Citizens of Denver will vote
on a proposal this fall that
would seek to reduce
stress in the city through
techniques like meditation.
(PhotoDisc)



Stress Busters
Companies and Communities Try New
Ways to Deal With Growing Stress

By Catherine Valenti


Sept. 15— At one law firm in Buffalo,
N.Y., Mondays are a time for peace
and quiet, reflection and relaxation.


But it's not because the lawyers at Renda, Pares & Pfalzgraf don't
have enough work to do. They begin their weekly meeting at noon
on Mondays by meditating.

"It's our universal experience here that much more can be
accomplished in the practice of law if we are doing it in a thoughtful
and quiet manner rather than in a frantic manner," says David
Pfalzgraf, a partner at the firm.

Pfalzgraf's firm has been meditating for five years, but more
recently, many companies have started using methods such as
meditation, massage, mind-body exercises like yoga or Qigong
and other relaxation techniques to soothe the frazzled nerves of its
workers.

And outside of the workplace, some communities and schools are
trying to alleviate mounting stress and tension with new programs.
This November, residents of Denver will vote on a controversial
initiative that would allow the city to provide stress-relieving
activities such as group meditation to alleviate society-wide stress.

Blamed for everything from physical illness to psychological
problems, depression and growing health-care costs, stress has
been a growing problem for decades. Now more organizations are
turning to alternatives to try to get people to relax — and save
money at the same time.

Rising Cost of Stress

Job stress is estimated to cost American industry alone $300
billion a year from factors like absenteeism and job turnover,
according to the American Institute of Stress, a Yonkers,
N.Y.-based nonprofit organization that serves as a clearinghouse
for information on stress.

More than half of the 550 million working days lost annually in the
United States from absenteeism are stress-related, according to
the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Unanticipated
absenteeism is estimated to cost American companies $602 a
worker per year, and health-care costs are nearly 50 percent higher
for workers who report high stress levels, according to surveys
cited by the AIS.

These daunting statistics have made many employers take notice.

"It wasn't until the cost of health insurance premiums got high that
the pressure got on them," says Dr. Bruce Rabin, medical director
of the Healthy Lifestyles Program for the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center. The program develops innovative approaches to
wellness and disease management.

Jeff Peckman, the author of Denver's upcoming "Safety Through
Peace" initiative, says his program could save the city millions of
dollars a year by reducing the amount of crime, drug abuse and
traffic in the city. Peckman's plan does not propose any specific
methods for reducing the city's stress level, but he has mentioned
group meditation and offering healthier food in the city's schools as
possible techniques.

"It has to work and it has to save the city money," Peckman says of
the potential stress-reduction methods.

Meditating for Nonviolence

While skeptics are dubious, proponents of stress reduction hail the
transformative power of techniques like transcendental meditation,
yoga and other relaxation techniques.

One study showed that the levels of homicides, rapes and assaults
dropped 23 percent in Washington, D.C., during an almost
eight-week project in which about 4,000 people gathered to do
transcendental meditation in different locations around the city.

"The phenomenon is amplified when people meditate in groups,"
says physics professor John Hagelin, director of the Institute of
Science, Technology and Public Policy at the Maharishi University
School of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. Hagelin, a regular
transcendental meditator, co-authored the study.

Many companies do not track the cost benefits of their stress-relief
programs because they are so new and the savings are difficult to
quantify objectively. But those that do offer the programs say their
workers appreciate the offerings.

Wilmington, Del.-based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca
began offering Qigong, a Chinese exercise that combines
movement and meditation, to its workers in its fitness center in the
spring. The company also offers Qigong sessions as a way to
open or close meetings or in lieu of a coffee break.

"They want to incorporate it [into meetings] to help refresh people,"
says AstraZeneca spokeswoman Lorraine Ryan.

So that it can better retain its nurses, two of the University Hospitals
of Cleveland have been offering 15-minute breaks to nurses for
aromatherapy, music therapy and Reiki massage, a form of
massage that is said to increase a person's energy. The hospital,
which began offering the massage breaks eight months ago, is
currently studying the impact the program has had on retaining
nurses.

"It's been very well-received by the staff," says Ron Dziedzicki, the
hospital's chief nursing officer. "They told me they'd be very upset
with us if we got rid of the program."

No Panaceas

Despite the rejuvenating effects of these techniques, not everyone
is a believer.

Even health-care experts who praise the benefits of transcendental
meditation say the technique is difficult to learn and is not for
everybody since it requires people to sit still to try to clear their
minds.

"It's wonderful if it works," says Rabin, of the Healthy Lifestyles
Program in Pittsburgh. "But it's not the answer because very few
people are able to do it."

Many proponents say most people should choose which kind of
stress reduction technique they want to participate in, since what is
relaxing to one person could be excruciating to another.

"The program has to be tailor-made to the audience you're
targeting," says Dr. Paul Rosch, president of the American Institute
of Stress and professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York
Medical College. "There is no stress reduction technique that is a
panacea."

For his part, Peckman says his proposal for the city of Denver
would not force anyone to participate in anything they didn't want to
do, and any stress-relieving technique offered would be purely
optional.

Many "are wrongly thinking that somehow the government is going
to become their personal stress manager," says Peckman.

Still, not everyone is a fan. Denver City Council member Charlie
Brown, who opposes the initiative, describes Peckman's proposal
as "horrible public policy."

"We've got budget issues like every major city in this country," says
Brown. "We've got unemployed people. If you want to reduce
stress, you got to find these people work."


--- Jeff Peckman
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