Stress: A Part of Our Lives
It's not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it. Hans Selye
Stress is a part of our lives and unavoidable. There are plenty of days when we come home with a headache and feel that tension throughout our body. Many times we notice that events that challenge us and make us feel under pressure speed up our heartbeat and disrupt our breathing. In such situations, we also know that instead of lighting a cigarette, shouting in anger or running away, we need to find the right strategy to calm ourselves. Everyone uses different methods to cope with stress. Some of these methods are functional and make life easier. But there are also ways of coping with stress that are dysfunctional and unhelpful. Escaping, aggression, withdrawal, using alcohol and cigarettes, poor eating, ignoring the problem, blaming others, denial and suppression, bottling things up and getting angry at others are unhelpful and dysfunctional ways of reducing stress. We usually try to get through our stressful moments by supporting each other, looking for a solution to the problem causing the stress and sometimes, even though we know it isn't a good method, by escaping from the stressful situation.
Stress is a part of our lives. We should accept it up to a point and let it boost our creativity. But at times when it pushes us too hard and wears us out, we need to fight back against it. We wanted to share with you the steps you can follow at those times to reduce and control your stress.
1. Notice How You Experience Stress.
How do you notice that you're stressed? What changes in your thoughts and behaviour when you're stressed? Noticing stress is the most basic step in coping with it.
2. Identify Your Sources of Stress.
In what situations do you feel stressed? These could be work life, family relationships, finances or many other areas.
3. Discover the Signals Your Body Sends You When You're Stressed.
Everyone reacts differently to the stress they experience. Some people have trouble concentrating when stressed, some become a bomb ready to explode, and others get headaches or feel all their energy drain away until they can't do anything. What signals does your body send you? Find out.
4. Notice How You Cope With Stress.
When you feel rushed or truly overwhelmed, which solutions do you turn to? Are ways that harm your health among the first that come to mind? For example, smoking, using alcohol or substances, or eating too little or too much to cope with stress.
5. Find Healthy Ways to Manage Stress.
Finding activities that reduce your stress, such as exercising, taking up hobbies you enjoy, and talking and spending time with family members or friends, can be healthy ways of coping with stress. Remember that unhealthy behaviours started for any reason become ingrained over time and are much harder to give up. But it's important to know that it isn't possible to change everything at once. Change happens step by step and with consistency!
6. Be Kind to Yourself.
Eating healthily, getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water and increasing physical activity are the basic steps of being kind to ourselves. Going for a short walk, exercising regularly and doing whatever brings you joy will help you relax both physically and mentally. However hectic life gets, make time for yourself! It could even be reading a good book or listening to music you love!
7. Get Support.
Having a family member or friend you can share your stress with, if sharing your problems helps you, can help you manage stress in a healthy way. But if you still feel you're struggling to cope with your stress, you can talk to a professional who can support you.
In short, the last piece of advice we can give you and ourselves might be this: never surrender to intense stress. There is always a way out.
See you in our next post.
Note: You can send your questions and contributions through the comments section or the contact us section.
For the source we used in this post, click here :)
