Why Stress Management is Essential and what is the way to do stress management? – we have taken this topic keeping in mind that nowadays everyone around us is observed to be under stress in one or another way. Even students have to face lots of social pressure to have a promising career to sustain themselves in the competitive era. But it’s very important to know the aftermath effects of the stress on us and its impacts on studies of students.
These days stress has become an inevitable part of human lives. Many times we feel down, feel anxious, or feel that life is painful- all these are the symptoms of the stress which is unnecessarily affecting our physical and mental health.
What is Stress, Why does stress happen and what are the various ways of stress management or stress management techniques. We are going to talk about all this in today’s article keeping in mind the well-being of each and every individual. It is very important to handle the stress which unnecessarily bothers and stops us from growing both personally and professionally. If the stress is not handled at the correct point in time, it may lead to various health issues even in the future. So will be addressing the following topics in today’s blog-
- What is stress?
- Why does stress happen?
- How Stress Impacts Our Body and brain?
- What are the various ways of stress management?
1. What is stress?
With increasing challenges in our daily life like daily household work, normal studies, various meetings or even paying the bill, we tend to develop stress. So it is our inability to cope up with the various situations, specific demands, or life events. Stress is not unnatural, it is actually the response of our body in response to the constant changes happening in our life.
Stress can be defined as both psychological and physical changes occurring in the body and brain simultaneously which affects the overall functioning of the system.
2. Why does stress happen?
Different people respond in a different manner to the situations in life for the particular situation, one person takes it lightly whereas for the other one it can be a big cause of stress. Different people have different levels of sensitivity both psychologically and physically, so they react accordingly to the situations. As such there are no specific reasons identified for stress by the researchers as they may vary from person to person. To pen down the causes of stress all the events which can trigger the stress on the basis of case studies can be following-
- Bereavement
- Overthinking
- Being Introvert
- Interpersonal relationships like marriage and divorce
- Uncertainties of the life
- Over expectation from others
- Over expectation from your own self
- Not accepting your own weaknesses
- In many cases overcrowding and pollution
- Health issues
- Any kind of fear
- Financial responsibilities
3. How Does Stress Impacts Our Body and brain?
Prolonged stress due to any situation in life which can be small like getting fewer marks in the exams or a big one like losing a family member may lead to chronic conditions. Both physically and mentally i.e on the body as well as the brain it has a long-lasting impact. The body might react physically by producing a large number of chemicals and hormonal imbalance. In many cases high blood pressure, speed up of the breath, disturbed digestive system, the tension in the muscles, and insomnia have been reported as physical effects of stress. Chronic stress can be very traumatic leading to cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, sleeplessness, which impacts the immune system and even the reproductive system.
All the nerves of the body and brain being connected leave an alarm for the brain as soon as stress enters the body. Our brain responds very quickly to every signal which our body gives to it, to release the less or excessive amount of hormones which actually increases the heartbeat or raise your blood pressure.
Different kinds of emotional reactions may happen due to this like sadness, being forgetful, being irritable, developing a sense of insecurity, fatigue, non-concentration, increased anger, or even nail-biting.
4. What are the various ways of stress management?
Stress Management can be done effectively in different ways naturally and medically.
Medically with the intervention of the doctor who can diagnose the reasons behind the stress of any individual by understanding him or her psychologically. These days there are various clinical psychologists who try to understand the symptoms and occurrences of the life events of the patient. Diagnosing the stress factors is challenging also for any doctor by observance or face-to-face interviews. After the diagnosis, depending upon the type of stress underlying the condition medications and certain kinds of therapies like aromatherapy, reflexology, etc are given to the person.
Another way to manage stress is by changing the lifestyle and inducing feelings of happiness and being overwhelmed. The following are the various ways of changing the daily routine or a few things which can be included in your lifestyle to make yourself stress-free.
- Add humor to your life – start watching some comedy movies or shows to reduce the stress relaxing the muscles and also it will boost the immune system and release the happy hormones in the body.
- Start exercising – Exercises are one of the easiest ways to release stress. Normal exercises like walking, swimming, aerobics, cycling, running, or dancing whatever you like must be included in your daily routine, and notice its stress-reduction benefits.
- Say no to caffeine, alcohol, and drugs – These are the worst add-on to stress so doctors strongly recommend stopping them to prevent the stress in your life as they stimulate it.
- Take a Healthy diet – A healthy diet with a combination of daily activities specifically helps a lot in treating stress. Add green leafy vegetables and mainly food that contains chlorophyll to your diet for good health. Moreover, to regain a good immune system, a balanced diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, and nuts helps a lot during times of stress.
- Avoid Accessive Use of smartphones – There are certainly harmful and bad impacts of mobile phones on our Mental health, which might be caused by the immoderate use of cell phones. They may cause headaches, decreased attention, shortness of temper, sleep disorders, and depression, mostly among teenagers.
- Accept yourself and your situations – Anxiety and depression are major signs of stress due to non-acceptance of yourself and your situations. Start being mindful about your own life and start loving yourself to keep the stress away.
- Having a good social circle – A good social circle is very important to be with positive people around you who can help you in being assertive in life. Social support and spending quality time with loved ones help a lot when someone is in trauma. Share your feelings, concerns, or whatever disturbs you with one of your friends, colleague, sibling, or with your parents to vent out your feelings openly and come out of the isolation. Many times the other person is able to figure out a workable solution for your stressor.
- Yoga and meditation – it is one of the beautiful and amazing ancient techniques of stress management which is applicable to everyone, people of all age groups. Yoga and meditation help very effectively in balancing the physical and psychological activities of any human being. Since the mind and body are connected, it can bring back both the physical and mental health of anyone if you practice it for a few days in a routine. Due to the combined approach of deep, it helps in promoting relaxation and lowering the breath breathing techniques and moderate physical exercises it promotes relaxation and brings mindfulness in your life. You can see the best impact of Yoga on our body and mental health.
- Be Optimistic and Thankful – It is very important to develop the thought process of not holding the thoughts of things for a long time. Start counting your blessings to make your approach more positive about your life and thank God for all that with which you are blessed.
- Get proper sleep – the easiest way to reduce stress is to sleep well and rejuvenate yourself. Make a good sleep schedule and be away from all the electronic gadgets before sleeping.
- Start doing time management – start scheduling your work and tasks with your timeline to be less anxious and stress-free. You will be able to achieve your goals, complete your assignment on work on time leading to more productivity which enhances self-confidence also.
- Take time for your interest and hobbies – at least once a week take out 2 hours for your own interest areas and hobbies which you actually enjoy doing. This is one of the easiest ways to divert your mind from your problems, situations, and stress very effectively. It’s essential to be with yourself for some time and enjoy the tasks which you love to do.
Eventually and gradually when you will start devoting time for your own betterment and become more mindful by including some of the above activities in your daily routine you will notice a positive change in yourself. It’s all about channelizing your energies in the right direction when we talk about stress management. We have tried to give all the stress management techniques which can be really helpful for anyone or alternatively you can connect to any clinical comes le to cope up with stress. But if you are able to identify any signs of depression for anxiety then do not ignore it and adapt at least a few of the above given natural stress management ways to cope-up with stress immediately.