Does it pay to fight stress with your wallet?

Linda Dahlstrom MSNBC.com Health editor • E-mail

A little more than a decade ago, Barb Overton was so paralyzed by stress she could barely leave the house.

Her marriage wasn’t working, her oldest daughter was ill and in and out of the hospital, and Barb had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome — ailments she says were exacerbated by not dealing with the stress in her life. Too sick to work, she had to take a leave of absence from her job as a nurse.

In the midst of it, she saw an infomercial for relaxation tapes and out of desperation she picked up the phone and ordered the $300 set.

“The next morning I was like, ‘Oh what did I do?’” she remembers.

Items like the tapes Overton ordered and a host of other products and services aimed at calming us are at the core of what's becoming a booming business — the "stress industry." Americans will spend an estimated $14 billion fighting stress next year, according to Market Data. That’s up from the $11 billion a year we’re currently spending.

While a century ago, there wasn't even a word for what we call stress, today people can de-stress with their very own personal biofeedback machine. Stress balls are so common that they're sold in most drug stores. No time for yoga class? Relax with a meditation DVD at home. The promise of relief can even be found at the kitchen sink, in Palmolive's "anti-stress" dish soap. Increasingly, acupuncture, massage and talk therapy are covered by health insurance. Sephora, a national chain of beauty products, even sells a line designed to combat the effects of chronic stress on the skin, including an “anti-stress oral spray.”

But does any of it work? Can you really spray your stress away with a blast to your mouth? Or rub it out with a deep-tissue massage? Or wash it away as you do your dishes?

No quick fixes
One thing experts agree on is that there aren’t any quick fixes. But sometimes the act of just knowing you’re doing something to try to lower your stress can make a difference.

“Some products work because of the placebo effect,” says Dr. Paul Rosch, president of the American Institute of Stress in Yonkers, N.Y. “Part of the cure is the wish to be cured.”

When Overton's tapes arrived, she began listening to them each morning and night and found they calmed her. “It took me about six months [of regular use] to really relax …. But I couldn’t believe how well they worked.”

Quiz: How vulnerable are you to stress? Interactive: How stress affects your body Quiz: Are you at risk for job burnout? Video: Do monks get stressed? Does it work? Reviews of stress products Quiz: Are you a competitive stresser? Take a stress break with these videos   Discuss: Share your stress stories and tips

Today, the 47-year-old mother of nine in a blended family in Bellevue, Wash., says she still turns to the meditation tapes when she needs to feel calmer.

“I’m not totally gung ho with all alternative stuff, because I think some people are just trying to make money, but the mind is very, very powerful,” she says.

The evidence is often anecdotal as to how effective stress products and services are. Clinical studies have shown acupuncture and talk therapy to be effective in easing stress and anxiety, but few clinical studies have been done on other treatments such as aromatherapy, says Cherie Perez, a nurse at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Perez’s “day job” is working as a research nurse. On weekends, she volunteers at A Place of Wellness, a clinic where she teaches aromatherapy to cancer patients who are also undergoing traditional treatments.

At the clinic, she mixes oils to help patients cope with nausea, soothing sprays to help cool hot flashes and scents to calm anxiety about upcoming procedures and test results. Patients tell her it helps them cope — and she uses aromatherapy herself. She recommends misting the air with a lavender spray to create a sense of calm.

“There may not be any science at all to aromatherapy,” she says. “It may be about taking time for yourself.” 

These days, we need that more than ever. Our high levels of anxiety may be good for the stress industry, but they're not good for us. Work-related stress alone comes with an estimated $300 billion a year price tag due to absenteeism, lost production, medical expenses, turnover and more, according to the American Institute of Stress.

Rosch blames our rising tension partly on information overload.

“Today you can contact anyone anywhere in the world at any time,” he says. “Whether you’re in the Sahara desert or outer space, someone can get you. There’s a lot more time urgency."

MORE FROM STRESSED OUT

Stressed Out Section Front

Strategies for handling a stress-filled life Readers share how they handle stress Can you fight stress with your wallet? Is stress actually good for you? Stress-offs: Let the most frazzled win! Desk rage: Job stress fuels tirades, assault Stressed Out Section Front   Add Stressed Out headlines to your news reader: