You feel stressed-out when you have too much to handle and you’re getting overwhelmed by everything. Your body reacts in a certain way once it feels those stress triggers. It goes on a defense mode and acts like you’re in danger. You’re heart beats faster, you breathe rapidly, and you’ll have that burst of extra energy. This is what is referred to as the “Flight-or-fight” response of the body.
Stress is not always so bad, and it can even be beneficial at times. It can help you react and think in a quicker manner—help you win races, finish important tasks before the deadline, or make delicate decisions in the nick of time.
However, if stress lasts too long or happens too often, it can’t be good for your system. It can result to gastric pains, headaches, back pain and even insomnia. It can take a toll in your immune system which makes you more prone to contracting diseases. It can make you more moody, agitated and sometimes, depressed. Your personal relationships may suffer and you’ll generally feel less happy and discontented with your life.
What should be done if you feel stressed?
Everybody gets stressed at some point, so you’re definitely not alone. And the good thing about it is there are many ways to manage stress and help beat it. To start managing your stress levels, first do the following:
- Find your stress triggers.
- Spot ways to reduce your stress levels.
- Learn about how your stress levels affect the quality of your life and find ways to relieve your stress.
Steps to Avoiding Stress
For most people, stress is a way of life. You may not be able to eliminate stress in its entirety but you can certainly look for ways to lower it. You might want to try some the ideas below:
- Explore better ways to help you time manage. If you make a schedule of things you need to accomplish, you might end up doing more things minus a lot of stress accompanying it. Prioritize the most important ones first then work down the list.
- Find ways to cope better. Look at how you’ve managing your stressors lately and be totally honest to yourself about what’s working and what’s not.
- Love and take care of yourself. Eat well and rest well. Skip the alcohol, don’t smoke and focus on healthier ways to entertain yourself to take all those edge off.
- Speak up and assert yourself. Studies have shown that people who are bottling their emotions and thought up within themselves tend to be more stressed than others. Not being able to talk about your needs and other concerns can make those bubbling negative feelings even worse.
- You can ask for help. No man is an island is a saying that’s not been invented for no apparent reason. People who have a good network of friends and family appear to manage stress a lot better than their contemporaries who don’t have the same support system.
Ways to Relieve Stress
You’ll feel a lot better if you can manage to find an activity that can get the stress out of your system. Every one caters to stress a bit differently. Below are some ideas you may want to consider:
- Exercise. Basically any kind of physical activity—walking, running, dancing, and more helps in the release of endorphins, otherwise known as the body’s “happy hormones”. Not only will this activity help you in ridding your body of stress, but can also help you achieve your fitness goals.
- Write. For many people, speaking up can be daunting, so instead of bottling those feelings up, why not release it through writing. It’s personal and very much liberating.
- Do something you actually enjoy. You can’t please the entire world but you certainly hold the key to your happiness. A new hobby can help you relax and a lot of people say that volunteering can help shoo the stress away.
- Focus. Meditate. Do yoga. Basically anything that can help deviate your mind from all those negative thoughts.
