Stress and stress management

Stress and stress management

Stress - the body’s inability to effectively manage/deal with any given situation whether it is positive or negative. It is your reaction to any stimulus that you cannot deal with.

Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. Everyone sees situations differently and has different coping skills. For this reason, no two people will respond exactly the same way to a given situation.

Stress is a normal part of life. In small quantities, stress is good; it can motivate you and help you become more productive. However, too much stress, or a strong response to stress can be harmful. How we perceive a stress provoking event and how we react to it determines its impact on our health. We may be motivated and invigorated by the events in our lives, or we may see some as “stressful” and respond in a manner that may have a negative effect on our physical, mental, and social well-being.

 

Three common ways that people respond when they are overwhelmed by stress are:

1. An angry or agitated stress response. You may feel heated, keyed-up, overly emotional, and unable to sit still.
2. A withdrawn or depressed stress response. You shut down, space out, and show very little energy or emotion.
3. You “freeze” under pressure and feel like you can’t do anything. You look paralyzed, but under the surface you may feel extremely agitated.

 

If we always respond in a negative way, our health and happiness may suffer. By understanding ourselves and our reaction to stress-provoking situations, we can learn to handle stress more effectively. In the most accurate meaning, stress management is not about learning how to avoid or escape the pressures and turbulence of modern living; it is about learning to appreciate how the body reacts to these pressures, and about learning how to develop skills which enhance the body’s adjustment. To learn stress management is to learn about the mind-body connection and to the degree to which we can control our health in a positive sense.

Stress management refers to a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person's levels of stress, usually for the purpose of improving everyday functioning.

Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Your true sources of stress aren’t always obvious, and it’s all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

 

 

 

How Can I Manage Stress Better?

Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on our lives is not sufficient for reducing its harmful effects. Just as there are many sources of stress, there are many possibilities for its management. However, all require effort toward change: changing the source of stress and/or changing your reaction to it. How do you proceed?

1. Become aware of your stressors and your emotional and physical reactions.
• Notice your distress. Don’t ignore it. Don’t gloss over your problems.
• Determine what events distress you. What are you telling yourself about meaning of these events?
• Determine how your body responds to the stress. Do you become nervous or physically upset? If so, in what specific ways?
2. Recognize what you can change.
• Can you change your stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely?
• Can you reduce their intensity (manage them over a period of time instead of on a daily or weekly basis)?
• Can you shorten your exposure to stress (take a break, leave the physical premises)?
• Can you devote the time and energy necessary to making a change (goal setting, time management techniques, and delayed gratification strategies may be helpful here)?
3. Reduce the intensity of your emotional reactions to stress.
• The stress reaction is triggered by your perception of danger…physical danger and/or emotional danger. Are you viewing your stressors in exaggerated terms and/or taking a difficult situation and making it a disaster?
• Are you expecting to please everyone?
• Are you overreacting and viewing things as absolutely critical and urgent? Do you feel you must always prevail in every situation?
• Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you can cope with rather than something that overpowers you.
• Try to temper your excess emotions. Put the situation in perspective. Do not labor on the negative aspects and the “what if’s.”
4. Learn to moderate your physical reactions to stress.
• Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart rate and respiration back to normal.
• Relaxation techniques can reduce muscle tension. Electronic biofeedback can help you gain voluntary control over such things as muscle tension, heart reate, and blood pressure.
• Medications, when prescribed by a physician, can help in the short term in moderating your physical reactions. However, they alone are not the answer. Learning to moderate these reactions on your own is a preferable long-term solution.
5. Build your physical reserves.
• Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week (moderate, prolonged rythmic exercise is best, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or jogging).
• Eat well-balanced, nutritious meals.
• Maintain your ideal weight.
• Avoid nicotine, excessive caffeine, and other stimulants.
• Mix leisure with work. Take breaks and get away when you can.
• Get enough sleep. Be as consistent with your sleep schedule as possible.
6. Maintain your emotional reserves.
• Develop some mutually supportive friendships/relationships.
• Pursue realistic goals which are meaningful to you, rather than goals others have for you that you do not share.
• Expect some frustrations, failures, and sorrows.
• Always be kind and gentle with yourself–be a friend to yourself.

 

 

Stress Relieving Techniques

Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises are an ideal way to relieve stress in that they’re fast, simple, free, and can be performed by just about anyone. They can also be done anywhere and at virtually any time. These factors make stress relief breathing exercises one of my most popular and convenient tension tamers. Here’s how basic controlled breathing works:

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: You decide!

Here's How:

1. Sit or stand in a relaxed position.
2. Slowly inhale through your nose, counting to five in your head.
3. Let the air out from your mouth, counting to eight in your head as it leaves your lungs. Repeat several times. That’s it!

 

 

 

Meditation

Meditation has many health benefits and is a wonderful way to relieve stress and maintain a healthier lifestyle. There are many different ways to meditate, and this is one of the most basic. With practice, you can use this technique to feel inner peace whenever you need it. Here’s how:

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 5 to 30 Minutes

Here's How:

1. Get into a comfortable position. Many people like to sit in a comfortable chair, or cross-legged on the ground. You want to be able to completely relax while still staying awake.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Clear your head. (This is the part that takes practice.) The idea is to stay unattached to thoughts of any kind. That means that, if that inner narrative voice in your mind speaks up, gently “shush” it and opt for internal silence.
4. That’s it. Keep letting go of any thoughts that may pop into your mind, and the quiet spaces between thoughts will become longer and more frequent. You’re on the road of meditation!

 

Ten Simple Ways You Can Practice Mindfulness Each Day

1. As you awaken in the morning, bring your attention to your breathing. Instead of letting your mind spin off into yesterday or today, take mindful breaths. Focus on your breathing, and sense the effects of breathing throughout your body.

2. Instead of hurrying to your usual routine, slow down and enjoy something special about the morning; a flower that bloomed, the sound of the birds, the wind in the trees.

3. On the way to work or school, pay attention to how you walk, drive or ride the transit. Take some deep breaths, relaxing throughout your body.

4. When stopped at a red light, pay attention to your breathing and enjoy the landscape around you.

5. When you arrive at your destination, take a few moments to orient yourself. Breathe consciously and calmly, relax your body, then begin.

6. When sitting at your desk or keyboard, become aware of the subtle signs of the physical tension and take a break or walk around.

7. Use the repetitive events of the day (the ringing telephone, a knock at the door, walking down the hall) as cues for a mini-relaxation.

8. Walk mindfully to your car or bus. Can you see and appreciate something new in the environment? Can you enjoy walking without rushing?

9. As you return home, consciously make the transition into your home environment. If possible, after greeting your family or housemates, give yourself a few minutes alone to ease the transition.

10. As you go to sleep, let go of today and tomorrow. Take some slow, mindful deep breaths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stress & Stress Management

 

 

 

 

 

Done by Olzhas Dossymbayev

Maxat Myltikbekov

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almaty 2013