Chronic Stress

Chronic stress, a major characteristic of our time, can lead to serious health problems and can affect nearly every system of the human body. In some 10-15% of the general population, chronic stress raises blood pressure, increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, suppresses the immune system, and increases the vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, or schizophrenia.

What You Can Do About It

Basic rules: (1) get enough sleep; (2) control consumption behavior; (3) care for a balanced diet; (4) do regular exercises to meet the "Recommendation for Adults" of the American Heart Association as to moderate-intensity cardio or aerobic exercise — How often do you go for a walk/hike? Do you ride a bicycle? Are you doing sport?

How Do You Feel Today?

You feel overextended with the daily grind? Have fallen far behind with your paperwork? Are in over your head? Then you should learn how to better cope with the demands of your life. Get involved and learn more about the complex interplay between body and mind under high levels of stress caused, for example, by modern work conditions or by tight schedules and frequent examinations in college. Learn more about your affects, the evolutionarily very old processes deep inside your body.

«Depressive-Voice» App

Positive and negative affects —such as happiness, sadness, safety, fear, peacefulness, aggression— have a significant impact on both body and mind. As speaking behavior and voice sound characteristics are greatly influenced by the speaker's affective state, we have developed the «Depressive-Voice» App that allows users to monitor their affective states over time through daily 2-minute voice recordings on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

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Getting Involved

Monitoring affect- and stress-induced behavior through repeated speech recordings can help to improve insufficient coping skills and to better cope with the ups and downs of the daily grind. In fact, getting involved and doing something about it is the most important step for people under chronic stress.