The Stress-Free Way

In those dark days, Janise Bowbeer exhibited many of the telltale symptoms.

Increased heart rate, higher blood pressure and a general irritability characterized her unwelcome condition, which flared for an hour at a time, twice a day.

Sometimes, deep in its throes, the sad state would have her shouting angrily at strangers.

“I remember getting really pissed off about things that normally wouldn’t get me so mad in real life,” said Bowbeer, 46, of Orange. “It was like someone was always trying to get in your space. It was just so stressful--what can I say.”

Two years later, Bowbeer’s symptoms have completely disappeared. Her cure came not from a physician, but a train conductor. Instead of a harried hourlong commute on Interstate 5 to downtown Los Angeles, the assistant controller for the Center Theatre Group now takes Metrolink.

“I never set foot in my car,” she said. “It’s great.”

Each day, about 1.7 million Los Angeles-area commuters risk Bowbeer’s old symptoms as they embark on lengthy, solitary commutes (more than 20 miles one way). Over time, even commuters with the balmiest of dispositions will suffer, according to experts who have studied the long-term psychological effects.

“It’s unavoidable,” said Ray Navaco, a social ecology professor at UC Irvine, who is author of a half-dozen commuter studies. “You can adapt to the strain, but the adaptations have costs. After a while, it just takes its toll.”

That toll includes more stress-related illnesses such as headaches, cold and flu, trouble with short-term memory, and a low threshold for frustration. The side effects, particularly surrounding frustration levels, can lessen enjoyment at home and effectiveness at work.

A recent study conducted in Florida showed commuters needed about an hour to recover from a 30-mile one-way drive to work. In tests administered after the drive, commuter subjects quit more readily while performing complex tasks and were markedly more aggressive than subjects who had no commute, researchers found.

Frustration levels and aggression register even higher when--as is often the case--the commuter is less than satisfied with his or her job or home life.

“A long commute makes such a huge difference in a work environment,” said Steve White of Florida International University, who headed up the study. “If an employee goes to work and can’t function at a high level for an hour, then you’re talking about 250 wasted hours per year, and all because of a bad commute.”

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It’s not just the distance that wears on commuters. Stoplights, reckless and rude drivers, and accidents can pile on extra commute time and send aggravation levels skyrocketing.

“The worst time to drive is during the evening commute,” said Navaco. “There are more cars on the road then, and it’s at the end of the workday when everyone’s fatigue is spilling over into the commute.”

And nowadays, there are simply more and more cars competing for less and less space. In the last decade, the number of drivers on the road has jumped by 35% while the number of roadways has grown by only 1%.

Couple this with people generally feeling out of control--whether it’s because of work, home or trying to cram dozens of must-do activities into each day.

As a result, the roadway then becomes the theater where these anxieties get played out. So, if commuters perceive that obscene gestures, horn-honking, tailgating and cutting people off in traffic are on the rise, they are probably right.

“There’s been a real breakdown in the norms of driving,” said Sandra Ball-Rokeach, a communications professor at USC who is developing remedies for road rage. “But if we put driving into the context of a person’s everyday life, there’s every reason to understand why people are so frustrated and angry.”

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Of course, the obvious way to avoid traffic stress is to let someone else do the driving. Apart from the environmental benefits and cost savings, car pools, van pools, buses, trains and telecommuting are all preferable from an emotional standpoint.

And yet, despite so many compelling reasons to do so, few Southern Californians take the mass-transit or ride-share route. Only about 4% of commuters walk, ride the rail, bus or bike to work, while only an additional 15% are in car pools or van pools, according to the Southern California Assn. of Governments.

A common complaint cited by commuters is that Southern California’s mass transit--while expanding--still doesn’t serve enough of the region’s urban sprawl as people move outward in search of affordable housing.

Oftentimes commuters discover that alternative transportation isn’t without its particular hassles too. For instance, the Florida study found that commuters who rode in cars and buses suffered equal amounts of stress.

“They both had roughly the same levels of frustration, just different kinds,” said White, of FIU’s department of applied psychology. “The bus people were lulled into a bored, underaroused--almost hypnotic--state. Car people were in a hyper-aroused state brought on by people cutting them off and the like.”

Though train riders report significantly less stress than other riders, the close quarters can be bothersome, some say.

“The train is packed, really crowded,” said Keith Karpe, a Sanwa Bank spokesman who takes the train from San Clemente to downtown Los Angeles.

But don’t underestimate the role a desire for independence plays in a commuter’s decision to drive alone, experts say. Despite the stress, they have far greater flexibility in determining their schedules.

“It’s hard to get people out of their cars; there’s a lot of freedom there,” Navaco said. “And [commuting alone] affords a person privacy and isolation, which can be very pleasant.”

If commuters, whether by choice or by circumstance, must endure long solitary drives, then steps can be taken to lessen the stress.

First, try to drive in off-peak hours, especially evening hours.

Also, try to maximize the car’s comfort. Listen to music or books on tape. Or try going to a health club immediately after work to relieve stress.

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How to Ride-Share

Today kicks off the 12th Annual California Rideshare Week. Organizers hope to encourage the solitary masses statewide to ride-share or telecommute at least one day this week.

To find out more about ride-sharing, call (800) COMMUTE and select the “carpool” option, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For 24-hour commute information, call (800) 975-POOL or visit the Southern California Assn. of Governments’ Web site: https://www.scag.ca.gov/commute.