TV SCOPE: Any woman who has combined the responsibilities of family and working life could readily identify with the subject of this week's Stress Test programme.
Karen McIntyre, a mother to five, has two jobs and is valiantly attempting to complete a teaching diploma course. Not surprisingly, she is suffering the effects of her overloaded lifestyle. Bedraggled and stressed, her home is in chaos, she has no time for her partner and even less for herself and her kids are a nightmare.
Cue the stressbusters. Prof Stephen Palmer is a chartered psychologist at the City University, London. While he sets about assessing Karen's coping skills, his partner in crime, Prof Angela Clow measures the physical effects of the Karen's stress. Their aim is to get her life back on track by changing her attitude towards it.
Cortisol, a natural occurring chemical gradually rises first thing in the morning, helping us get up and going. Peaking after a few hours it tends to reduce as the day goes on. Karen's cortisol levels were high on waking and reduced only when she got to work. But instead of continuing to decrease, they shot up again when she came back in contact with her family. And to the viewer this came as no great surprise. Suffice to say that if they were mine I would have walked long ago.
Part documentary, part video diary, we witnessed her attempts to combine her roles. Caring for her large family of five - or six if you include hubby who was just as demanding and whiney as any of her kids - was a mammoth task.
Working each morning as a nursery assistant and spending the afternoons as a college lecturer, her days were an endless cycle of feeding, cleaning, shopping, working, washing, and when there was time, studying.
Her partner could never have been categorised as a "new man" ; he was more than happy to leave the enormous task of nurturing their large brood to Karen. Her repeated requests for help became a nagging drone which fell on deaf ears . Their children very quickly learned to copy their fathers example.
It was somewhat disappointing to see the programme's initial response to Karen's problems. Predictably packing the distraught woman off for a day of pampering and Me Time did little to restore her spirits.
But redemption for the series makers and for Karen appeared with the introduction of family coach, Sarah Newton. Installed in the front bedroom, Sarah monitored the family's interactions, feeding back suggestions, via an earpiece, to Karen as to how she could better manage her unruly brood.
By rephrasing her requests for help, praising and thanking them when they complied, her children's attitudes changed instantly. These small changes resulted the older children agreeing to take on a number of household chores leaving Karen free to spend time with the younger children and catch up on her studies. By delegating chores, acknowledging their efforts and ceasing to take sole responsibility for all domestic tasks she was able to regain some sense of control.
When reassessed at the end of the programme, Karen no longer showed signs of depression or anxiety and her cortisol levels had returned to normal.
Using a form of behaviour therapy, which encourages better management of stressful situations by viewing them in a more positive way, Karen was helped get a grip on her life. And in a nice twist the end of the programme, the two professors were left to babysit while Karen and hubby enjoyed a long overdue night out.
Marion Kerr is a writer and occupational therapist.