All of us being human beings go through various phases in our life. From the time we are born till we breathe our last, many changes keep happening in our life. These changes vary over a spectrum from physiological to psychological and from personal to professional.
Due to them, we have to play multiple roles in one lifetime. As a child, as an adult, as a parent, as a professional and the list just keeps on adding. As life goes by there are times when we may not feel our best, we may feel low and not able to live up to all the challenges and burdens that life throws at us. We may start feeling restless and anxious. In such situations, we often come across the term stress.
You may have often heard a student complaining about how stressed he/she is due to the upcoming examination or how a person working in a multinational company is stressed about the deadlines they have to meet.
Stress has taken a permanent place in our lives, ignoring it becomes impossible, and although there is no way around it we can work our way through it. In today’s article let us focus on this aspect of stress and how to manage stress.
Introduction
Stress is defined as “the emotional and physical strain caused by our response to pressure from the outside world”. It is the way human beings react both physically and mentally to changes, events, and situations in their lives. People experience stress in different ways and for different reasons. This reaction is based on your perception of an event or situation. If you view a situation negatively, you will likely feel distressed—overwhelmed, oppressed, or out of control. Distress is the more familiar form of stress. The other form is eustress. It results from a “positive” view of an event or situation, which is why it is also called “good stress”.
Eustress helps you rise to a challenge and can be an antidote to boredom because it engages focused energy. That energy can easily turn to distress, however, if something causes you to view the situation as unmanageable or out of control. Many people regard public speaking or airplane flights as very stressful—causing physical reactions such as an increased heart rate and a loss of appetite—while others look forward to the event. It is often a question of perception.
A “stressor” is any event or stimulus that causes stress. Stressors can take many forms, ranging from the daily hassles of life to significant life changes. A positive stressor for one person can be a negative stressor for another.
Causes of Stress
The most frequent reasons for “stressing out” fall into three main categories
- The unsettling effects of change.
- The feeling that an outside force is challenging or threatening you.
- The feeling that you have lost personal control.
The Importance of Managing Stress
Although we generally think of stress as something to avoid, stress is a natural, adaptive response that serves a protective function. At moderate levels, stress helps alert us to potential threats in the environment and enables us to focus our attention on resolving the threat. Stress also provides us with the energy needed to confront or retreat from the threat via the “fight-flight” response. Stress is a fact of life, wherever you are and whatever you are doing. You cannot avoid stress, but you can learn to manage it so it doesn’t manage you.
It becomes imperative for everyone to manage stress and keep it at the optimum level. If not, it may lead to various negative effects not only in your life but even in the life of those who love you and live with you. The quality of life is reduced drastically and may even become serious to the extent that a person may go into depression.
Symptoms of stress fall into three general but interrelated, categories—physical, mental, and emotional. Some of these symptoms include headaches, fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, high blood pressure or palpitations, inability to focus/lack of concentration, sleep disturbances, sweating of palms, anxiety, sexual problems, etc to name a few.
Sometimes even without you realizing it, stress can cause or contribute to serious physical disorders. It can lead to an increase in the hormones such as adrenaline and corticosterone, which affect your metabolism, immune reactions, and other stress responses. This in turn can lead to an increase in your heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, and physical demands on your internal organs.
Behavioral changes like irritability, disruptive eating patterns, harsh treatment of others, increased smoking or alcohol consumption, isolation, and compulsive shopping are also expressions of stress.
A high level of stress for a sustained period is no laughing matter. It can affect every area of your life— productivity in the workplace and classroom, increased health risks, and relationships, to name just a few.
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Tips for Stress Management
Given the beneficial nature of mild to moderate levels of stress, the goal of stress management is not to eliminate all stress. Rather, stress management techniques are designed to keep stress levels within an optimal range.
The most important thing to manage stress is to know yourself and carefully consider the causes of stress. Learning to do this may take time, and although you cannot avoid stress, the good news is that you can minimize the harmful effects of stress. The key is to develop an awareness of how you interpret, and react to, circumstances. This awareness will help you develop coping techniques for managing stress. Following are certain small tips which you may adopt to reduce the stress in your life.
Physical Activity and Exercise
There is considerable evidence stating that regular physical exercise is associated with numerous physical and psychological health benefits. Exercise also strengthens your body muscles, including the heart, preserves the muscle mass, and helps with weight management. Although exercise is, technically, a stressor in itself, regular physical exercise can help to reduce the body’s reactivity to other stressors.
Healthy Eating
When experiencing high levels of stress, many people change their eating patterns. The most common dietary changes associated with stress involve the increased consumption of caffeine to improve productivity. Caffeine can exacerbate the stress response. Stress is also associated with increases in the hormone cortisol, which increases cravings for high fat or sugary foods. It is often seen that when busy, people skip meals or eat fast foods. These dietary changes can make it more difficult to manage stress.
Eating a healthy diet full of nutrient-rich foods can help you in managing stress in several ways. For example, complex carbohydrates, like whole-grain bread and cereals, cause your brain to release serotonin, which is associated with a positive mood. A well-balanced diet improves one’s ability to manage stress
Adequate Sleep
Research suggests that the relationship between stress and sleep is bidirectional in that high levels of stress tend to be associated with impaired sleep, and lack of sleep tends to exacerbate the experience of stress. Excessive stress leads to diminished ability to fall and stay asleep, increased rate of nightmares, and poorer sleep quality. Lack of sufficient sleep often leads to suboptimal physiological and psychological functioning and is also associated with poorer immune functioning. Most individuals require 7 to 8 hours of sleep nightly to obtain the maximum physiological and psychological benefits from sleep.
Relaxation, Mindfulness, and Meditation
Relaxation, or easing of physical or mental stress, is often thought to be the antidote to stress. Relaxation and anxiety are thought to be opposing emotions, one cannot be relaxed and anxious at the same time. Indeed, the achievement of a state of relaxation during a period of stress is often a challenging task. You can involve yourself in various activities or hobbies of your choice to relax your body and mind.
Practising mindfulness in daily activities like writing a gratitude journal or practicing a night routine will go a long way in keeping you organized, raising your productivity, and thereby reducing stress. Meditation is yet another way in which you can focus on your internal energy and take some time out from your busy day to concentrate on your mental wellbeing.
Laughter, Self-Expression, and Social Support
It has long been said that “laughter is the best medicine.” Laughter produces many positive physiological and psychological changes in the body. Research indicates that laughter increases oxygen intake and stimulates various muscles and organs, including the heart and lungs. Laughter also causes the release of endorphins, which can increase pain tolerance and induce feelings of euphoria thus helping you reduce stress.
Similarly suppressing negative feelings can increase stress, and, in turn, be detrimental to one’s health. Instead, expressing negative emotions in an adaptive and socially acceptable manner can serve to reduce stress. The easiest way to do this is to write a diary or talk to someone who will listen to you without judgment. This will help you vent and release your stress.
A strong social support system is also helpful when coping with stress. Your group of friends may help you in dealing with your stress by discussing the things they did in similar situations. You can learn from others’ experiences. Thus, effort should be put towards meaningful relationships rather than countless peripheral ones
Cognitive Restructuring
Often, we presume that the events that we experience have a direct effect on our emotions. However, it is not the event itself that leads to the emotion. Rather, it is the meaning that you give to the event or your interpretation of the situation that determines the event’s emotional impact. The way that we perceive or think about a situation or event can dramatically affect the emotions we experience. Cognitive restructuring involves learning to recognize the irrational or maladaptive thoughts we experience that contribute to negative mood states and then altering them to more accurately reflect the situation. This can significantly improve mood, reduce stress, and decrease negative emotions.
Always remember “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it”. No matter what happens you are stronger than you think and the only person who can help you manage your stress is you. So, get up and get going and achieve all that you dream about. After all, you live but only once, make the most of it!
How did you like the article? Let us know in the comments section below.
Author: Dr Pooja Nilgar (Content writer and editor)
References
- Broman-Fulks, J.J., Berman, M.E., Rabian, B.A. and Webster, M.J., 2004. Effects of aerobic exercise on anxiety sensitivity. Behaviour research and therapy, 42(2), pp.125-136.
- Chiesa, A. and Serretti, A., 2009. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for stress management in healthy people: a review and meta-analysis. The journal of alternative and complementary medicine, 15(5), pp.593-600.
- Esch, T. and Stefano, G.B., 2010. The neurobiology of stress management. Neuroendocrinology letters, 31(1), pp.19-39.
