How to Deal With Stress
You may have heard people around you lament on how stressed they are. In fact, even small children will tell you not to stress them up. It means that stress is something that cuts through all ages. Also, it does not care about the professions and social classes. Therefore, everyone should know how to manage stress. Knowing the risk factors and manifestations can help avoid serious damages from stress. The good news is that it can be avoided if not mitigated.
Some of the main causes of stress include financial difficulties and long working hours. Long commuting and catering for a family are culprits in leading a stressful life. On the same note, and lack of enough exercise and sleep can lead to stress. Everyone will be affected by at least one of these factors. No one can be free of stress at any point in life. However, there are measures to take in mitigating the risk factors. This means it is possible to lead a stress-free life. It all comes down to the way you deal with the stressors.
Moving ahead, you might have come across people who claim to work best under stress. This is rarely true according to research. It is not a healthy way to deal with it. Those who hold this notion are ill-informed. Throwing yourself into your work due to stress is not a great idea. You might hide for a while but it will catch up with you. In fact,the work will have a lot of mistakes.
We all want to lead a healthy life. Health might depend on genes. However, your immunity is a big contributor. The activities you engage in will determine your level of immunity. Stress is known to lower the immunity level. That is one more reason to avoid it at all costs. Lets us look at some of the dangers of stress;
Raging emotions
People who are under pressure have difficulties controlling their emotions. They fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. There are numerous stressful events, which happen on a daily life. It follows that you are more likely to lose your cool.
When you cannot handle pressure well, less people will be willing to interact with you. However, you have the power over this. You can decide to deal with the issue well which will make you likeable. The other extreme might also come up. It means you will be shouting, crying and raging all through. Next time you sense that people have no interest in you, do a soul searching. You might realize that the problem is you all because of stress.
Promotion of disease
There are several factors, which can predispose you to diseases and infections. When you have cancer, your body will not be able to fight infections well. Also, when you are taking corticosteroids then they will compromise your immunity. There are immunosuppressive disorders, which include HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses.
People who have any of these conditions should be careful when it comes to stress management. Because their immunity is already low, the slightest trigger will get to them. This might be in form of stress. The conditions are expensive to manage without adding other diseases on top.
Stress can ruin your love life
Human beings are social beings meaning they will seek companionship at some point in life. However, getting into a romantic relationship is not the main issue. You need to be able to sustain the relationship. That is where many people go wrong. When you are under pressure, the person most likely to suffer for it will be your partner. It is not fair. Few of them will stick round when the habit goes on for a while. You need to know how to deal with this so that your love life will not have to suffer.
It can also cause impotence. Children are deemed necessary in traditional marriages. Therefore, being impotent will deter you from bringing this to reality. Apart from this, having sex with a partner who is stressed is not enjoyable. Sex should be enjoyable for both partners. It can be a very good way to release stress. However, others will starve their partners sexually just because they cannot deal with their messes.
Stress and body weight
There are people who will cut down on food due to stress. Others might not eat anything completely. It leads to energy deficit. The body functions cannot go on normally without energy. You will end up being too weak to do any constructive work. Consequently, the body will not have enough energy for cell sustenance. The systems will start shutting down and death might eventually occur.
On the other hand, others will eat a lot due to pressure. The body will be getting much energy than it needs. The excess glucose is converted into fats. They form the adipose tissue. As the fat deposits increase, so does your body weight. You will appear thick. Remember that excess body weight predisposes to chronic illnesses. The main ones are diabetes, hypertension and other cardiac diseases.
Effects of stress of physical appearance
No one wants to look old. Many efforts have been made in an attempt to slow the aging process. Nonetheless, many of them are expensive. However, you can keep your youthful appearance much longer by avoiding stress. It will ensure that you do not waste your health on undertakings, which are born out of unhealthy lifestyle.
Aging is not about the appearance only, there are other consequences. Your eyesight can deteriorate. Just imagine not been able to see clearly when you are used to good eyesight. Glasses can be tiring to put on. They might not even do a very great job in correcting the eyesight too. Diseases affecting the musculoskeletal systems come about with aging too. You will suffer from inflammations, dislocation and breakages in this case. Choose not to bring this calamity on your self.
Now that we have looked at some of the negative effects of stress, we can move on to its management. The tips are really simple. Some of them do not require you to use any money. In addition, they do not consume a lot of time. That is what makes them perfect for anyone.
1. Physical activity
There are stress hormones in the body. Their release depends on your level of stress. They include cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones take effect in emergency situations but they have harmful effects. They should not be in excess. Nevertheless, their concentrations are high in people under pressure. Thus, physical activity can help in decreasing them. They need metabolic reactions to clear them. This leaves the mind and body calm. You will then relax.
Physical activity does not have to vigorous. Even a simple walk is enough. You can decide to be walking inside your office or outside when the situation gets overwhelming. At the end, you will feel much better. To note is that it does not mean exercising only when under stress. You need to make it a daily habit. It can be in the morning, noon and evening. However, it can vary depending on your schedule. Exercising on a regular basis helps in establishing good sleep patterns. The body needs the rest.
2. Have enough rest
The body needs time to recuperate. When you keep abusing it, at some point it will give way. 12 hours a day are enough to get things done. However, it calls for good time management skills. You need to have discipline in utilizing time. When you waste it, you might have to put in extra hours to manage.
Doctors advise on at least 8 hours of sleep every night. The time is enough for body cells to be repaired ad produced. However, relying on sleeping pills to help you sleep is unhealthy. You should be able to establish and sustain sleep on your own. Relaxation techniques before going to bed are helpful if you find this difficult. Taking caffeine a few hours before going to bed is not advisable. Taking alcohol and working from the bedroom will make it difficult to fall asleep too.
A warm bath in the evening can help you relax and fall asleep easily. In addition, you can listen to calming music. Reading undemanding and calming books is also another way to help you sleep. The bed is not a place to worry about the stressors in your life. It is for helping you forget about them for a few hours. This makes the body ready to keep the fight for another day.
3. Relaxation techniques
There are a number of techniques, which can be applied in order to make you calm. Self-hypnosis is easy and you can do this at any point. All you have to do is pick a word and focus on it. Words like ”peace”, ”love” and ”calm”’ are simple yet effective. Mantras, which are self-affirming, work well too. The first days might be challenging. You might find your mind wandering. Intrusive thoughts can also creep in your mind. It is not a cause for you to give up. Just disregard them and go on.
You ought to now that mastering the techniques is not a one-time. It takes practice and patience for you to master them. You can work with a professional in this sector too. The progress will be much faster under professional guidance. However, remember that many of them will charge for the services.
4. Find someone to talk to
Talking is a therapy on its own. Therefore, you can identify a trustworthy person to talk to. Your partner, family and friends are good candidates. Nonetheless, ensure that the person you are baring your soul to is not judgmental. When they make you feel bad for what you are going through, you will become even more stressed.
5. Keep a diary
Making entries into diaries is an ancient trick. Writing about something that is stressing you can help you to deal with it. No one needs to learn about what you have written. You can even make the entries and burn the papers later.
When you keep the diary, you can use it as a tool to evaluate your life. When you are making entries several times in a day, it means that your stress levels are high. You may not be a position to make it through on your own. This calls for professional help. However, when you realize that you do not have to make entries for several weeks, it is a sign of progress.
To note is that the diary has to be written in detail. You should not hold back when writing. Divulge all your feelings. Touch on the spiritual, emotional,physical and even psychological domain. Even the things you are afraid to say out loudly to yourself should be written down. Unless you face your real issues, no progress will be made.
6. Time management
Much stress comes about because there are things, which are pending. The solution to this is good time management. You need to ensure that everything in your ‘to do list” is completed within the time frame given. Nonetheless, you need to be realistic. Do not have a very long list of things to be done against a short time.
Bad planning will have negative effects on you. It is better to list several items but ensure that you have handled them well. When you realize that one item is taking too long, you will have to revise the list. Another option is to delegate. However, ensure the person you are delegating to has the skills an competency to do a good job.
7. Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol
You should avoid consumption of alcoholic drinks. Beverages, which contain nicotine or caffeine, are highly discouraged too. They are stimulants meaning that they will increase stress. If you find it hard to stop taking them, at least reduce the amounts. You do not have to take a whole bottle of alcohol.
You can replace them with herbal tea or water. Natural fruit juice is a good choice too. Instead of taking 4 cups of coffee, you can take two and take herbal tea or water. It might seem trivial but the effects it will have on your health is tremendous.
By now you are well aware of the most important stress contributors in life and their management. Remember that the knowledge will not be helpful to you unless implemented. You life will take a turn to the better if you keep stress at minimal levels. You can even pass on the information to others so that they can benefit too. Life should be enjoyable and you will only achieve this when you are functioning optimally.
