How Can I Deal With Stress? Proven ways to relieve stress

Stress is a phenomenon that we deal with almost every day. It accompanies us on various levels of life – at school, studies, at work, at home, during illness. Stress affects our body in two ways – it is in some situations a factor necessary for survival and a kind of motivator pushing us to act. However, stress can also have negative effects. How does chronic, long-term stress affect the body? How Can I Deal With Stress?

What is stress?

Stress is our body’s response to pressure. Many different situations or life events can cause stress. It often occurs when we experience something new, unexpected, or threatening to our sense of security, or when we feel we have little control over the situation.

We all deal with stress differently. Our ability to cope may depend on our genetics, early life events, personality, and social and economic circumstances.

When we experience stress, our body produces stress hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol) that trigger a fight-or-flight response and activate our immune system. This helps us to react quickly to dangerous situations.

Sometimes the stress response can be useful: it can help us overcome fear or pain, such as running a marathon or giving a speech. Our stress hormones usually return to normal quickly after the stressful event is over, and there will be no lasting effects.

However, too much stress can have negative effects. It can leave us in a permanent fight or flight phase, leaving us overwhelmed or unable to cope. In the long run, this can affect our physical and mental health.

Many things that can lead to stress: bereavement, divorce or separation, loss of job or unexpected financial problems. Work-related stress can also have a negative impact on your mental health. People affected by work-related stress lose an average of 24 working days due to poor health.

Even positive life changes, such as moving to a bigger house, getting promoted at work or going on vacation, can be a source of stress.. If you feel stressed in these situations, you may have difficulty understanding why or why you don’t want to share your feelings with others.

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How can you recognize stress?

Each of us experiences stress. However, when it does affect your life, health and well-being, it is important to deal with it as soon as possible. While stress affects everyone differently, there are common signs and symptoms to look out for:

1. feeling constantly worried or anxious
2. feeling overwhelmed
3. difficulty concentrating
4. mood swings or mood changes
5. irritability or nervousness
6. difficulty relaxing
7. poor self-esteem,
8. increased or decreased appetite,
9. insomnia or excessive sleepiness
10. using alcohol, tobacco to relax,
11. aches and pains, especially muscle tension,
12. diarrhea and constipation
13. nausea or dizziness
14. loss of sex drive.

If you are experiencing these symptoms for a long time and feel that they are affecting your daily life or making you feel unwell, talk to your GP. You should ask for information on available support and treatment services.

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Physical symptoms of stress

People react differently to stress. Some common symptoms of stress include: trouble sleeping, sweating, or a change in appetite. These symptoms are triggered by the surge of stress hormones in the body that, when released, allow you to deal with the pressure or threats. This is known as the “fight or flight” response. Hormones called adrenaline and norepinephrine raise blood pressure, increase heart rate, and make sweating faster. This prepares your body for an emergency response. These hormones can also reduce blood flow to the skin and reduce stomach activity. Cortisol, another stress hormone, releases fat and sugar into the body to increase energy.

As a result, you may experience headache, muscle tension, pain, nausea, indigestion, and dizziness. You can also breathe faster, have heart palpitations or suffer from various ailments and pains. In the long term, you may be at risk of heart attacks and strokes.

All of these changes are your body’s way of making it easier for you to fight or flee. After the pressure or threat has passed, your stress hormone levels usually return to normal. However, if you are constantly under stress, these hormones remain in your body, leading to symptoms of stress. If you get stuck in a crowded office or on an overcrowded train, you can’t fight or run, so you can’t use up the stress hormones your body produces to protect you. Over time, the build-up of these hormones and the changes they cause can be harmful to your health.

See: Stress in pregnancy – causes, symptoms, effects, and ways to deal with stress

Behavioral and emotional symptoms of stress

When you are stressed, you may experience many different feelings, including anxiety, irritability, or low self-esteem, which can lead to withdrawal, indecision, or crying.

You may experience periods of constant worry, racing thoughts, or repeating the same things in your head. Some people experience changes in their behavior. They may lose their temper more easily, act irrationally, or become more verbally or physically aggressive. These feelings can feed on each other and trigger physical symptoms that can make you feel even worse.

See: The constant crying of an infant may be a harbinger of ADHD

How To Manage Stress – Get Moving!

Nothing reduces stress to such an extent as regular physical activity. It allows you to focus your thoughts on the exercise, cut off the stress-inducing factor and rest. It is also the easiest way to relieve tension. Exercise releases endorphins – peptide hormones that stimulate opioid receptors in the brain.

This, in turn, causes a feeling of self-satisfaction, significantly raises the mood, reduces pain and reduces muscle tension. Endorphins allow you to relax and unwind. Another advantage of exercise is that you can do it the way you like it – jogging, cycling, gym, walking, etc. Any regular physical activity soothes your nerves and helps you deal with stress more easily. It also restores self-confidence and contributes to easier decision making. Physical activity helps to reduce irritability and gives a sense of balanced thinking.

Read: Happiness hormones – how do they work and when are they released? Proven ways to induce happiness hormones

How To Manage Stress – Breathe!

Just focusing on your breathing or changing the way you breathe can make a big difference to your overall stress level. Breathing techniques can calm your body and brain in just minutes.

The best news is that no one around you will even know that you are doing these exercises. Whether you’re in a stressful meeting or sitting in a crowded theater, breathing exercises can be the key to reducing stress.

While there are many different breathing exercises, a few simple ones include:

1. breathe through your nose and watch your belly fill with air. Slowly count to three as you inhale. Hold for one second, then exhale slowly through your nose, counting to three again.
2. breathe through your nose and imagine that you are breathing in calm, still air. Imagine the air flowing through your body. As you exhale, imagine exhaling stress and tension. 

The editorial board recommends: What breathing techniques to use in the era of coronavirus? We ask the doctor

How to Manage Stress – Eat a balanced diet

Improper diet can increase your reactivity to stress. Eating under the influence of emotions and reaching for foods high in fat and sugar can provide temporary relief, which ultimately aggravates long-term stress.

Refined carbohydrates found in processed foods can increase blood sugar levels. When your blood sugar levels drop, you may experience more stress and anxiety.

Eating a healthy diet can help you fight stress in the long run. Foods such as eggs, avocados and walnuts support mood regulation and energy balance.

See: What raises sugar? Non-obvious causes of glucose spikes that you had no idea about

How to deal with stress at work?

First, do your job. Simply carry out your duties by doing it conscientiously and carefully, but don’t let work take away your precious time for rest and relaxation. Try not to bring work home. Don’t take more jobs if it would generate sleepless nights. Remember that money is important, but not the most important. The most important thing is your well-being, which translates into a healthy body and… increased efficiency at work. An exhausted organism is an inefficient organism.

This makes you unable to focus properly on the task at hand, and what would normally take you an hour takes another and another. Second: don’t worry about the opinion of others and be assertive. If someone attacks you, don’t get into an argument with them and explain diplomatically why you don’t feel like discussing them. It is not worth worrying about what others think about you, as it only generates unnecessary nervousness and distraction. Lowering concentration means lowering work efficiency, and this in turn causes another source of stress. Learn to say no.

See also: A short vacation is healthier than a long vacation

How to deal with stress – positive thinking is the key to success?

According to psychologists, in the life of every person there is such a thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is a phenomenon that happens under the influence of our thinking. J.If we keep repeating that the goal we have chosen cannot be achieved, we will unleash the mechanism of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is easy to present it on the example of a situation from everyday life: you dream of a change of job, in which you will have the opportunity to develop, but in your head there are thoughts like “I certainly couldn’t make it”, “I’m good for nothing”.

This is called anxious thinking, which on the one hand is a normal phenomenon, but from a different perspective – it is thinking that triggers unnecessary stress in us. The basis is action and… positive thinking. Instead of telling yourself that you will not make it, think rather: “I am a competent person and deserve a promotion”, “I can do it for sure, I have nothing to fear.” Remember that positive thinking attracts positive results. If it doesn’t work the first time, it will definitely be better the second time. This way of coping with stress is not easy at first, but changing your mindset is very important.

How to deal with stress – Stop criticizing

If criticism is constructive, it is also edifying and eye-opening. However, criticizing everything and everyone will certainly not make it easier for you to deal with your stress. Nobody is perfect, everyone makes mistakes – so do you. Instead of getting mad, accept failure calmly, apologize, give your hand – stress reduction guaranteed. If coping with stress is made difficult by a disturbed relationship with your family, partner or friend – ask for an honest conversation. Perhaps this will be enough to correct the situation and at least partially relieve stress.