stress gets too much i drive said laszlo sometimes ill drive for miles or i walk ill walk until i feel the stress let up half of radians between the ages of 25 and 44 are working so many hours they are not able to spend enough time with family and friends accord ing to a recent statistics canada survey in fact some three mil lion canadian men and women consider them selves workaholics while they may feel proud of their commitment to work and while their bosses may gloat about having workaholics on the team in me long run its hot a good thing for any one the medical community john leverdingen 7 dream about work thats when i know its got to me 111 i dfflmjtffe ipm bfe- l bsiv slk rass- illlpfml 0t 3 s i iirl j tviar i w fl sftl-js- mike leeming taking time out for fun and friends a way to cope with stress is quick to point out that a pattern of workaholic behaviour can lead to poor diet lack of sleep flu symp toms high blood pressure and heart trouble its lifes way of remind ing us that the human machine is one of the most delicate machines we have the majority of canadians struggle to maintain their standard of living by working more or taking on higher debt its a fact that concerns audrey dowling of richmond hoi if we dont take time to smell the roses well be sorry she suggests dowling is worried about stress and its effect on her health and her famoys health she wonders do we need to live in monster homes do we need to drive two expensive cars do weheed to be obsessed with investments and retirement when were only 35 and we cant give our kids enough love with the right amount of stress you can achieve peak performances due to added energy stimulation and motivation however too much stress can lead to burnout and chronic diseases such as heart disease ulcers headaches chronic fatigue and depression whats the real price for it all dowling gets up at the crack of dawn feeds husbandthe kids and the fish she takes five minutes to call her recently widowed father just to say good morning whoe dowling helps her daughter put the finishing touches on a school project she sets up the ironing board to press a blouse a rule in the dowling house is dont forget the kids and dont go to work wrinkled the ironing should have been done last night but her daughter had a voueyball game and her two sons had to be driven to scouts she doesnt begrudge the children it was the first night in four that she wasnt detained at the office its neverending yes it is stressful it seems to be getting worse id love to have another baby but i dont think its a realistic move said dowling about once a week usu- auy on the weekend dowling pampers herself with some comfort food lights a few candles and takes a long bath then i watch a real sappy movie i get the box of tissue curl up in my favourite chair and lose myself in the movie it doesnt take much to make me cry it helps the tension it makes tomorrow look better tony depaola of markham knows what it takes to run your own show yet being selfemployed translates into spe cial stress theres a constant worry that theres not enough mone to keep the family going it can get you down said depaola but if s not for a lack of trying depaola owns a catering darlene gardner taking care of business puts stress on her homelife truck his day begins at 4 am the hours are long hes forced to throw food away if sales are down and vacations are for other peo ple then when i do get home after dark theres the stress of the kids depaola and his wife jane are raising two active sons i cant relax until the kids are out of the way at night said jane once the house is quiet my husband and i try to not let the stress get to us any longer darlene gardner of newmarket struggles with riot being able to leave job jane depa0lo its not until the kids are to bed that she finds time to relax with her husband tony depaola constantly worries theres not enough money to keep the family going problems at the workplace i bring it home with me said gardner i cant let go of it a project manager at a bank gardner has a lot of respon sibility taking care of business in todays hectic climate takes its toll gardner said and taking care of the farnoy is another stress story the mother of two copes by walking and try ing to maintain sensible eating habits healthy eating is one of the positive ways to cope with stress said york region public health nurse theresa kocheung healthy eating is hav ing a weubalanced diet by choosing a variety of foods in moderation from the four food groups outlined in canadas food guide to healthy bating with emphasis on fibre less fat less salt caffeine and alcohol and regular physical activity instead of dieting to maintain healthy weight john leyerdingen of newmarket knows when lifes got the better of him i dream about work thats when i know its got me said leverdihgen i have to learn to let it go im trying to find ways to relax a foreman in the maintenance department for a toronto school board the 36yearold knows how to handle stress but hes in a catch22 situation i love working on cars it takes the stress right away except i cant find the time to do it said leverdingen about 99 per cent of leverdingeris spare time is spent with his farnoy my wife and i have three little ones theyre two five and seven theyre a handful yes theres lots of stress with the kids stress does not discriminate it plagues parents and non- parents alike mike leeming is a single whitecouar worker at a stouffville business at times work can be really stressful he said when i get hit with it i escape he said i get away from it ao i spend time with my friends and i have fun stress is a necessary and normal part of life with the right amount of stress you can achieve peak performances due to added energy stimulation and motiva tion said kb cheung however too much stress can lead to burnout and chronic diseases such as heart disease ulcers headaches chronic fatigue and depression chic five draws every week for free movie passes only with passes courtesy of amc interchange 30 theatres for a offf information p economist sun