Advanced Stress Management

Sarah Palin has become an overnight sensation in the American and international media. Her Alaskan credentials in hunting, fishing and local reform have made her very appealing to people. She is also extremely attractive on television. Her personal style, especially her glasses, have caused a buying frenzy. Apart from her smalltown credentials, she may well fit the role of female royalty that America does not have.

Why am I writing about Sarah Palin? If Sarah Palin is qualified to comment on Russian affairs because she lives in Alaska, perhaps I too am qualified to comment on Sarah as I live in Alaska some 40 miles from Wasilla. But this is not the reason. I write about stress and how this affects people in the workplace and at home. Having read dozens of news articles about Sarah, I began to wonder how well she copes with stress.

I have watched one interview with Sarah and noted how comfortably assured she was. It would be very interesting to explore Sarah’s ability to handle emotional issues, not only political and economic issues. She always looks fantastic on TV but she has a huge number of roles to manage. Besides the current presidential campaign, she still has to govern Alaska. She still has a family to manage. So how does she manage stress and how well does she do this?

If a person’s system is constantly stressed, there are many negative side-effects. These are caused by the neurochemicals that cause us to be in a state of what has been called fight or flee. Sustained stress has many negative correlates, for example, headaches, inability to speak well in public, loss of confidence, and general strain. Sarah Palin seems to rely on what is called eustress. This is good positive stress which uses all the stimulus chemicals to bring us to a level of competitive challenge. This sort of stress helps one to deal with the pressures that Sarah currently confronts.

Those events or stimuli that cause stress are called, obviously, stressors. Just stop and wonder for a moment about the range and intensity of stressors with which Sarah is currently dealing. How many are there? How does she cope with them?

Imagine the life of a politician. Shortly after taking office, their life changes dramatically. Most politicians are extremely tense and stressed because of excessive travel, high workloads, and no time with family. According to Cary Cooper, a noted research psychologist, Scottish politicians reported sleeping problems, excessive eating and drinking, low motivation, and lack of confidence. The need to be expert in a wide range of areas is an additional stress that all politicians have to confront.

Journalists are fascinating people. They seem to swing from idealising to demonising people. Sarah Palin is getting a lot of negative press currently because there is a feeling that she has abrogated her responsibilities as Governor of Alaska to the McCain political team. Alaskans have a strong sense of dissociation from what we call outsiders, that is, people from the lower 48 states. So Sarah is getting a lot of local criticism and the problems with the Troopergate enquiry are not helping her case. These and her son’s deployment must be adding to her stress.

But there are other sources of stress as well. Sarah has been thrust on to the political and international stage. While there is no doubt that she has the background and skill to handle Alaskan issues, political journalists have questioned her credibility in national and international affairs. Given the current bailout and economic crisis, how competent is she to address major financial issues? Given Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia, can she handle sophisticated diplomatic negotiations? Does she have enough understanding of the taxation system at the national level?

Questions about her political knowledge can undermine her confidence. They can put her in a defensive position at every interview. They can make her feel tense and uncertain unless she has in-depth knowledge of the issues at hand. Criticisms from all fronts can destabilize one’s level of security and self-assurance.

So, how does Sarah Palin handle stress? What strategies does she used to manage the tension? These are the questions which would make for a fascinating interview. My educated guess would be that she uses many productive stress management strategies. Many of these strategies would derive from a high-level of emotional self-awareness and a strong sense of purpose.

Politicians need to have a relatively unblemished personal and business record. This provides fewer opportunities for muckraking and cheap shots. But more important than this, to deal effectively with the stresses of political life, Sarah Palin must have a strong sense of family and personal values. There is no doubt that she has an unshakeable belief in her God. God’s will does seem to drive a lot of her thinking. She also has her husband, Todd Palin, as a constant support. Sarah thrives on challenge and competition. She has strong ambition. She has many of the deep-seated emotional drivers that she needs to manage stress well if she achieves the Vice Presidency.

Tags: Stress Management