On the Internet, you can easily come across innumerable articles telling you how to have your stress levels lowered. This time around, let’s put our attention on some of the worst ways to cope with stress that so many people (and one of them could be you!) are guilty of doing. So don’t stop reading now if your everyday life is stressful and you don’t want to wind up even more stressed.
Frustrated that the more you try to deal with stress, the more stressed you become? Maybe you’re not giving the stress-reducing activity of your choice enough time for it to do its job. Or maybe the pursuit you are doing is actually making your stress worse rather than get rid of it once and for all — it is parading as a stress reliever when in fact it’s leaving you feeling stressed even more!
Below you will come across some of the worst ways to cope with stress, some of which you may be habitually counting on and that’s why you’re not seeing any favorable result. Make sure that you repost this article later on before you go to save your family members and friends who are leading very stressful lives from mistakenly committing the following:
Excessive Coffee Intake
A lot of coffee drinkers swear that having a cup of coffee helps to relieve their stress-induced headache. No, they’re not making it up — as a matter of fact, caffeine is added to some headache medications. Scientists add that a little coffee can help a person to enjoy reduced stress as well as feel better as caffeine has mood-lifting properties.
However, it’s a completely different story if you try to deal with stress by drinking lots and lots of coffee. That’s because introducing loads of caffeine into your system will cause your body to produce more stress hormones. Needless to say, this is something that can lead to the worsening of stress.
See to it that you drink coffee in moderation if you’re feeling stressed. Better yet, simply opt for a cup of green tea or chamomile tea.
Cigarette Smoking
Just like caffeine in coffee, nicotine in cigarette is a stimulant. It goes without saying that smoking can leave you feeling more stressed, not to mention it can keep you from catching some Z’s at night (more on this matter later on).
It’s important to note that cigarette smoking should be avoided not only because it’s an ineffective way to cope with high levels of stress, but also due to the fact that it’s something that can wreak havoc to your health. Experts link smoking to increased risk of lung cancer and heart disease — developing any one of them can leave you more stressed!
Quit cigarette smoking if you’re a smoker. Not only will smoking aggravate your stress, but also considerably shorten your lifespan.
Drinking Alcohol
Having alcohol can definitely make you forget about things that are leaving you feeling stressed. However, there’s a fine line between forgetting stress and not doing something about it — once the effects of alcohol wear off, your stress (and stressors, too) will all come back and thus leave you stressed all over again.
It’s no secret that high levels of stress can make it really difficult to fall asleep at night. If you think that drinking alcohol is an excellent remedy for this, think again. The presence of alcohol in your bloodstream can certainly leave you feeling sleepy. However, according to health authorities it’s important to note that it’s something that can keep you from enjoying high-quality and uninterrupted sleep.
Besides, waking up with a terrible hangover the next day is an added stressor to your life. Always remember: drink alcohol moderately.
Sleeping Excessively
Congratulate yourself if you still find it trouble-free to sleep without taking alcohol despite of having a lot of stressful thoughts in your mind. That’s because having 7 to 9 hours of restorative sleep at night is a highly effective way to have your stress levels lowered and also reduce your risk of health issues associated with chronic stress.
Unfortunately, sleeping more than you need can do more harm than good. Did you know that numerous studies say that excessive sleeping can actually increase one’s risk of suffering from the likes of diabetes, heart attack and stroke? Besides, sleeping all day long can keep you from having enough time to deal with life issues that are causing you stress.
Having enough sleep is good for eliminating stress and reducing its effects on your mind and body, but in excessive amounts it’s bad for you.
Eating Too Much
A lot of people wind up overeating each time they’re feeling stressed — they’re referred to as stress eaters. Bombarding the body with sugar and carbohydrates can help to instantly lift the mood, thus making it seem like stress is a non-existing thing. Sadly, once the levels of sugar and carbs in the body drops (it’s bound to happen real soon!) the mood drops as well, and this can leave the person feeling not only down but even more stressed.
There are also those who tend to lose their appetite when stressed. Just like overeating, not having enough food is bad. That’s because it can keep the body from getting the vitamins and minerals it needs to bounce back from stress, including most especially vitamin C, B vitamins, magnesium and stress.
Whether stressed or not, make sure that you eat the right amount and also the right kinds of food in order for you to stay healthy.
