When it comes to stress relief, I generally turn to hanging out with friends, watching funny television, and just plain trying to forget about the cause of my tension. Massages work wonders, too. But after seeing these new “chic” stress balls, I might have to reconsider my methods. Bloom Putty took the basic idea of a stress ball and reinvented it, going for a more fashion-forward and adorable look. Each different ball of putty has its own name and scent, like Apple Jill, Buttered Popcorn, Icing on the Cake, and Shake Like Jelly. Fear not. For those who are anti-smells, there are a few scent-free options. The putty is silicone-based, nontoxic, and latex-free, plus they’ll apparently never dry out. Each retails for $11.95, but really when you think about it, that’s cheaper than a 10-minute massage at nail salons. I’ll take one ... or five! [Bloom Putty via Trend de la Creme]

It sounds like something out of a mind-control horror movie: France Télécom, the European telecommunications giant, has now seen 25 of their employees commit suicide in the past 18 months. The most recent incident occurred yesterday when a 48-year-old engineer with a wife and family hanged himself in his home. These suicides aren’t coincidental. Victims have left notes indicating that the reasons they took their lives had to do with highly stressful work conditions and company policies. France Télécom, which employs upwards of 100,000 people, began significantly cutting down its workforce and implementing new structures last year, which brought fear, new stress and oppressive management to the workplace. A new evaluation system also put employees on a scale of personal achievement, putting added pressure on the individual. Wrote one woman in a suicide email to her father: “I can’t accept the new reorganization in my department. I’m getting a new boss and I’d rather die. I’m leaving my handbag with my mobiles and keys in the office, but I’ll take my donor card with me, you never know.”

A new study suggests that the most stressful time of the week is 11:45 on Tuesday morning. The idea is that most people in the workforce coast through Mondays catching up on gossip with their co-workers, favorite websites, and online social networks. By Tuesday reality sets in and they spend the morning going through everything in their real and virtual in-boxes that they ignored on Monday. Apparently, 11:45 is the time this all comes to a head and people start going bonkers. 

The study got me thinking about how there’s a similar cycle of escape-from-and-return-to-reality in our romantic relationships. Exceptional first dates, passionate weekends away, the first “I love you’s,” sweet proposals and romantic honeymoons are all wonderful escapes from the pressures of maintaining a healthy relationship during the stress and monotony of everyday life, but you know they’re always followed by their own “11:45 on Tuesday” moments. After the jump, a timeline of the most stressful moments in a relationship that are guaranteed to kill a mood.

Everybody told me my premature gray hairs were due to stress or genes. Some of that is probably true. My mom is completely gray and my boyfriend has contributed to at least seven of my silver-colored strands. But there’s a more scientific explanation for going gray. Researchers have discovered that gray hairs occur because of a build up of hydrogen peroxide. Yeah, it’s not just for blonds. Hydrogen peroxide is naturally produced in the body and interferes with the melanin, which is the pigment that colors our hair and skin. So the more it builds up, the grayer we get. Eek! Scientists are optimistic there will be products on the market soon to remove the excess hydrogen peroxide from our hair, so we can keep our brilliant color for as long as possible. The hair industry will definitely be interested in this research and consumers will obviously be too. After all, the money spent on hair care products is projected to reach $42.5 billion by 2010. I think any solution to slow down the aging effects of gray hair is worth every penny. Do you? [MSNBC]

A lot of times, it seems like women deal with stress by talking about their problems, while men shut down and keep quiet about what’s troubling them. In the police force, the opposite is kind of true. Don Kurtz, an assistant professor of social work at Kansas State University, studied gender differences in stress and burnout and found that men de-stress by exchanging war stories with one another. Women, on the other hand, don’t feel like they can take part in this. See, the men aren’t talking about their emotions—they’re largely exaggerating these stressful events and replacing feelings of fear with superhuman qualities. The women, who like to keep it real, don’t often participate, because they think they would be called out by colleagues if they told #&@$% stories, like the men do.

Interestingly enough, women are often given the cases that men find the most stressful—usually those dealing with the deal or physical/sexual assault of a child. Too bad it’s not because their superiors think they’d be better qualified for this type of assignment. No, it’s because it’s often seen as lower police work. [Medical News Today]

After months and months of a heated, nail-biting, historic presidential race, Election Day is finally upon us, and if you’re like a lot of us who are passionately invested in the outcome, chances are the pressure and anxiety at this point is downright overwhelming. So after the jump, ten tips for overcoming Election Day anxiety (or, ten tips to at least survive the day, regardless of who wins)...