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The millennial generation (people between 18 and 33 years old) experiences the highest levels of stress compared to the rest. Why? The reason is lifestyle. To save yourself from anxiety and stress, it is worth changing your usual activities.
12% of millennials suffer from anxiety attacks, and 30% experience anxiety all the time1. Our habits can provoke stress and anxiety:
1. Lack of sleep
Checking mail on a smartphone before going to bed and immediately after waking up, working with a laptop in bed. Do not drag problems and daily responsibilities to the place where you should relax and rest as much as possible. Instead, make the bedroom a gadget-free zone. Try to go to bed at the same time every day. Sign up for evening yoga classes to calm down and relax.
2. Skipping meals
Regular and balanced nutrition not only normalizes metabolism and insulin levels, but also helps to avoid stress. Skipping breakfast or lunch, ignoring the feeling of hunger for hours, we make our body suffer. Blood sugar levels fluctuate, leading to feelings of anxiety, tremors, and dizziness. Dehydration has the same effect. Water and food are the main biological needs of man. Their deficiency will naturally lead to anxiety and restlessness. Immediately after waking up, drink a glass of water, try to make sure that you drink at least one and a half liters of clean water per day. No opportunity to dine? Carry a snack in your bag — a granola bar, a handful of nuts, dried fruits.
“Coffee can make us nervous and irritable, especially if we have a predisposition to anxiety.”
3. Coffee
Yes, coffee invigorates. And sometimes a cup of good coffee helps us complete a difficult task in the shortest possible time. But coffee can also make us nervous and irritable, especially if we already have a predisposition to anxiety. And doctors recommend avoiding the drink altogether if you’re suffering from panic attacks — at this time the sensitivity to caffeine is very high, and even a cup of latte can provoke a panic attack. In addition, caffeine dehydrates the body, which leads to the consequences described in the previous paragraph. Try to drink only one cup a day, and no later than six in the evening. Over time, replace coffee with black tea.
4. Sedentary lifestyle
A sedentary lifestyle, common to most of us, increases the risk of developing anxiety. Every hour and a half, get up from your chair and walk for a few minutes, for example, up the stairs. Try to go outside during your lunch break. And don’t forget about sports!
Most of the time we do this with our smartphones. According to research conducted at Baylor University (USA)2, each millennial spends about 9 hours a day on the phone. This increases the excitability of the nervous system and contributes to anxiety. Well, social networks themselves have been repeatedly called the cause of depression and depression. Try to give yourself a «digital detox» for a few days, use your phone only for calls. Over time, the habit of looking into it every 30 seconds will disappear.
6. Work seven days a week
Millennials, unlike the previous generation, evaluate their performance not by the number of hours spent, but by the volume of tasks completed. They view work as an “occupation” rather than a “place.” Result? Work before the start of the working day and after the end. We think about working on weekends and holidays, we write letters to colleagues on Friday nights. All this leads to emotional burnout and stress. You can remain ambitious and productive, even if you work only eight hours a day, from 9 to 18. Always distinguish between your personal life and work, plan your day, do not let work problems deprive you and your loved ones of rest.
7. Watch TV shows
After a hard day at work, all you want to do is order food delivery, sit on the couch and watch the latest season of Game of Thrones. But experts warn — this is the worst holiday possible. Studies show that after just two hours of continuous TV viewing, people feel more anxious and depressed than before. Plus, the researchers found that people with depression or anxiety had significantly more hours of TV time than normal.
How to unwind after work? Meet up with friends, have a romantic dinner, walk the dog, play badminton, cook your favorite meal, call your parents, visit your grandma, draw, go to a workout… the possibilities are endless.
1 «Stress in America: The impact of discrimination». Stress in AmericaTM Survey. American Psychological Association, 2016.
2 M. Teychenne, S. Costigan, K. Parker «The association between sedentary behaviour and risk of anxiety: a systematic review», BMC Public Health, 2015.