STRESS IN TODAY’s LIFE

What is stress?

Different people take stress differently.
Stress is how our body and mind reacts to both our external and internal demands. It affects our entire system from our thoughts, feelings to our behaviour. Being able to recognise the symptoms can help manage stress. If left unattended long term stress could contribute to many health problems including hypertension, heart diseases, obesity and also diabetes.
Stress is a common trigger for anxiety. So if you can manage stress it could prevent development of anxiety disorders.
Well, stress often comes with emotional symptoms. To top the list is anxiety followed by moodiness, anger, feeling of being overwhelmed , loneliness, sleeplessness. While some may experience headaches, digestive disorders, irritability that leads to isolation and these eventually becomes responsible for creating general unhappiness which we generally name depression. We should understand that stress, anxiety and depression are also a mental state that could be well treated and controlled with right approach.
There are other factors that contributes to the raised stress levels in our lives today and to top the list is financial stress .
Routine stress related to work ,family and other affairs , traumatic stress experienced during an event. Children experience stress in school, studies, peer pressure, bullying and others which in turn has adverse effects on the child’s health and emotional well being.
In some situations stress signals the body to prepare to face a threat and fight it or accept the threat and fight it. Some people even experience the freeze mode but this is not so often.

How to deal with stress?
Different people deal differently with their stress but if it’s beyond your control it’s always advisable to talk about it with trained professionals like a counsellor or a therapist.
Acute or chronic stress are the two different types of stress and each characterised by its own symptoms, duration and treatment approaches.

Stressors good or bad are part of our lives and most of your stress is controllable by you provided you put sincere efforts to get rid of it . Let me list some of the ways to deal with it.

*taking care of yourself ,eat healthy well balanced meals.
*avoid caffeine, alcohol and nicotine
*recognise when you need more help
* regulate proper sleeping hours
* maintain a routine
*practice relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga and breathing exercises
*take control of your situation, decide what can wait and what is priority. (Set your goals basically )
*maintain a journal. List your progress and review them from time to time.
*avoid people who are not good for your mental health. Stay connected to people who can provide emotional support and practical help.
*time management
*learn to say no wherever and whenever needed .
In addition with the above mentioned you can also involve stress busters in your daily life like music, a walk in the park, calling a friend, cuddling a pet, getting pampered with a spa, gardening or charity work, the list is never ending.

These are some of the most effective coping mechanism that can help you manage stress and also help your emotional well being.
It is very important to know that stress is a mental state not a disorder. It could be managed and taken care of with a healthy mindset and right approach.
*I hope this helps .