Talk It Out With A Friend
When youre feeling stressed, take a break to call a friend and talk about your problems. Good relationships with friends and loved ones are important to any healthy lifestyle.
Theyre especially important when youre under a lot of stress. A reassuring voice, even for a minute, can put everything in perspective.
Factors That Can Make You More
So, how serious is your situation? What might be contributing to your feeling stressed all the time?
Read on
The following ten points youre unlikely to ever have considered as stressful to your body/mind
You Spend Too Much Time On Social Media
While the use of social media relates to screen time, it in and of itself carries a slew of adverse effects on ones mental health and stress levels. Remember, stress is a triggered response, and social media has been found to induce stress in different ways.
Social media causes us to compare. Whether consciously or subconsciously, the inundation of images of people who look better, sound better, or seem better than how you perceive yourself causes us incredible anxiety and feelings of low self-esteem. Social media gives you images of peoples happiest and most put-together moments, which can lead to unrealistic expectations of our own lives, which ultimately causes undue stress.
One of the darker sides of social media is that it is highly addicting. Social media has been proven to be both psychologically and physically addicting. Like any addiction, when you are without the source, your body and brain enter withdrawal symptoms. Being removed from social media, if you are addicted, can cause you to experience feelings of stress and anxiety.
In a strange twist, the act of trying to stop using social media as often and not being able to is another direct cause of stress. Many people attempt to limit or stop using social media to reduce stress, only to find that they are more stressed than before. This is a red flag that you are addicted to social media and should consult with your physician.
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What To Say To Someone Whos Stressed About Life
Life is a complicated experience, and things dont always go according to plan. Whether you need to know what to say when someone has a sick family member, or youve run out of ways to say how can I help.” try these powerful phrases.
13. Ive got your back no matter what happens.
Its easy to feel compelled to take action when something bad happens to a loved one. Instead, they likely just need a shoulder to cry on. Letting them know that youre there for them even for the challenging days strengthens your connection.
14. This isnt your fault.
One way to be supportive is to listen to what someone has to say and let them know they dont have to shoulder the full burden of this anxiety. We dont have to allow for greater fear when we can relieve them of this pain.
15. Do you want to talk about something else?
Sometimes people just need a distraction. Open the door to a lighter conversation by prompting if its time to think about something else. From there, engage your loved one in something more comforting.
16. Silence.
Last but not least, sometimes the best thing you can say is nothing at all. At times, you just need to listen to your loved one about their concerns. Let them talk through their stress and worries. The act of talking to others is a stress-reliever in itself.
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.
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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.”
Take The Sting Out Of 10 Common Stressors
Sometimes just thinking about embarking on a program of stress control can be stressful. Rather than freeze in your tracks, start small and bask in the glow of your successes. Give yourself a week to focus on practical solutions that could help you cope with just one stumbling block or source of stress in your life. Pick a problem, and see if these suggestions work for you.
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Helping Children And Youth Cope With Stress
Children and youth often struggle with how to cope with stress. Youth can be particularly overwhelmed when their stress is connected to a traumatic eventlike a natural disaster, family loss, school shootings, or community violence. Parents, caregivers, and educators can take steps to provide stability and support that help young people feel better.
Things To Do If You Feel Anxious
Everyone goes through periods of feeling anxious and worried. After all, its a normal human experience. And whether youre dealing with occasional bouts of anxiety or trying to manage excessive worries, doubts, and fears, having tools to help you calm your mind and body can reduce the intensity and duration of these feelings.
Here are nine strategies that can relax your mind, ease your anxiety, and help you regain control of your thoughts so that you can feel better.
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Your Everyday Inconveniences Are Triggering Deeper Feelings
There are many things throughout the day that can lead to brief feelings of stress or anxiety. These add up over time, and more importantly, they trigger more deep-seated fears we may have subconsciously. Before long, you may find yourself stressed out about something that seems like it should be no big deal.
For example, your long commute or a traffic jam can be minorly stressful. However, it can also trigger your fear of being late or being irresponsible.
Perhaps someone was rude to you while you were grabbing your morning coffee. While this is annoying and unnecessary, it really shouldnt be cause for stress. This encounter may bring up unresolved fears of being inadequate or being bullied, in which case, could become a trigger for high stress.
It could just be that these everyday mundane inconveniences dont quite fit into your unrealistic expectations, which we previously discussed. If you find yourself being stressed out over these daily occurrences, you should take some time to reflect on what the actual stressor is in these scenarios.
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.
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Procrastination As A Mental Health Symptom
The source of procrastination sometimes runs a little deeper than a difficulty regulating emotions.
If you live with anxiety, for example, you might spend a lot of time worrying about what specific tasks involve or feeling nervous about what could go wrong. These kinds of fears can absolutely lead to delay.
The link between anxiety conditions and perfectionism can also play a part in procrastination. When you dont believe you can do something perfectly, you might feel anxious about doing it at all and continually put it off instead.
Depression, which often wears away at energy and self-worth, can also involve procrastination. You might neglect certain responsibilities because you cant muster up the motivation to complete them, or because you doubt yourself and your skills.
Procrastination can also result from
Central Nervous And Endocrine Systems
Your central nervous system is in charge of your fight or flight response. In your brain, the hypothalamus gets the ball rolling, telling your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones rev up your heartbeat and send blood rushing to the areas that need it most in an emergency, such as your muscles, heart, and other important organs.
When the perceived fear is gone, the hypothalamus should tell all systems to go back to normal. If the CNS fails to return to normal, or if the stressor doesnt go away, the response will continue.
Chronic stress is also a factor in behaviors such as overeating or not eating enough, alcohol or drug abuse, and social withdrawal.
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You Feel Like You Work So Hard All The Time But Hardly Make Any Progress
Theres always more laundry to do and dishes to wash and food to cook. Theres always more work to do and plans to make. When your stressed, it can feel like youre constantly chasing a finish line that keeps getting further and further away.
What to do about it: Decluttering my home and your mind has been really helpful for me to get a handle on everything fighting for my attention. Although Im not a hardcore minimalist, I really love and appreciate minimalism because it allows you to focus on what truly matters, and remove what doesnt. Check out: 12 Powerful Books on Minimalism and Simple Living.
Mindfulness And Mantra Meditation
Mindfulness is an ancient form of meditation that promotes awareness of whats happening in the moment.
It encourages you to focus on your body, your thoughts, and whats going on around you.
Mantra meditation, on the other hand, is the opposite of mindfulness. In this practice, you place all your attention on a single target, like a mantra, a candle flame, or a phrase.
In both types of meditations, whenever your mind wanders — and it will Smith says — you simply re-focus.
It’s a brain skill, he says. In that in the first 2 weeks you won’t be able to do it very well. Your mind will constantly chatter and distract, and that’s normal, that happens.
But as you practice, youll get better at it.
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What To Do When You Are Really Stressed Out
I hope you are enjoying the start of your summer! This months newsletter is dedicated to what to do in the moment when you are really stressed out. I have written previously about holding your center when things are falling apart or where you are having a major life stressor. .
Acute stress such as worrying about deadlines, being late, performance anxiety, or dealing with frustrating customer service, can unfortunately be very harmful, and therefore is critical for you to interrupt and halt the stress response and ideally prevent it from occurring.
I want to point out that all stress is not bad, as we need some positive stress to energize and motivate us, and increase our focus and performance. This is called EUSTRESS.
We also need the stress response in emergent situations.
You see, when you get stressed, your body pumps out adrenaline , and cortisol, hormones that work to get your body and mind ready to fight or flee. Your heart rate increases to pump blood around the body, your pupils dilate so you can see better, your respirations get faster and shallower, blood is directed away from the stomach and sexual organs to the large muscles of the arms and legs, so you are ready for action.
But many of us, including myself, have gotten aggravated and stressed, out of proportion to situations that are not life threatening. We catastrophize. This excessive stress reaction can damage our minds and bodies.
For these Acute Stressful Situations, I recommend the following:
Admit That You Are Anxious Or Angry
Its important, to be honest with ourselves about how were feeling. If you are stressed out then it is okay to admit that so you can get the help needed in order to overcome whatever it is that might be burdening your mind and weighing down on your heart. Sometimes just telling someone whats wrong can make all the difference because theyll know exactly what needs doing, who needs talking to/about, or maybe even where something went missing which will solve everything by itself once revealed! No big deal after all
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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.
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Understand That Sometimes Stress Is Inevitable
Stress isnt always bad though despite what people may tell you, but if this happens to be one of those times where it feels like your entire world is crashing down around you and there doesnt appear to be any escape from feeling so overwhelmedwell dont worry about it too much because these feelings will eventually pass Just remember even when were hurting inside or struggling through particularly hard moments which leave us feeling lost and confused then our emotions are still valid just know that whatever is causing you stress at this very moment is completely normal and that its okay to feel stressed out!
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