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Brides and doctors give advice on dealing with stress

On the surface, Lai Bi-chu (賴碧珠) was a happy bride-to-be who could not wait for the big day that she and her fiance had spent six months planning. But the endless preparations for the wedding and the fear of not being able to satisfy both families' different needs became so stressful that it began to cause her physical pain.

"In addition to the preparation work, such as deciding on a wedding dress and sending out invitations, there was a lot of communication between my family and his. I was under a lot of stress, which then turned into headaches or stomachaches," said Lai, who married in March.

With many women following the trend of becoming June brides, now is the time of year when the stresses and strains these brides-to-be endure before or after the wedding runs the risk of causing physical pain. During a press conference held by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline to discuss the stress brides may suffer during their wedding preparation, brides and doctors shared their experiences and offered ways to ease tension.

"It's not uncommon for brides to experience a wide range of physical pain from stress, such as headaches, stomachaches, or backaches," said Lai Chi-kuan (賴志冠), a family medicine doctor at I-Lan Hospital. "Relaxation techniques -- including exercise, talking to friends or having massages -- can help a lot."

Dr. Lai recommended that brides-to-be to discover the origin of their stress and look for support from family, friends and the groom. If physical pain persists for more than seven days, brides should go to the doctor for professional treatment.

According to the company's survey of 100 brides-to-be in Taipei City earlier this month, more than 80 percent of interviewees said they experienced a great deal of stress during the wedding preparation period and suffered from headaches, stomachaches and insomnia. Seventy percent of those who suffered from physical pains said they looked for solutions to the pain. But only 27 percent said that they sought professional treatments from doctors.

To improve women's ability to become happy brides, Lai Bi-chu suggested that brides-to-be should not ignore the stress and the physical pains.

"Whenever I felt overwhelmed by the stress, I'd talk to my husband," she said. "It helped me to relax and also let him know what I was going through. Whether it's talking to family and friends or going to doctors, I think it is important for brides to find help and not to stress themselves out."
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