Guilty as Charged

Guilty as Charged

By David R. Corder

Associate Editor

Kitty Brogan asked members of the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers to step into an unusual role during the group's Feb. 15 luncheon at the Tampa Club. The licensed clinical social worker put each of them on trial over stress management. Then she found each guilty of failing to manage stress.

That was a message Allen Dell PA attorney Amy Singer, the group's volunteer vice president of programs, wanted the members to hear when she scheduled Brogan as a guest speaker.

"Stress will kill you," says Brogan, who teaches stress management techniques through BayCare Life Management, an affiliate of St. Joseph's Women's Hospital. "I cannot stress how much how bad it is for you."

Brogan spoke about the causes and symptoms of stress, how it affects the mind and body and ways to manage it. Each suggestion applies not only to females but also males.

"Free time is essential for managing stress," Brogan notes.

To understand stress, Brogan talked about the difference between two hormones: adrenaline and cortisol. Each contributes to stress, but the latter produces more negative long-term symptoms in the form of nervousness, anxiety, depression, irritability, moodiness, frustration, forgetfulness, unclear thinking, insomnia, muscle tension, negative thoughts and stomach discomfort.

Such symptoms typically come from the difficult task of juggling work with family demands, Brogan says. "Regardless of gender, we can't do it all," she adds. She offers 10 tips.

• Ignore the small aggravations.

• Don't give into external or internal guilt.

• Develop strategies to maintain control in stressful situations.

• Learn to accept and adapt to change.

• Understand that stress is a personal reaction to people, places or events and develop choices and alternatives to alleviate stress.

• Develop a support system that includes friends, co-workers, family members or professional counselors.

• Learn to accept what you cannot change, especially by looking beyond the immediacy of those things you cannot change.

• Develop a personal anti-stress regimen that includes a proper diet, relaxation and exercise.

• Don't take things personally, and remember you can catch stress from others.

• Believe and trust in yourself to cope with adversity.

Stress that develops over time, Brogan says, can cause mental and physical problems, such as relationship issues, substance abuse, obesity, high blood pressure, ulcers and even irritable bowel syndrome.

"If stress hasn't affected your health, it will at some time in the future," she says.

In other HAWL news, the group recognized three members for their outstanding work as lawyers: GrayRobinson PA's Colleen Fitzgerald and solo practitioners Diane Vogt and Jeanne Tate.

Members will meet on March 22 to hear a presentation on strategies for getting more women on corporate boards of directors.