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
Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Years of research have found PMR helps reduce anxiety and calm breathing. Lie down and relax, and then tighten, hold and then release each muscle in your body, one at a time, starting with your toes and moving up to the crown of your head. Do this slowly and methodically, and dont forget the muscles of your face. It may be more relaxing to listen to someone else walk you through the exercise. Visit this link to find audio, video, and scripts that you can record and then playback to yourself.
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Try Stress Relief Supplements
Some vitamins and supplements may have benefits for stress relief. What vitamins help with stress? A daily multivitamin may help address nutritional deficits and ensure you get the necessary vitamins and minerals to feel your best. Other supplements that may help relieve stress include:
- Melatonin: This natural hormone can help regulate your body’s circadian rhythm. Improving sleep can help you feel less stressed.
- Ashwagandha: This adaptogenic herb is thought to help improve the body’s resilience to mental and physical stress.
- L-theanine: This amino acid has been shown to help reduce stress, promote relaxation, and improve sleep quality.
- B vitamins: Some research indicates that B vitamins may help lower homocysteine levels, reduce stress, and improve mood.
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Check In With Yourself Mentally
8. Change your narrative
If you find yourself listening to a never-ending stream of thoughts about all the things that have to get done each day , try flipping the script.
In yoga, we practice something called pratipaksha-bhavana the art of cultivating the opposite, says Bell. When youre plagued with negative thoughts such as I have to meet with this person or I have to do this with the kids try cultivating the opposite. Think about the positives and how you get to meet with this person and how you get to do these things with the kids.
9. Prioritize your values
Being a parent means juggling a number of things at any given moment. Are you going to be able to do each and every one of them at 100% all the time? Of course not. When youre feeling overwhelmed, check in with your mental priority list. (For example, is it essential that you organize your pantry when your child needs help with her homework or just wants your undivided attention? Probably not. In moments like these, when youre trying to get a million things done, start with the most important and go from there.
10. Practice mindfulness
There are a number of ways to practice mindfulness, including focusing on your breath at any given moment throughout the day, or meditating in a more structured and traditional way, either on your own or with guided help from an app like Headspace.
The Negative Effects Of Too Much Cortisol
Cortisol is an essential hormone produced and released by adrenal glands. Many people associate cortisol as being the stress hormone, but it actually has many important functions, including helping to regulate the bodys response to stress, control metabolism, suppress inflammation, regulate blood pressure and blood sugar, and help control the sleep-wake cycle, Dr. Jeffrey Dlott, Medical Director of Consumer Health at Quest Diagnostics, explains.
When your body is under stress, it sends a signal to the adrenal glands to release hormones including cortisol and adrenaline. Its the bodys way of prepping for a potentially dangerous, harmful or tense situation, and once the threat passes, hormones typically return to normal levels.
If youre constantly stressed, though, that return to normal levels might not always happen. Long-term, this can influence many of the bodys systems and processes and increase the risk of health conditions like heart disease, anxiety, depression, insulin resistance and diabetes, and obesity, Dr. Dlott adds.
Other issues that can contribute to high levels of cortisol include issues with the pituitary gland, an organ at the base of the brain that helps control hormone secretion, adrenal gland tumors, or estrogen. Certain medications can also contribute to high cortisol levels, such as certain steroids or oral contraceptives, so its important to work with your doctor to determine appropriate dosage levels and for monitoring.
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Signs You Have Health Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal emotion that we all experience to varying degrees. When someone has health anxiety, this means that they have worries and fears in relation to their health or health-related issues, Dr. Ernesto Lira de la Rosa, psychologist and Hope for Depression Research Foundation Media Advisor, explains. It is normal to experience anxiety about health-related concerns, especially with the current and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
There are also people who meet the criteria for a diagnosis called Illness Anxiety Disorder. This is a condition where someone is preoccupied with having or acquiring a serious illness.
Additionally, they may have little or no somatic symptoms, feel highly anxious about their health, become easily alarmed by personal health issues, find themselves engaging in repeatedly checking health status, or avoid going to doctors or hospitals, Dr. Lira de la Rosa adds. Illness Anxiety Disorder is diagnosed if the person has experienced these symptoms for more than six months and also experiences significant distress in their personal, educational or social life as a result of these symptoms.
Dr. Michele Goldman, psychologist and Hope for Depression Research Foundation Media Advisor provides a list of signs you have health anxiety:
Take A Dog For A Walk
I say take a dog for a walk, because it can be yours or a dog you borrow from a friend, but theres nothing like the constant excitement and unconditional love of a dog that make them great pals when youre stressed.
This fulfills the advice to get out of the house and get some exercise, while also having a bit of a social connection .
Bonus points if you get some doggy cuddles later or go for a splash around in the puddles with them.
It can be one of the best things to do to relax and focus on someone elses needs rather than your own.
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Worried You May Be Suffering From High Stress
Take our 2-minute stress level quiz to see if you could benefit from further diagnosis and treatment.
If you are experiencing any of these signs you may want to take action to reduce stress today. Here are some simple but revealing questions you can ask yourself to pinpoint areas for improvement or change. Asking the right questions can identify what improvements you can make to feel more relaxed and in control of your health.
Natural Ways To Lower Your Cortisol Levels
Cortisol is a stress hormone the adrenal glands release. It helps your body deal with stressful situations, as your brain triggers its release through the sympathetic nervous system the fight or flight system in response to many different kinds of stress .
While the short-term release of cortisol can help you run quickly from danger, when cortisol levels are too high for too long, this hormone can hurt you more than it helps .
Over time, this can lead to an array of health issues such as weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, insomnia or difficulty sleeping, mood irregularities, and low energy levels (
This article discusses 11 ways to help naturally lower your cortisol levels.
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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.
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
Get professional help from BetterHelps network of licensed therapists.
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Call Someone Who Doesnt Make You Stressed
If you dont have time to get together with someone, pick up the phone and call someone who doesnt make you stressed.
I say this because its important to call someone who you know will be a comforting presence on the other end of the line, not the friend who is so frantic herself that youll spend the entire time listening to how her world is falling apart.
Reaching out for that social connection can be the last thing we want to do when were stressed, but the chances youll feel a lot better afterwards and less alone in your stress are high.
Tigers Nest Temple Bhutan
Also known as Taktsang, it is a sacred monastery built on a rocky cliff 3,000 feet above the Paro valley. Legend has it, some 1,300 years ago, Guru Rinpoche materialized on the back of a flying tigress and converted the Bhutanese to Buddhism at this place.
This is a must-visit place because of the unique location and view that will leave you mesmerized. The background story of this place makes it even more unique and worth seeing.
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Make Time For Friends
Lets be honest here: Parenting can be exhausting. Sometimes a good old-fashioned girls or boys night is the perfect antidote for feeling stressed out by kids, work and household duties.
My girlfriends and I have a monthly standing Friday night date, where we leave the kids with our partners or sitters and head out for a night of fun, says mom of two Nicole Schultz of Scarsdale, New York. I swear, I can be super stressed out or in the worst mood, but as soon as I get out of my house and we get together, were laughing for three hours straight. I always come home revitalized and feeling recharged, even if its a late night!
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.
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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 meditate.
- 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 ‘how To Manage And Reduce Stress’
Stress affects us in many ways, both physically and emotionally, and in varying intensities. Research has shown that stress can sometimes be positive. It makes us more alert and helps us perform better in certain situations. However, stress has only been found to be beneficial if it is short-lived. This guide aims to give tips on managing and reducing stress.
Stress affects us in many ways, both physically and emotionally, and in varying intensities.
Research has shown that stress can sometimes be positive. It makes us more alert and helps us perform better in certain situations. However, stress has only been found to be beneficial if it is short-lived. Excessive or prolonged stress can lead to illnesses such as heart disease and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
During situations that make you feel threatened or upset, your body creates a stress response. This can cause various physical symptoms, change how you behave, and lead you to experience more intense emotions.
People react differently to stress. Some common symptoms of stress include sleeping problems, sweating, or a change in appetite.
As a result, you may experience headaches, muscle tension, pain, nausea, indigestion and dizziness. You may also breathe more quickly, have palpitations or suffer from various aches and pains. In the long-term, you may be putting yourself at risk from heart attacks and strokes.
When you are feeling stressed, try to take these steps:
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Make A Schedule Of Worry
Oftentimes, when things are stressful in our lives, we feel like we need to worry about them all of the time in order to solve them.
Sometimes, that just isnt true.
Say Im worried about future results of a medical test. I can spend my whole day stressed about it, or I can say, okay, I am going to give myself 15 minutes to worry and stress about them at 10:00am, and then after that, no more.
Give yourself permission to bottle up some of that stress into specific time periods so you can spend the rest of your time knowing that you cant do anything to change it and should instead get on with your life.
Its the same thing if youre stressed about a busy schedule or upcoming performance.
Your schedule is only going to get busier if you fill it with stressing out, and the more time you spend stressed, the less time youll have to practice for your performance.
Accept that stress is a natural part of life, but tell it that it only has a few minutes and stick to it.
