|
|
Will Vice President Sarah Palin manage stress well?
There is no doubt that Sarah Palin has hit the American scene like a moose crashing through your front garden. She presents a compelling combination of features. First off, and the media doesn't play this up, she is extremely attractive. The media call this telegenic and she is the most telegenic politician in America. She also has a popular appeal of being a smalltown mom in America's last frontier. And some people say that she is the Princess Di for the US.
I live in Anchorage, Alaska some 40 miles from Sarah Palin's hometown of Wasilla. This doesn't really give me any credentials to comment on Sarah except that our local media is bombarded daily with stories about her vice presidential nomination and activities. So, as a psychologist who is interested in stress, I began to wonder what strategies Sarah uses to manage the incredible pressures that she currently confronts.
I would love to interview Sarah and ask what her secret is for looking so continually composed, relaxed, excited, and on top of her game. As everyone knows, she is a wife, mother, Governor, and now vice presidential nominee. She has a five-month-old baby. She has been thrust into the international limelight in a way that few people ever have outside the entertainment industry. So what is her secret for managing stress?
There are two kinds of stress - distress and eustress. Stress can be either brief or sustained. Distress can create many dysfunctional characteristics: sweating, a nervous state, uncertainty, constant tension, lack of confidence, and a failure to be able to cope with daily life. Sarah Palin certainly doesn't fit this picture. Then there is eustress. This is an elevated state of excitement with increased neurochemicals, for example, cortisol and adrenaline. Eustress helps deal with pressures and new challenges. This is Sarah Palin's special brand of stress.
I wrote this article because I became fascinated when I started to consider the number of stressors that Sarah Palin has to confront in her current campaign. Constant criticism from the media, the need to be on her game in understanding and dealing with Barack Obama, and learning new policy positions are some of the challenges she faces. How does she cope with the challenges?
Cary Cooper, a British psychologist who has a huge research background in stress, recently reported on his study of stress in politicians. The study found that six months after taking up office, politicians were reporting elevated levels of stress. The signs included loss of confidence, sleeping problems, drinking and eating too much, feeling constantly under strain and showing increasing lack of motivation. The reasons for the stress were clear: a large workload, up to 70 hours work per week, a lot of travel, and very little time with family.
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.
82% of Alaskans think Sarah is a great Governor but she is confronting additional stresses now. Questions about her capacity to handle complex national and international issues are coming thick and fast. Does she know enough about taxation? How would she handle the diplomatic issues related to the Georgian invasion? Does she have the background to understand the implications of the Bush government bailout and how this impacts a free market system? Does she have a strong database to sustain her attacks on the Democrats policies? All of these add to the stress she is confronting at present.
Constant tension and uncertainty could lead to feelings of insecurity and lack of confidence. Being interviewed repeatedly on a wide range of issues can be challenging for extremely experienced politicians. Criticism in the media and unfair representation in cartoons can destabilize a politician quickly.
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.
About the Author Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about stress. Given all the media attention about Sarah Palin as the VP candidate, he has reflected on how well she manages stress. Sarah has effective stress reduction strategies. Check out his free stress book . |
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 8 | |
|
| More Articles from Self Improvement | | |
| Top Articles in Self Improvement | | |
|
