How To Decrease Stress And Anxiety

Quick Stress Relief At Work

Meetings. During stressful sessions, stay connected to your breath. Massage the tips of your fingers. Wiggle your toes. Sip coffee.

On the phone. Inhale something energizing, like lemon, ginger, peppermint. While talking, stand up or pace back and forth to burn off excess energy, or take calls outside when possible.

On the computer. Work standing up. Do knee-bends in 10-minute intervals. Suck on a peppermint. Sip tea.

Lunch breaks. Take a walk around the block or in the parking lot. Listen to soothing music while eating. Chat with a colleague.

Your workspace. Place family photos on your desk or mementos that remind you of your life outside the office.

Understanding Stress As An Internal Situation

Your thoughts lead to your choices. These choices, when made each and every day start to feed on each other. As a result, when you settle in a routine, these choices start to repeat each and every day. Theserepeating choices over timebecome your habits.

The habits that we make guide our behavior and emotional patterns. Over the course of the past several months of our routine, we have built our subconscious programming. Every day we have a few emotional triggers that we feel. They cause us to have an emotional response to feeling a certain way at particular times.

These emotional triggers are accompanied by past thought-patterns. The negative thoughts that we experience lead to even more negative emotions.

This way the cycle of negative thoughts and emotions continues and we continue to feel more and more miserable.

Thus it is said that- Worrying does not take away tomorrows problems but it does take away todays peace.

Why Quick Natural Stress Reduction Strategies Are So Important

It seems as though most Americans are high on stress these days. Unfortunately, the data backs up this feeling.

According to a 2014 study conducted by the American Psychological Association, 77% of adults in the United States regularly experience physical symptoms of stress and 73% encounter psychological symptoms caused by stress.

Also Check: Which Essential Oil Is For Stress

Hard Work To The Point Of Exhaustion

We urge you to find the things you are passionate about and work extremely hard on them. The things you arent passionate about you wont be able to stick with them for a long time.

Also if you arent working really hard on the things in your life you wont be able to enjoy relaxation. Thus the only way to truly enjoy relaxation is if you feel exhausted after a day of hard work.

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.

Read Also: Does Stress Cause Bed Wetting

Address Stress When It Happens

A lot of us start to listen to our bodies only when were reaching a mental or physical breakdown.

People think its normal to be stressed and dont think Oh, Im feeling stressed, maybe I have to look after myself, says Dominique. Even holding your breath creates stress.

By becoming conscious of what is triggering your daily stress, you can practice sophrology to address it there and then so it doesnt manifest as mental burnout, pain, illness or insomnia further down the line.

If you intervene when you have those small moments of stress and you take a breath, do a visualisation or movement to process that tension, then you will finish your day less wired and agitated, adds Dominique.

Living Consciously To Reduce Stress

Now that you realize the presence of this cycle of negative thoughts and emotions it will be easier to catch yourself in the middle of it. The moment you catch yourself in the cycle of negative emotions and thoughts you have already reduced stress.

What you should aim your focus at now is on the things that lie within your control. If you focus on things outside your control that you can do nothing about, it will only lead to feelings of helplessness.

Instead, bring your attention to the things where you can bring positive change.

Don’t Miss: Do Stress Vitamins Really Work

Spend Time With Friends And Family

Social support from friends and family can help you get through stressful times.

Being part of a friend network gives you a sense of belonging and self-worth, which can help you in tough times.

One study found that for women in particular, spending time with friends and children helps release oxytocin, a natural stress reliever. This effect is called tend and befriend, and is the opposite of the fight-or-flight response .

Keep in mind that both men and women benefit from friendship.

Another study found that men and women with the fewest social connections were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety .

summary

Having strong social ties may help you get through stressful times and lower your risk of anxiety.

Its hard to feel anxious when youre laughing. Its good for your health, and there are a few ways it may help relieve stress:

• Relieving your stress response.
• Relieving tension by relaxing your muscles.

In the long term, laughter can also help improve your immune system and mood.

A study among people with cancer found that people in the laughter intervention group experienced more stress relief than those who were simply distracted (

Try watching a funny TV show or hanging out with friends who make you laugh.

summary

Find the humor in everyday life, spend time with funny friends or watch a comedy show to help relieve stress.

Not all stressors are within your control, but some are.

One way to do this may be to say no more often.

Tips To Relieve Stress And Anxiety

Being always anxious can be unhealthy, while until now, the stigma about mental health is still present. Yet, did you know that stress and anxiety are one of the mental disorders having the highest prevalence in the US?

As sighted by NIMH, around 19.1% of U.S. adults are suffering from an anxiety disorder, and most of them are females, which is 23.4% more than their opposite gender. Meanwhile, around 31.1% of US adults were reported to experience some symptoms of anxiety in their lives. As for the latest edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-V, anxiety disorders come with different types, but they share the same hallmark, which is the excessive fear and anxiety and related behavioral disturbances.

Anxiety and fear are different concepts. For instance, DSM-V differentiates fear as emotional response to a real or perceived imminent threat from anxiety, as the anticipation of future threat. Such disturbances can impact different areas of your functioning such as your school, work, and even your overall personal and social life. Thus, you may need some anxiety relief.

Recommended Reading: What To Do When You Have Stress

Tips To Manage Anxiety And Stress

Coping Strategies

Try these when you’re feeling anxious or stressed:

Fitness Tips: Stay Healthy, Manage Stress

For the biggest benefits of exercise, try to include at least 2½ hours of moderate-intensity physical activity each week, 1¼ hours of a vigorous-intensity activity , or a combination of the two.

• 5 X 30: Jog, walk, bike, or dance three to five times a week for 30 minutes.
• Set small daily goals and aim for daily consistency rather than perfect workouts. It’s better to walk every day for 15-20 minutes than to wait until the weekend for a three-hour fitness marathon. Lots of scientific data suggests that frequency is most important.
• Find forms of exercise that are fun or enjoyable. Extroverted people often like classes and group activities. People who are more introverted often prefer solo pursuits.
• Distract yourself with an iPod or other portable media player to download audiobooks, podcasts, or music. Many people find its more fun to exercise while listening to something they enjoy.
• Recruit an exercise buddy. It’s often easier to stick to your exercise routine when you have to stay committed to a friend, partner, or colleague.
• Be patient when you start a new exercise program. Most sedentary people require about four to eight weeks to feel coordinated and sufficiently in shape so that exercise feels easier.

Resources

If you are the parent of a college-aged child with an anxiety disorder, here are some tips to help with managing his or her anxiety.

Practicing Even A Few Minutes Per Day Can Provide A Reserve Of Inner Calm

We all face stressful situations throughout our lives, ranging from minor annoyances like traffic jams to more serious worries, such as a loved one’s grave illness. No matter what the cause, stress floods your body with hormones. Your heart pounds, your breathing speeds up, and your muscles tense.

This so-called “stress response” is a normal reaction to threatening situations, honed in our prehistory to help us survive threats like an animal attack or a flood. Today, we rarely face these physical dangers, but challenging situations in daily life can set off the stress response. We can’t avoid all sources of stress in our lives, nor would we want to. But we can develop healthier ways of responding to them.

One way is to invoke the “relaxation response,” through a technique first developed in the 1970s at Harvard Medical School by cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson, editor of the Harvard Medical School Special Health Report Stress Management: Approaches for preventing and reducing stress. The relaxation response is the opposite of the stress response. It’s a state of profound rest that can be elicited in many ways. With regular practice, you create a well of calm to dip into as the need arises.

Following are six relaxation techniques that can help you evoke the relaxation response and reduce stress.

Also Check: How To Deal With Post Traumatic Stress Triggers

Do I Need Treatment For Anxiety

Thereâs a lot you can do on your own to relieve anxiety, but sometimes you need help. Psychotherapy and medication are the two main treatments for anxiety disorders.

Signs that itâs time to talk to a mental health professional include:

• Constant or nearly constant anxiety
• Anxiety that gets in the way of your daily activities, like work or social life
• Anxiety about things that donât actually threaten you
• Panic attacks

Check your health insurance policy to see what mental health services your plan covers. Then, review a list of your in-network providers to find one to connect with.

âYou donât want to add to your anxiety by paying big out-of-pocket fees,â Kissen says.

Your primary care doctor may also be able to recommend a mental health professional with experience treating anxiety and anxiety disorders.

Rosmarin notes that itâs important to find a provider you click with and trust. He also says therapy doesnât need to go on indefinitely to be effective.

âA course of cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety may be eight to 10 sessions,â he says. âThereâs also data to suggest that people feel substantially better after just one therapy session for panic disorder.â

Show Sources

Prioritize Getting A Good Nights Rest

Sleep has been proven time and time again to be an important part of good mental health.

Even though a 2012 survey found that nearly a third of adults get less than 6 hours of sleep a night, the that adults get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every day.

You can make sleep a priority by:

• only sleeping at night when youre tired
• not reading or watching television in bed
• not using your phone, tablet, or computer in bed
• not tossing and turning in your bed or going to another room if you cant sleep
• avoiding caffeine, large meals, and nicotine before bedtime
• keeping your room dark and cool
• writing down your worries before going to bed
• going to sleep at the same time each night

You May Like: How To Help Hair Loss Due To Stress

Rock The Rocking Chair

Sitting on the rocking chair when stressed can release endorphins, improve mood, and impart calmness. The answer to how to reduce stress and anxiety lies on your rocking chair!

Stress is an unavoidable part of our lives. While stress cant be completely eliminated from our lives, we can still manage stress and even beat it. The answer to the question How to reduce stress and anxiety, lies in following the simple life wisdom!

• Tags:

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.

Read Also: Can You Get Acne From Stress

Develop A Positive Self

The way you talk to yourself matters. Harsh self-criticism, self-doubt, and catastrophic predictions aren’t helpful. If you’re constantly thinking things like, “I don’t have time for this,” and “I can’t stand this,” you’ll stress yourself out.

It’s important to learn to talk to yourself in a more realistic, compassionate manner. When you call yourself names or doubt your ability to succeed, reply with a kinder inner dialogue.

Positive self-talk can help you develop a healthier outlook. And an optimistic and compassionate conversation can help you manage your emotions and take positive action.

Shallow Breathing Contributes To Anxiety

When people are anxious, they tend to take rapid, shallow breaths that come directly from the chest.

This type of breathing, called thoracic or chest breathing, causes an upset in the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the body resulting in increased heart rate, dizziness, muscle tension, and other physical sensations. Your blood is not being properly oxygenated and this may signal a stress response that contributes to anxiety and panic attacks.

Diaphragmatic or deep breathing, on the other hand, stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is part of the peripheral nervous system responsible for regulating heartbeat, blood flow, breathing, and digestion. Deep breathing helps you to avoid the “fight-or-flight” response to mentally or physically terrifying situations.

Don’t Miss: What Is The Best Treatment For Anxiety And Stress

Remember To Seek Help And Support When You Need It

Remember, that it is okay to ask for professional help. If you feel that you are struggling to manage on your own, then you can reach out. It is important to know that you can get help as soon as possible, and that you deserve to get better.

The first person to approach is your family doctor. He or she should be able to give advice about treatment, and may refer you to another local professional. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness based approaches are known to help reduce stress. There are also a number of voluntary organisations which can help you to tackle the causes of stress and advise you about ways to get better.

Anxiety UK

Anxiety UK runs a helpline staffed by volunteers with personal experience of anxiety from 9:30-5:30, Monday to Friday. Call 08444 775 774.

Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice provides free, independent and confidential advice for a range of problems as well as providing information on your rights and responsibilities.

StepChange

StepChange provides help and information for people dealing with a range of debt problems. Freephone 0800 138 1111.

Mind Infoline

Mind provides information on a range of mental health topics to support people in their own area from 9.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday. Call 0300 123 3393 or email .

Rethink Advice and Information Service

Rethink provide specific solution-based guidance – 0300 5000927 Fax: 020 7820 1149 email .

Samaritans

Specialist mental health services

How Can We Handle Stress In Healthy Ways

Stress serves an important purposeit enables us to respond quickly to threats and avoid danger. However, lengthy exposure to stress may lead to mental health difficulties or increased physical health problems. A large body of research suggests that increased stress levels interfere with your ability to deal with physical illness. While no one can avoid all stress, you can work to handle it in healthy ways that increase your potential to recover.

There are several other methods you can use to relax or reduce stress, including:

Recommended Reading: What To Do When Stressed Out