Help Them To Recognise There’s A Problem
It’s easier to spot signs of stress in other people than it is to see them in ourselves. And often people don’t want to admit, even to themselves, that they’re starting to struggle.
Unfortunately, this means many people plough on, despite the warning signs, until they can no longer cope. If you’ve noticed changes in someone’s behaviour that suggests they’re feeling stressed, reach out to them. Let them know that you’ve noticed they don’t seem quite themselves.
Taking Steps To Manage Stress
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What Are The Signs Of Stress
How you might feel
If the stress is long-lasting, you may notice your sleep and memory are affected, your eating habits change, or you feel less inclined to exercise.
Some research has also linked long-term stress to gastrointestinal conditions like Irritable Bowel Syndrome or stomach ulcers, as well as conditions like cardiovascular disease.
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What Are Some Strategies For Stress Relief
You cant avoid stress, but you can stop it from becoming overwhelming by practicing some daily strategies:
- Exercise when you feel symptoms of stress coming on. Even a short walk can boost your mood.
- At the end of each day, take a moment to think about what youve accomplished not what you didnt get done.
- Set goals for your day, week and month. Narrowing your view will help you feel more in control of the moment and long-term tasks.
- Consider talking to a therapist or your healthcare provider about your worries.
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Coping With Stress And Anxiety
Learning what causes or triggers your stress and what coping techniques work for you can help reduce your anxiety and improve your daily life. It may take trial and error to discover what works best for you. Here are some activities you can try when you start to feel overwhelmed:
- Keep a journal.
- Exercise, and make sure you are eating healthy, regular meals.
- Stick to a sleep routine, and make sure you are getting enough sleep.
- Avoid drinking excess caffeine such as soft drinks or coffee.
- Identify and challenge your negative and unhelpful thoughts.
- Reach out to your friends or family members who help you cope in a positive way.
You Having Trouble Sleeping Well
If you find yourself waking up and worrying or ruminating over things, it could be a sign of anxiety or depression, says Dr. Colgan. After a long day, sleep should come easy and getting into bed should finally be a time when you can shut your brain off. If you feel tired but have a difficult time falling asleep, its possible you have stress-related fatigue.
What to do: Talk to your doctor if this is regular occurrence. Discuss whether your chronic stress may have led to depression, says Dr. Colgan. When youre not sleeping well, everyday annoyances might make you feel even more overwhelmed and frustrated because youre more vulnerable. A tired body is not well prepared to cope with stressful situations and ward off illness, says Tuit. She suggests addressing your sleep issues by asking yourself if youre getting six or more hours of sleep each night. If not, determine whats interfering with that. Cutting back on caffeinated and alcoholic beverages and increasing exercise can also improve sleep patterns, she says.
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Coping With Stress At Work
Working hard should not be confused with overworking at the expense of relationships and physical health.
Coping with stress at work.
Everyone who has ever held a job has, at some point, felt the pressure of work-related stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. In the short-term, you may experience pressure to meet a deadline or to fulfill a challenging obligation. But when work stress becomes chronic, it can be overwhelmingand harmful to both physical and emotional health.
Unfortunately, such long-term stress is all too common. In fact, has consistently found that work is cited as a significant source of stress by a majority of Americans. You cant always avoid the tensions that occur on the job. Yet you can take steps to manage work-related stress.
Meet Up With A Friend
What are friends for besides helping us stop stressing about everything?
Social interaction is often a good thing when it comes to being stressed, as it can make us feel more normal and let us vent our frustrations out.
It also helps us turn our attention to other people instead of just our own hectic schedules.
Make plans to meet up with a friend that you trust and is a good listener, and make sure to fit it in where you can.
If youre stressed because your schedule is so busy and you cant find time to meet people, see if you can plan to hang out while doing something you already needed to do anyway like picking the kids up from school or even do something simple like your grocery shopping together.
Reach out for that human connection!
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Act Quickly To Ease Stress
Stopping your stress response early can help you to respond more calmly, instead of behaving in a way that you might regret.
Quick stress relievers such as breathing exercises or progressive muscle relaxation, for example, can calm you down and help you feel less frustrated and more able to handle what comes. Be prepared with quick stress relievers to use next time you feel overwhelmed.
What To Say To Someone Whos Stressed During A Tragedy
Tragedy strikes often at unexpected times, leaving people struggling to pick up the pieces. Its not always easy to sympathize during times like these, especially if you havent experienced a tragedy of your own. However, you should still support them through these messages.
1. Im so sorry for your loss.
If youre not very close to the individual, this is the best way to let them know youre thinking of them. Not everyone knows how to console someone, but you can still say something helpful.
2. Is there anything I can do to help?
If youre closer to the individual who experienced a tragedy, ask how you can help. They might not need you, but its still nice to know youre willing and able. However, make sure youre willing to follow through before you offer.
3. Do you need to talk about it?
While your loved one might not be willing or ready to talk about their particular tragedy, it never hurts to ask. Having an option to talk through your feelings and experience with someone you trust does wonder in times of need. Dont be offended by their answer, just be prepared to listen if you need to.
4. Im here for you during this difficult time.
Even if you cant take away their pain, you can still be there for them while theyre facing a crisis. This is a kind way to say youre sorry for their loss without going too in-depth into your own feelings.
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The Future Only Exists In Our Thoughts
The future exists only in our thoughts, but it still triggers a stress response
Imagine biting into a juicy lemon. If you really engage with this thought and imagine it, your mouth will draw together and produce more saliva even though the lemon isnt real. Its the same with the future. The future exists only in our thoughts, but it still triggers a stress response. It is within this context that the most useful solution to the problem is to be found.
Who Is Affected By Stress
All of us can probably recognise some of the feelings described above. Some people seem to be more affected by stress than others. For some people, getting out of the door on time each morning can be a very stressful experience, whereas others may be less affected with a great deal of pressure.
Some people are more likely to experience stressful situations than others. For example:
- people with a lot of debt or financial insecurity are more likely to be stressed about money
- people from minority ethnic groups or who are LGBTIQ+ are more likely to be stressed about prejudice or discrimination
- people with disabilities or long-term health conditions are more likely to be stressed about their health or about stigma associated with their condition.
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Write A Letter And Tear It Up
If youre wanting to relieve stress that is clouding up your mind, write a letter to whoever is causing you the stress or write down all of the reasons why youre stressed and then tear it up.
It sounds very Buddha-esque, but it truly can help in letting you physically and figuratively push away your worries.
Not only does the act of getting them down on paper help you to organize things in your mind, but tearing it up and throwing it away can also help your mind release them.
Just make sure you dont actually send the letter, because hateful and rant-filled letters are going to cause you more stress, not less.
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.”
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Common Sources Of Work Stress
Certain factors tend to go hand-in-hand with work-related stress. Some common workplace stressors are:
- Low salaries
- Few opportunities for growth or advancement
- Work that isnt engaging or challenging
- Lack of social support
- Not having enough control over job-related decisions
- Conflicting demands or unclear performance expectations
So You’ve Got A Bad Day Again
You’ve got rid of everything that gets you down, but still dont quite feel right
Its nearly the end of 2020 , youve been watching and your home is now spotless. Youve gotten rid of the old makeup, friends, and exes that you should, but you still feel stressed out You might need to take a step back and do some mental oosoji .
Here are three tips that can help you refresh and reset your mindand hopefully help you make 2021 a better year for yourself.
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The Link Between Frustration And Stress
Stress and frustration act on each other in a variety of ways:
- Stress may cause you to feel like you don’t have the resources to overcome challenges, and feeling unable to reach your goals is a key component of frustration.
- Frustration is a common reaction to a recurring, unresolved stressor.
- Frustration is often accompanied by aggression, hostility, impulsivity, and defensivenessand these emotions can generate their own stress if you don’t deal with them in a healthy manner.
- Increased frustration, irritability, and sensitivity can be signs of burnout, which is often caused by chronic, unmitigated stress.
Don’t Ignore Your Stress
People often don’t address their stress in a proactive way until they feel overwhelmed by it, and often then, they tend to be reactive rather than proactive, which doesn’t always lead to the best decision-making. Stress management is an ongoing process, not a one-time act.
It is important to have an overall stress management plan that includes not only cutting out stressors and managing stress that you feel, but actually remaining aware of the stress you are experiencing, and not letting your stress levels get too high.
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Pour Your Stress On Paper
Not literally though! If you are feeling stressed about a certain problem in your life, writing it down will not only lower your stress but will also help you find out a solution very easily. And if you are feeling low for no particular reason, you should try writing about the things in your life for which you are grateful. This writing process works like a miracle.
What A Girl Wants
Content
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Sometimes what you need is a really good moviesomething meatier, with a proper buildup, conflict, and climaxto get you through the day or night. Besides, you deserve an hour or two of true relaxation, and setting aside a more solid chunk of self care time when youre feeling down is all the more important. Enter a work of pure cinema art youre lucky to catch on Netflix: What a Girl Wants. A young Amanda Bynes plays a hippie teenager who finds out that her father is a high-ranking government official in the U.K. She flies to London to meet him and is swept into the grand, British life he leadsall to his advisors dismay. This is a must-watch, and if you didnt see it when it came out in 2003as it is a peak 2003 movieplease do so stat.
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Eat At Your Favorite Restaurant
If you dont like or want to cook, your favorite restaurant is always there for you!
Pick a time to go and eat, either with just a friend or with your whole family.
You dont need a reason to go out and get your favorite meal or to hold a celebration.
Get together just to get together and show support to your favorite chains or local restaurants, and make sure to order exactly what you want with no thought of calories or diets.
This is your destress meal.
Then savor it.
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:
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Job Loss And Unemployment Stress
Losing a job is one of lifes most stressful experiences. Its normal to feel angry, hurt, or depressed, grieve for all that youve lost, or feel anxious about what the future holds. Job loss and unemployment involves a lot of change all at once, which can rock your sense of purpose and self-esteem. While the stress can seem overwhelming, there are many steps you can take to come out of this difficult period stronger, more resilient, and with a renewed sense of purpose.
What Are Some Ways To Prevent Stress
Many daily strategies can help you keep stress at bay:
- Try relaxation activities, such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, breathing exercises and muscle relaxation. Programs are available online, in smartphone apps, and at many gyms and community centers.
- Take good care of your body each day. Eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep help your body handle stress much better.
- Stay positive and practice gratitude, acknowledging the good parts of your day or life.
- Accept that you cant control everything. Find ways to let go of worry about situations you cannot change.
- Learn to say no to additional responsibilities when you are too busy or stressed.
- Stay connected with people who keep you calm, make you happy, provide emotional support and help you with practical things. A friend, family member or neighbor can become a good listener or share responsibilities so that stress doesnt become overwhelming.
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