Feeling Overwhelmed From Anxiety: Physically
Which brings us to another issue that many people find overwhelming: physical symptoms. Indeed, even though anxiety can essentially take over the mind, often the physical symptoms are the issues that seem the most overwhelming. Severe anxiety is fraught with physical symptoms, and especially during anxiety attacks those symptoms start to become more and more intense until theyre the only thing your mind and body can focus on. Examples of these symptoms include:
- Rapid heartbeat
- Nausea
- Lightheadedness/dizziness
These symptoms seem to be felt in every area of your body, and they also tend to cause severe anxiety on their own and ultimately lead to an anxiety attack. Anxiety genuinely is very physically overwhelming, especially if youre prone to panic attacks.
Also Check: How To Reduce Stress Incontinence
What To Say To Someone Whos Stressed About Work Or School
While work and school are a part of life, theyre also a source of anxiety and stress. Its important to not minimize this stress but to listen with empathy. This is the type of anxiety we can all relate to in some shape or form.
5. You are strong and capable
Sometimes we all need a reminder that were strong. A little bit of assurance goes a long way when someone feels burnt out and unwilling to continue. Even if it feels impossible, moving forward is possible.
6. Can you tell me the problem?
Its not always easy to articulate how you feel if youre overwhelmed with stress. Working through these feelings together is a great way to find the source of the problem, potentially finding a solution.
7. I understand why this is frustrating.
Many times, people just want to feel heard. They might just need to vent about their problems, and letting them know that you understand their feelings of frustration helps them feel less alone.
8. This all must be really hard for you.
Again, its all about sympathizing and lending a listening ear. This is a sign of genuine support, and it shows youre paying attention to their words and feelings.
Go Boating Or Canoeing
Water is one of the most calming things there is when youre feeling stressed out.
Many people enjoy going to the beach for this reason, as hearing the sounds of the waves is instantly soothing.
If you can, go out on the water whether through boating in the sea or canoeing in a lake.
Pay attention to how you feel, looking at the water lapping at the land, and breathe the fresh air in.
You can do a sort of meditation while watching the water, which will take you out of your own head and help you center yourself.
Also Check: How To Be Stress Free In Life
Effects Of Uncontrolled Stress
Work-related stress doesnt just disappear when you head home for the day. When stress persists, it can take a toll on your health and well-being.
A stressful work environment can contribute to problems such as headache, stomachache, sleep disturbances, short temper, and difficulty concentrating. Chronic stress can result in anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system. It can also contribute to health conditions such as depression, obesity, and heart disease. Compounding the problem, people who experience excessive stress often deal with it in unhealthy ways, such as overeating, eating unhealthy foods, smoking cigarettes, or abusing drugs and alcohol.
Tip : Distinguish Between Solvable And Unsolvable Worries
Research shows that while youre worrying, you temporarily feel less anxious. Running over the problem in your head distracts you from your emotions and makes you feel like youre getting something accomplished. But worrying and problem solving are two very different things.
Problem solving involves evaluating a situation, coming up with concrete steps for dealing with it, and then putting the plan into action. Worrying, on the other hand, rarely leads to solutions. No matter how much time you spend dwelling on worst-case scenarios, youre no more prepared to deal with them should they actually happen.
Also Check: How To Leave Work Stress At Work
Calming Things To Do When Stressed
Stress is an inevitable part of life for some people.
Even the most zen among us will be pushing to the breaking point at one time or another, searching for things to do when stressed over bills, work, school, or the little things that take up space in your brain even though theyre not that important .
Sometimes, when were stressed, we end up being pretty bad humans and snapping at people we love , losing control of our emotions, and generally not contributing to the human race in a positive way.
This can also happen when when trying hard to stay positive in a bad situation.
When youre not able to change your situation, ie move from a big city to an island in the middle of nowhere, you have to find calming things to do when youre stressed to keep putting one foot in front of the other and not turning into a stress monster.
Enjoy this full list of things to do when youre stressed, and remember that you make time in life for whats important to you.
This self-love workbook is a fantastic way of relaxing and boosting those happy hormones to get you through the stress.
Breathing And Relaxation Exercises
Many people find exercises that focus on breathing and muscle relaxation to be helpful in relieving stress. The playlist below will help you to understand how stress works and start feeling better. These exercises can be done anywhere and are designed to help you feel more relaxed in general, as well as helping you feel calmer if you are becoming stressed.
This playlist is free to download, and you can also stream it using the Soundcloud website or app. You can download and listen to individual tracks if there are particular exercises that work best for you. If you’re listening to it for the first time, it’s best to start from the beginning.
To access a BSL version of this playlist, .
Find out more by checking out these 10 stress busters.
Read Also: Can Stress Cause Alzheimer’s Symptoms
Create A Spa In Your Bathroom
I dont care if your bathroom is falling apart with black sludge dripping from the ceiling .
You can still create a spa in your bathroom.
Fill up the tub, light some candles, and turn the lights off and just soak and sit.
Do a face mask, put in your favorite smell into a bath bomb, whatever you need to do.
Close the door behind you and pretend youve stepped into a spa at a fancy hotel and dont come out until youre feeling relaxed and ready to take on the world again.
How To Look Less Stressed
Your skin is a mirror for your emotions. Is it any wonder the reflection is a little out of whack at the moment? Heres how to find calm inside and out.
The extreme turbulence of 2020 has yet to be entered into the history books, but its already written all over our faces in the form of breakouts, wrinkles, and dryness. That stress can manifest itself on our skin isnt exactly news, says New York City dermatologist Dennis Gross, but our new, anxious normal has exacerbated the issue.
When we encounter a stressor, our bodies activate a fight or flight response. Say you see a lion and need to escape, says Francisco Tausk, a psychodermatologist and professor of dermatology, allergy, immunology, and rheumatology at the University of Rochester. Your blood pressure goes up, your heart starts pounding, and your brain has to be clear to escape. Our bodies prioritize the organs needed to book it, and since our skin isnt one of them, what keeps it in top shape is essentially put on pause. At the same time, a hormonal cascade is unleashed, causing its own sort of complexion chaos.
Read Also: How To Deal With Stress Healthily
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:
What Is Focused Meditation
Meditation is the practice of becoming self-aware through breath and attention to connect the mind, body, and spirit.Meditation as a whole can change the structure and function of our brain. That being said, focused meditation or a guided meditation for focus is by far the best one. Meditation for focus and concentration can come in different forms. Experienced meditators use the following:
- Mindfulness this meditation involves us to be focusing on your breath and observing thoughts. This allows us to focus on our feelings without becoming too absorbed in them.
- Concentrative a meditation that gets us to focus on a particular point be it a word, breath, object, or a point in the space youre meditating. This is meant for us to pay attention to that point and prevent our minds from getting distracted.
- Moving this meditation involves gets us to focus on slow and repetitive movements similar to yoga or tai chi. The goal is again to be focusing on your breath while relaxing your body and mind with the movements.
Focused meditation, also known as concentrative meditation, is the practice of meditating and bringing your attention to one single object. This object can be something practical and tangible, such as a mandala painting or a candle flame. It can also be something abstract, such as a phrase or a sound .
Recommended Reading: What You Do To Relieve Stress
Switch Up Your Routine
Sometimes, staying in one routine too long can actually cause stress rather than take it away.
Having a routine is important for many people to avoid stress, but what happens when you do the same thing day after day, eating the same dinner, waking up at the same time, taking the same train into the same job?
If possible, switch up your routine a bit.
Get up earlier to go for a walk before you go to work, bring something new for lunch every day, and pick up a new hobby that you enjoy to do in the evenings.
They say that one of the reason time feels slower for children is because theyre constantly learning and experiencing new things.
Go back to that childlike state of mixing it up and learning new things, and you may find that your life feels longer in a positive way.
Is Your Worry Solvable
Productive, solvable worries are those you can take action on right away. For example, if youre worried about your bills, you could call your creditors to see about flexible payment options. Unproductive, unsolvable worries are those for which there is no corresponding action. What if I get cancer someday? or What if my kid gets into an accident?
If the worry is solvable, start brainstorming. Make a list of all the possible solutions you can think of. Try not to get too hung up on finding the perfect solution. Focus on the things you have the power to change, rather than the circumstances or realities beyond your control. After youve evaluated your options, make a plan of action. Once you have a plan and start doing something about the problem, youll feel much less anxious.
If the worry is not solvable, accept the uncertainty. If youre a chronic worrier, the vast majority of your anxious thoughts probably fall in this camp. Worrying is often a way we try to predict what the future has in store-a way to prevent unpleasant surprises and control the outcome. The problem is, it doesnt work. Thinking about all the things that could go wrong doesnt make life any more predictable. Focusing on worst-case scenarios will only keep you from enjoying the good things you have in the present. To stop worrying, tackle your need for certainty and immediate answers.
Don’t Miss: How To Relieve Stress For Kids
Insomnia Is A Classic Sign Of Stress & Overwhelm
Insomnia stemming from emotional damage is common. Because you cant sleep, your body will develop physical symptoms. Youll start to notice that your blood pressure readings are high, and they may be consistently high.
Cant sleep? Feel your body relax as you try these products.
This will put you at risk for developing heart disease. You may experience weight gain or weight loss. Youll have trouble concentrating and may have bouts of anger or irritability. Understanding what to do when you feel overwhelmed is the best way to avoid or reverse this trend.
Emotional damage can manifest itself in poor nutrition. Youll start to make more unhealthy eating choices than before. You may not care if what youre eating is good for you or not.
Some people will overeat, while others wont consume enough. Both of these situations put your body at risk to develop complications from poor nutrition. You may discover that youre having gastrointestinal upset due to the emotional damage.
Change Your Biology!
You might have bouts of diarrhea or constipation. People who deal with emotional damage may burst into tears at unexpected moments. You might find that you start crying and it might feel like its for no reason at all.
While you may not be able to put your finger on it at the moment, things are going on below the surface. You may have kept a lid on your emotions and pushed them down, but after awhile, the stress will come out.
You May Like: How To Manage Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Stop Complaining About Things That Cant Be Changed
There are always going to be people elected into office whom you dont like, taxes that you dont want to pay, idiot drivers who refuse to move out of the left-hand lane, and a person ahead of you in the check-out line who wont stop chatting with the clerk.
The great benefit of being human is that we get to experience all of what life offers us, the good, the bad, and the ugly. To live stress-free is to learn to deal with this fact.
Dwelling on your frustration with a situation, person, place, or thing that cant be changed doesnt do anything other than drag you down. You are the only person who is will ultimately choose to decide how to respond to that which is.
Don’t Miss: Why Does Virtual Schooling Put Stress On Parents
Simple Ways To Relieve Stress And Anxiety
We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Heres our process.
Stress and anxiety are common experiences for most people. In fact, 70% of adults in the United States say they feel stress or anxiety daily.
Here are 16 simple ways to relieve stress and anxiety.
Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to combat stress.
It might seem contradictory, but putting physical stress on your body through exercise can relieve mental stress.
The benefits are strongest when you exercise regularly. People who exercise regularly are less likely to experience anxiety than those who dont exercise .
There are a few reasons behind this:
- Stress hormones: Exercise lowers your bodys stress hormones such as cortisol in the long run. It also helps release endorphins, which are chemicals that improve your mood and act as natural painkillers.
- Sleep: Exercise can also improve your sleep quality, which can be negatively affected by stress and anxiety.
- Confidence: When you exercise regularly, you may feel more competent and confident in your body, which in turn promotes mental wellbeing.
- Try to find an exercise routine or activity you enjoy, such as walking, dancing, rock climbing or yoga.
Activities such as walking or jogging that involve repetitive movements of large muscle groups can be particularly stress relieving.
How To Stop Feeling Stressed And Overwhelmed
1. Do A Brain Dump
Have you ever suffered from racing thoughts?
I know. Who hasnt, right?
Heres something to try the next time youre feeling overwhelmed by an onslaught of thoughts. Simply grab a pen and paper and dump every thought onto it.
This isnt the same as making a to-do list, or even a list at all. What you want to do is write down every thought thats bothering you as quickly as you can.
Dont think about grammar, or whether a thought matters enough to be written down. Dump it all on the paper.
Now breathe a sigh of relief, and decide what within this dump can be accomplished within the next hour. Focus only on that task. Repeat for the next hour and so on, remaining totally in the moment with your one task until its done, or no more can possibly be done with it.
2. Breathe Through Your Belly
I know this sounds like a woo-woo strategy, but trust me, it does wonders for stress and anxiety.
In fact, belly breathing is a scientifically proven way to ease the flight-or-flight response, which kicks in when were in high-stress situations .
Now, when I mention breathing through the belly, Im actually referring to breathing fully into the diaphragm. When done correctly, this causes your belly to rise and fall as the very bottom portion of your lungs are filled with oxygen.
Hold your inhales for a couple seconds, then exhale fully through your mouth, feeling your belly shrink back down.
Repeat for at least 10 cycles of breaths.
3. Learn to Say No
4. Meditate
Recommended Reading: What’s Good For Stress Headaches
