Why Does Stress Affect Me Physically
You might find that your first clues about being stressed are physical signs, such as tiredness, headaches or an upset stomach.
There could be many reasons for this, as when we feel stressed we often find it hard to sleep or eat well, and poor diet and lack of sleep can both affect our physical health. This in turn can make us feel more stressed emotionally.
Also, when we feel anxious, our bodies release hormones called cortisol and adrenaline. . If you’re often stressed then you’re probably producing high levels of these hormones, which can make you feel physically unwell and could affect your health in the longer term.
Make Time For Leisure Activities
Leisure activities can be a wonderful way to relieve stress. Yet, many people feel as though their lives are too busy for hobbies, games, or extra fun.
But building time for leisure into your schedule could be key to helping you feel your best. And when you feel better, you’ll perform better, which means leisure time may make your work time more efficient.
Whether you find joy in caring for a garden or you like making quilts, hobbies and leisure are key to living your best life.
Procrastination Is The Mother Of Stress
Procrastination is the thief of time, collar it. It is a vicious habit of delaying the work even when you have the time to complete it. The more we try to avoid work, the more worrisome thoughts start creeping in your head. The adverse effect of procrastination is that it drains a lot of your mental energy. This drainage of mental energy in the long results in mental fatigue.
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Cut Out Things That Add To Your Stress
Sometimes, the best way to reduce your stress is to cut something out of your life. Get rid of the things that are adding to your stress so you can experience more peace.
Watching the news, being constantly connected to your digital devices, drinking alcohol, and consuming too much caffeine are just a few of the things that may add more stress to your life. Making some changes to your daily habits could be instrumental in helping you feel better.
Managing Stress In Daily Life
Stress is not an illness itself, but it can cause serious illness if it isn’t addressed. It’s important to recognise the symptoms of stress early. Recognising the signs and symptoms of stress will help you figure out ways of coping and save you from adopting unhealthy coping methods, such as drinking or smoking.
There is little you can do to prevent stress, but there are many things you can do to manage stress more effectively, such as learning how to relax, taking regular exercise and adopting good time-management techniques.
Studies have found that mindfulness courses, where participants are taught simple meditations across a series of weeks, can also help to reduce stress and improve mood.
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Tips To Help You Have A Calmer 2022
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We all want to be a better, less stressed version of ourselves in the new year. Actually accomplishing that? No easy task, especially amid an ongoing pandemic. Thankfully, theres a slate of expert- and research-backed tips you can follow to channel a calmer, happier you in the new year. Fox News spoke to mental health experts for their secrets to help you glide into that saner state of mind.
How To Reduce Stress
There is many techniques you can use when learning how to reduce stress quickly and naturally. The sooner you can make it your own, the quicker youll be able to reduce your mental stress.
A technique is applied successfully when its essence is really understood and absorbed. If a technique is to be applied quickly, there must be extensive knowledge of the situation in which the technique is required.
In the context of mental stress, for example, we get scared and anxious in situations because we dont know what is happening or what is going to happen. The uncertainty of the result causes tension and mental stress. The longer we move in that uncertainty, the greater and heavier our mental stress becomes.
The accomplishment of being able to deal with challenges and stressful life situations boosts our self-confidence and makes life meaningful and successful. However, this requires a certain expertise, and that expertise starts with self-inquiry and the development of a technique. To own a technique, we must develop activities into tools and apply them.
Activities + Tools + Practice = Technique.
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What Can Prolonged Stress Lead To
Stress is a natural reaction to many situations in life, such as work, family, relationships and money problems.
We mentioned earlier on that a moderate amount of stress can help us perform better in challenging situations,34 but too much or prolonged stress can lead to physical problems. This can include lower immunity levels,35 digestive and intestinal difficulties, e.g. irritable bowel syndrome ,36 or mental health problems such as depression.3 This means it is important to manage your stress and keep it at a healthy level to prevent long-term damage to your body and mind.
Do Not Hesitate From Taking Professional Help
There is no harm in consulting a doctor to talk about your condition of mental fatigue. Doing so will only enable you to widen your perspective of the situation. You will start finding solutions to deal better with mental fatigue. Gradually, you will totally be relieved of mental fatigue. Once relieved, share this with your close ones, so that more people become aware of brain fatigue and know how to deal with it.
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Talk About Your Problems
If things are bothering you, talking about them can help lower your stress. You can talk to family members, friends, a trusted clergyman, your doctor, or a therapist.
And you can also talk to yourself. Itâs called self-talk and we all do it. But in order for self-talk to help reduce stress you need to make sure itâs positive and not negative.
So listen closely to what youâre thinking or saying when youâre stressed out. If youâre giving yourself a negative message, change it to a positive one. For example, donât tell yourself âI canât do this.â Tell yourself instead: âI can do this,â or âIâm doing the best I can.â
The Biology Of Mental Health And Stress
Chronic stress increases the risk of developing depression and anxiety in some people. The precise mechanisms of how stress is linked to mental ill-health are being uncovered.
Scientists found that the earliest response to stress happens in the brain within seconds of perceiving a stressor. Chemicals which signal between nerve cells are released. These include serotonin and adrenaline. Following this, stress hormones are released, which particularly affect areas of the brain key for memory and regulating emotions. Repeated stress changes how well these systems are able to control the stress response.
Researchers are also investigating how these systems are involved in anxiety and depression, suggesting a biochemical link between stress and mental illness. Recent studies have shown that long-term stress can change the structure of the brain, especially in areas supporting learning and memory. It can affect both nerve cells and the connections between them . It is possible these changes, along with other factors, can increase the likelihood of developing mental illness.
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What Are The Behavioural And Emotional Effects Of Stress
When you are stressed you may experience many different feelings, including anxiety, irritability or low self-esteem, which can lead to becoming withdrawn, indecisive and tearful.13
You may experience periods of constant worry, racing thoughts, or repeatedly go over the same things in your head. You may experience changes in your behaviour. You may lose your temper more easily, act irrationally or become more verbally or physically aggressive.14 These feelings can feed on each other and produce physical symptoms, which can make you feel even worse. For example, extreme anxiety can make you feel so unwell, that you then worry you have a serious physical condition.
How To Deal With Grief Stress During The Holidays
Holiday music, decorations and commercials say its supposed to be the most wonderful time of year. But not everyone experiences the holidays as merry and bright.
For many people dealing with depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions, the holidays can be a difficult time. It can also heighten feelings of grief or isolation.
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Accept The Things You Can’t Change
Changing a difficult situation isn’t always possible. Try to concentrate on the things you do have control over.
“If your company is going under and is making redundancies, for example, there’s nothing you can do about it,” says Professor Cooper.
“In a situation like that, you need to focus on the things that you can control, such as looking for a new job.”
Healthy Ways To Handle Lifes Stressors
When stress becomes unmanageable, try these evidence-based tools to tackle it in healthy ways.
Healthy ways to handle lifes stressors.
Stressful experiences are a normal part of life, and the is a survival mechanism that primes us to respond to threats. Some stress is positive: Imagine standing in front of a crowd to give a speech and hitting it out of the park. Stressful? Certainly. But also challenging and satisfying.
But when a stressor is negative and cant be fought off or avoided such as layoffs at work or a loved ones medical crisis or when the experience of stress becomes , our biological responses to stress can impair our physical and mental health.
Fortunately, there are many evidence-based tools to help combat the negative effects of stress in healthy ways. They recommend that you:
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Gamma Ray Optics Blue Light Blocking Glasses
- Price: $
- How it may help with anxiety: Blue light can disrupt our brains natural sleep-wake cycles. Blocking this light contributes to a better nights sleep, which may reduce anxiety.
Weve all heard the news that blue light before bed is one of the most common sleep disruptors. While its a nice idea to power down a few hours before bed and pull out a book instead, thats not always possible.
What is possible is reducing the visual strain caused by regular computer and smartphone use. These Gamma Ray Optics glasses were created to block the blue light that could disrupt your sleep patterns and affect your mental health.
Can Stress Be Positive
Research has shown that stress can sometimes be positive. It can make you more alert and help you perform better in certain situations.2 However, stress has only been found to be beneficial if it is short-lived.
Excessive or prolonged stress can contribute to illness such as heart disease3 and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.4
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The Importance Of Managing Stress
If youre living with high levels of stress, youre putting your entire well-being at risk. Stress wreaks havoc on your emotional equilibrium, as well as your physical health. It narrows your ability to think clearly, function effectively, and enjoy life. It may seem like theres nothing you can do about stress. The bills wont stop coming, there will never be more hours in the day, and your work and family responsibilities will always be demanding. But you have a lot more control than you might think.
Effective stress management helps you break the hold stress has on your life, so you can be happier, healthier, and more productive. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and funand the resilience to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on. But stress management is not one-size-fits-all. Thats why its important to experiment and find out what works best for you. The following stress management tips can help you do that.
Affordable Online Therapy for Stress
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Long And Unachievable Task List
Do not set all the long and complex tasks in one list. The stress of not being able to complete the tasks may contribute to your mental fatigue in the long run. The constant rush to do itall and complete at once proves to be mentally exhausting. The disappointment can also disturb your sleep cycle because of overstressing. In addition to this, it will make you more prone to mental fatigue.
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How To Improve Your Fitness
For the sandwich generation, hectic lifestyles can get in the way of exercise, and stress itself can trigger the start of the dreaded middle-aged spread.
The stress hormone cortisol forces the body to access its sugar resources so it doesnt burn away as much fat, says Matt Roberts, celebrity personal trainer and author. This can accumulate as visceral fat around your belly and organs, which can then increase your risk of type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.
What Are The Treatment Options For Anxiety Twitching
Treating anxiety is the best way to treat anxiety twitching.
If a doctor thinks your twitching is caused by anxiety, they may refer you to a mental health professional, such as a psychologist. They can do a more in-depth diagnosis of your anxiety and help you find the best treatment option.
Treatments for anxiety may include:
- psychotherapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on changing negative thought patterns and reactions
- medications, such as antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications
In most cases, the twitching itself doesnt need treatment. However, home remedies and preventive measures may be able to help.
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Healthy Ways To Cope With Stress
Feeling emotional and nervous or having trouble sleeping and eating can all be normal reactions to stress. Here are some healthy ways you can deal with stress:
- Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including those on social media. Its good to be informed but hearing about the traumatic event constantly can be upsetting. Consider limiting news to just a couple of times a day and disconnecting from phone, tv, and computer screens for a while.
- Take care of yourself. Eat healthy, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and give yourself a break if you feel stressed out.
- Take care of your body.
- Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditateexternal icon.
- Avoid excessive alcohol, tobacco, and substance use.
- Continue with routine preventive measures as recommended by your healthcare provider.
- Get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible get a booster shot if you are age 18 or older.
Tip : Practice The 4 As Of Stress Management
While stress is an automatic response from your nervous system, some stressors arise at predictable times: your commute to work, a meeting with your boss, or family gatherings, for example. When handling such predictable stressors, you can either change the situation or change your reaction. When deciding which option to choose in any given scenario, its helpful to think of the four As: avoid, alter, adapt, or accept.
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Is It Stress Or Anxiety
Life can be stressfulyou may feel stressed about performance at school, traumatic events , or a life change. Everyone feels stress from time to time.
What is stress? Stress is the physical or mental response to an external cause, such as having a lot of homework or having an illness. A stressor may be a one-time or short-term occurrence, or it can happen repeatedly over a long time.
What is anxiety? Anxiety is your body’s reaction to stress and can occur even if there is no current threat.
If that anxiety doesnt go away and begins to interfere with your life, it could affect your health. You could experience problems with sleeping, or with your immune, digestive, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. You also may be at higher risk for developing a mental illness such as an anxiety disorder or depression. Read more about anxiety disorders.
So, how do you know when to seek help?
Doing Life With Others
There is something about a sense of community and being with people who are hopeful with you, both challenging and supporting you, and being part of something bigger than myselfthese are lessons that really can be extended to the overall population, says Lori Criss, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
We live in a culture of rugged individualism, adds Marjorie Kukor, trauma-informed care coordinator for the department. When you share vulnerability, you create a sense of safety and that leads to hope. Hope is essential.
Pickut calls it doing life with other people. Most people coming into recovery have spent years trying to beat their addictions on their own, to no avail.
This is not a me solution, she explains. The idea of community is so important, whether its business networks, church life groups or people who have similar hobbies. COVID has helped us re-imagine what community looks like. During the height of the pandemic, community took on more virtual tones with groups forming on Zoom, Facebook and other platforms.
Being in community plays another vital rolegetting people out of their own heads, Gorka adds.
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