“Only in the darkness can you see the stars”
Martin Luther King.
Life is a can of worms and genuinely it is unpredictable and uncontrollable too. You are going to experience numerous circumstances that will be going to exhaust you a bit harder every time. You can neither control over chaotic stuff nor fast forward something you are not ready for. So, what is actually you are going to do that will keep your mind and body functioning well? Do you have any strategy for it? Most of the people won’t unless they will come in front of them.
“Stress is the psychological, physiological, and behavioral response by an individual when they perceive a lack of equilibrium between the demands placed upon them and their ability to meet those demands, which, over a period of time, leads to ill health”
(Palmer 1989)
Let’s get horribly straight forward. In life we do certain things that we have not done before. We sort of have millions of boundless memories that actually shape every detail about us. Nothing always comes easy as life is not a fairy tale. You will encounter scores of adversities, troubles and disappointments. What you need to learn is how to pamper yourself enough so that you cannot be hindered by those setbacks. So all in all, stresses in our life are nothing but an invitation to remind you that “You can overcome everything in life”. In general referred as flight or fright response, stress is essential for our survival. Not just brighten up our personalities; it makes us capable of what we are. Don’t you dare overlook obstacles in your life, better handle it with care.
 Warning signs and symptoms of stress:
- Headache, anxiety, irritability and anger.
- Low energy, nervousness, muscle tension and change of eating habits
- Digestive disorders like abdominal pain, nausea, excessive belching, diarrhea and constipation.
- Chest pain, palpitations and increased heart rate.
- Panic attacks, weight gain and obesity.
- Frequent crying spells, insomnia and suicidal thoughts.
- Emotional and behavioral problems, depression and lack of self control.
Ten major causes of stress in life:
- Financial setbacks.
- Loss of job.
- Getting a divorce or getting married.
- Death of a close relative.
- Psychological issues like maniac depressive illnesses and psycho-social disorders.
- Moving to new place.
- Chronic medical illnesses like cancer.
- Workplace stresses due to heavy work load, accident, harassment, violence or poor management.
- Traumatic event like road traffic accident, natural disaster, murder and rape.
- Terrible inveterate phobias in life.
Work related psycho-social stress and its prevention:
Stress experienced from any type of interaction with people is psycho-social. It is usually due to overwhelming workload on your head or probably long working hours draining you physically and emotionally. Work stresses do not just make you unhappy but it can also spur some serious health issues. Mostly they are psychological disorders like depressive illnesses, anxiety, chronic headaches, poor concentration and memory problems. It also increase risk of heart attacks and diabetics and contributes majorly to accelerate aging and strained relationships messing up your whole productivity.
So, the whole idea is to prevent this stress through proper organized and planned approach. Prioritize the employee’s basic human rights and inhibit discrimination among workers. Compatible work schedules, lifestyle management and proper medical care are needed on a fair basis.
Core strategies to overcome stress:
“The greatest weapon against stress is your ability to choose one thought over another”
William James.
How are you going to sort out the stress? What type of strategy are you going to try now? These are some of the all time famous questions buzzing around your mind whenever you want to handle the stress with optimistic attitude. The way we perceive any stressful situation and how are we going to act upon it is significantly important. Before managing stress it’s kind of important to evaluate your source of stress in your day to day life. It can be a burned toast, a missing button or loss of job and major life crisis depending upon person to person. Since every person’s stress is different so will be their strategies to deal with them.
Mindfulness:
Stress has been referred to as the silent killer as it can silently cause heart diseases, high blood pressure, chest pain and an irregular heartbeat.
(Chilnick, 2008)
Engage in your present moment with healthy and creative mind without over-analyzing the whole situation. Relaxation techniques like deep breathing and yoga reduce anxiety and act as a powerful antidote. Exercise is a proven antidepressant in mild depressive illnesses. Balanced healthy diet and uninterrupted sleep of approximately 8 hours is fundamental in stress relieving. Here are 8 easy strategies to implement upon for coping stress in your life:
- Wake up early in the morning, and choose a quiet place to sit. Now, close your eyes focus on your breathing and calmly observe your thoughts.
- Take a mindful walk and start off your day with healthy breakfast. Exercise 4 to 5 days a week.
- Trust yourself so that you can build confidence in your decisions.
- Organize your work, prioritize your tasks and create positive energy in your life.
- Avail opportunities and be flexible with the change.
- Voice your feelings and learn to express your selves. Ask whatever you want.
- Create healthy relationships with your co workers, friends and family.
- Appreciate all the positive stuff in your life and be grateful for everything you have.
Right Attitude and Social Support De-Rigueur:
Social support is a huge contributor to psychological health. You have people all around you playing different roles in your life. There is a substantial need to reconnect with all the positive souls in healthy ways to help protect against dreadful circumstances. Encouragement, understanding and positive feedback importantly manage most issues. Social support whether it is emotional (love, trust, caring attitude) or informational, advice, suggestions) ameliorate to personal well being of a person in unhealthy situations.
Fix your stress by resiliency:
“Resilience is accepting your new reality even if it is less good than one you had before”
Elizabeth Edwards.
Stress fulsomely destroys the emotional equilibrium of a man. Increasing levels of stress will make you overlook your thoughts and feelings. That is why it is important to deal with the troubled situation before it can hit a certain threshold. The ultimate goal is to meet challenges in your life lead on with a hopeful attitude and find out what works best for you.
Abc technique:
“It is not stress that kills us; it is our reaction to it”
Hans Selye.
It is a developmental approach for addressing stress properly and helps you begin to get back your life in control. This was originally created by a world renowned psychologist Dr. Albert Ellis in mid 1950’s and later was adopted by Martin Seligman.
A= ADVERSITY (stressful situation)
B=BELIEF (the way you respond and understand negative emotions)
C= CONSEQUENCES (outcome of the whole situation)
You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months over-analyzing a situation and trying to put the pieces together. That is entirely your choice. Instead of that believe in yourself and adopt a right attitude and cultivate you negative energies into positive ones. Develop realistic goals and built confidence in your ability to solve problems. Finally be optimistic enough to visualize what you will do to solve these issues.
Manage stress through Positive outlook:
Look directly into the problem and say what the solution to that? What is this trying to teach me? It is absolutely important to learn from your blunders and setbacks so that you can keep a positive outlook and a growth mindset. You will emerge from this nightmare in the finest way possible and move towards a stronger, balanced and resilient person.
“Stress is an important dragon to slay – or at least tame in your life”
Marilu Henner.
