Dr. Linda Mintle

Category: Stress Help

  • Desk Rage

    The work environment is now a place of unleashed rage for too many Americans. Yelling and verbal abuse can be heard down the hallways of various companies and industries. The response to that behavior is something the media has dubbed, “desk rage”. That’s right, you’ve heard of road rage, even air rage, now we have to contend with hostility and violence in the workplace called desk rage.

    From a psychological perspective, desk rage is simply rudeness, hostility, physical violence and aggression found in the workplace. A National Crime Victimization Survey (2000) found that Americans experienced approximately 2 million threats of violence and assaults at their workplace. Of that number, 1.5. million were simple assaults. And another study out of the University of North Carolina documented that at least half of the workers interviewed worried about rude and hostile behavior directed at them. This worry affected their work-related productiveness as well. Overall, revenue related to lost productivity, increased security, insurance related payment, and other expenses is estimated to cost employers between 6.4  and 36 billion dollars.

    What’s going on that so many Americans are going postal? It appears that desk rage is triggered by stress–boredom, anxiety, lack of control, demands of the job, overcrowding, noise, etc. And while employers are now trying to deal with the problem by finding solutions that decrease stress, such as more than flexible work hours or improved benefits, more is needed.  People have to learn anger management, ways to assert themselves positively and constructive ways to handle their negative emotions. In a nutshell, people need stress management. Here are ten tips taken from my Breaking Free from Stress booklet:

    1. Be ready and accepting of change. Change is inevitable in today’s work environment. Adjust your expectations. Be ready for it instead of resisting it.
    2. Don’t panic if you are laid off. With corporate downsizing, global market changes, outsourcing, etc. people lose their jobs even when they do well at their jobs. God has to be your ultimate source of provision.
    3. Get a quality education and explore fields that are growing such as technology and health. Skill development helps make you more marketable.
    4. Be a good steward of your finances. Don’t spend beyond your means or rack of credit card debt. Put money away for a difficult time.
    5. Maximize your work time. Be clear on what is expected so you know how you will be evaluated. Minimize distractions.
    6. Have integrity on the job. Do not compromise your beliefs and line up your behavior according to biblical directives. Anger management is biblical. Read what the Bible has to say about properly dealing with anger.
    7. Know what you can’t change and accept it.
    8. Be balanced. Have a life after work that involves relaxation, family, friends and a vibrant spiritual walk.
    9. Keep your humor. It relieves stress.
    10. Don’t easily take offense and offer forgiveness even when it isn’t requested.

    People in the workplace won’t always behave nicely or properly. You be the model of Christ. Your influence could make a difference. And if you need additional help, I suggest you pick up a copy of Breaking Free from Anger and Unforgiveness. Stress will never disappear but our reaction to it can be godly. Wouldn’t it be great if our stressed out co-workers came to us and said, “Hey, you are in the middle of all this craziness too. How do you manage it?” What an opportunity to talk about the peace of God, the fruit of the spirit and forgiveness.


  • Prozac or God?

    Ask Dr. Linda: If I take Prozac am I not trusting God to heal me? Is this a lack of faith?

    Dr Linda Helps – Question: I am clinically depressed and wonder if I should I take antidepressants. My counselor has recommended starting me on an antidepressant. Does this mean I lack faith or am not trusting God to heal me?

    It is my opinion that antidepressants should not be the first course of treatment for depression unless the depression is known to be chemically based. Depression has many causes including biochemical but is also brought on by stress, learned helplessness, relationship problems, powerlessness, work problems, failed expectations, and loss to name only a few. Therapy and exercise can have dramatic effects.

    If you suffer from severe clinical depression or are not responding to therapy, then medication can be helpful. Your choice isn’t medication or God. One doesn’t have to exclude the other. Medication can assist your healing. Therefore, I am not opposed to Christians using antidepressants.

    As Christians however, we must always believe that God is our ultimate healer. We pray and believe for healing. So is taking medication a lack of faith? Not anymore than taking insulin is a lack of faith for healing of diabetes. Does a Christian diabetic pray to be healed? Yes. But until he sees evidence of the healing, he doesn’t throw away the insulin.

    The same, I believe, is true for antidepressants. Our ultimate goal is to not need medication because God has healed us. However, until your healing manifests, you may need to take the pill.

    What I have seen in therapy is that medication sometimes improves mood enough for people to revitalize their spiritual lives. Prozac and other medications don’t replace spirituality. We are not dependent on anything but God. Medications are simply agents to get you functioning again. Medications are not cures. Work on the causes of clinically depression.

    An important step in your healing is to build your faith through the Word of God. The more you fill yourself with the Word, the more you can stand in faith for healing. Speak the Word of God over the depression. Claim His promise for a sound mind and peace. Stand on the Word no matter how you feel and you will get better.

    If you find you need medication along the way, you haven’t let God down. Use what you need. Determine to depend on God and stand in faith. God sees your heart. Be willing to explore all aspects of the depression. For example, ask am I holding on to anger and hurt, am I not getting sleep and running myself in the ground, do I think negatively about most situations, do I need to change my behavior and thinking?

    In today’s world, the quick and easy solution is to pop a pill. Medications can be abused and used to avoid parts of life in need of change. They can also be helpful when used appropriately.

  • Help for Rape Victims

    Healing is usually a process that involves several stages.

    Dr Linda Helps – Rape is a horrible act of violence against another human being. Someone who has been attacked and violated this way usually suffers severe anxiety and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Acute symptoms of PTSD—nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts of the trauma, feelings of detachment, sleeplessness, hypervigilance, anger, concentration problems, and more—occur in 46% of women who are raped and 65% of men (Networker, July/August 1996).

    It is not uncommon for a rape victim to be afraid to be alone, have panic attacks, be emotionally reactive, withdraw from others, be afraid to trust, have sexual difficulties, and become depressed or highly fearful. But healing is possible.

    Healing is usually a process that involves several stages. First the rape victim must deal with the shock of the event. Usually there is disbelief, fear and anxiety. Victims often wonder if they should report the abuse and are fearful this violation could happen again. If the rapist is still at large, fear about safety is even more intensified. Many also replay the event thinking they could have somehow stopped it. This is a lie.

    Once rape is reported, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the medical and legal questions asked. These questions raise feelings of embarrassment, confusion, helplessness and shame. It is helpful to work with a counselor who can sort out these feelings and support you through this overwhelming time.

    The next stage usually involves denial and efforts to push the trauma out of the mind. Victims want their lives to return to “normal” and feel in control of life again. But the reality of the trauma must be confronted for healing to occur.

    When the person is ready, the rape must be confronted. Counseling and support groups help tremendously during this time because confronting the reality of rape is a painful experience. It usually intensifies symptoms. This can be frightening if you don’t know how to manage the symptoms or believe you can be free from the symptoms managing you.

    In addition, rape victims struggle with guilt and anger and need guidance from someone qualified to work with trauma. Women who get medical, psychological and spiritual help usually do better than women who try to cope alone.

    The final stage is when the person has grappled with all aspects of the rape and begins to move on with life. The harsh reality of the event no longer dominates the person’s life. He/she has worked through forgiveness of the rapist and understands the violation does not define who he/she is. Safety issues have been addressed and the person begins to reorganize his/her life.

    The healing process is different for everyone based on the unique aspects of each case. If you were raped and had other psychological issues, the rape can intensify those problems as well. If you keep the rape a secret, symptoms will surface later in your life. Healing is possible with God who promises to restore what was taken. Move through the process and reclaim your life.

  • Postpartum Mood Disorders

    Postpartum mood disorders are treatable–Support, medications, hormones, other helps are available.

    Dr Linda Helps – If you’ve ever dealt with a postpartum mood disorder, you know what a frightening and sometimes shameful experience it can be. One moment, you are happy, the next crying. Some days are great. Other days are met with confusion and hopelessness. You may have thoughts about hurting your baby or have panic attacks that feel like you are dying. You may have bizarre fantasies like throwing your baby out the window or toasting her in the oven. Maybe you feel obsessed and check your baby’s crib every 15 minutes.

    Symptoms vary and range from mild blues to a severe form of the disorder called postpartum psychosis. It is rare but occurs in about one in a thousand women. Symptoms include hallucinations and delusions that sometimes place the safety of a baby in danger. Therefore, quick intervention is needed.

    Since the disorder has a psychological component as well as hormonal and biochemical ones, what should a mother do who finds when gripped by this condition? In the past, women have suffered in silence, feeling horrible and ashamed. Others have been given advice like, “Drink a glass of wine or take a tranquilizer.” Today, although we don’t completely understand the causes of this disorder, we have treatment options.

    Support groups can help women deal with the psychological issues related to the disorder and possibly prevent recurrence. Group meeting provide a place for women to tell their stories and discharge guilt related to feeling less than ideal mothers. Hearing other women talk who experience similar symptoms is reassuring. You soon realize you are not alone. Group members usually share strategies to cope with negative thoughts, depression and anxious feelings.

    Physicians can offer antidepressants and mood stabilizers. According to Dr. Rex Gentry, a Bellevue hospital psychiatrist, research has not found any heightened risks for birth defects when pregnant women take Prozac, Paxil or older tricyclic antidepressants. He believes that if you weigh the developmental risks of a mother’s depression on the fetus, careful drug prescription used to stabilize mood disorder during pregnancy may be a safe prevention strategy.

    But breast-feeding women are not usually prescribed Prozac because it is metabolized more slowly and can accumulate in the baby’s liver. Also Lithium, often prescribed for bipolar disorder, is not prescribed for nursing women.

    A group of English and now American doctors are experimenting with progesterone and /or estrogen treatments given immediately following birth. The intent is to stabilize hormonal changes that might precipitate the disorder. Estrogen and progesterone rise to many times their normal levels before birth and then drop after delivery.

    Hormones changes are not the only explanation for these mood disorders since fathers and adoptive parents can also develop them. Researchers continue to look at factors like sleep deprivation, lack of social support, family history of depression, expectations and attitudes about new parenting and the baby’s temperament. The more we know, the better we can prevent the problem.