Breaking down stress before it breaks you

by: Naturally Immune | July 14, 2021

With the pandemic turning the world upside down, it’s no surprise that Google searches about the word stress have been on the uptake since the lockdown. Stress, the word itself highlighted in this article is enough make your heart beat a little bit faster. Most people vow to avoid stress at all costs. But wait, before we judge stress harshly, do we really know stress that well? What is it, really, and what happens to our bodies when we feel stressed?

In this article, let’s get to know stress intimately, both the good and the bad. Let’s break down stress, before it breaks us down.

People tend to think of stress as either an emotion, or a physical reaction. Actually, it is both.

Stress, in simple terms, is your body’s reaction to a perceived external threat. At the sight of danger, the body launches a “fight-or-flight” reaction, also called a “stress response.”

In fact, stress can save our lives. Hard to believe? Take, for example, when a car is speeding towards you. You sense the oncoming collision a few seconds before it actually happens. Your heart pounds faster, your breath quickens, swinging you into action—either fighting or fleeing for your life.

Now, let’s look at an everyday example, say a mounting pile of work, a demanding boss, and a looming deadline. Stress pushes us to dive into the workload, keeps us focused, alert, and energetic, driving us to get the job done. Stress, used productively, saves us from getting fired from our jobs. However, there are different kinds of stress, which come in varying degrees.

Here are the Top 10 Most Stressful Events, according to mind.org.uk

1. Death of a spouse
2. Divorce
3. Marriage separation
4. Imprisonment
5. Death of a close family member
6. Injury or illness
7. Marriage
8. Job loss
9. Marriage reconciliation
10. Retirement

Both mental and physical

 

Depending on the severity, or the way we handle unpleasant situations, stress can be brutal, affecting our mental well-being. It can lead to mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. Similarly, stress can also manifest physically in our bodies.
Most of the time, we feel the physical symptoms even before we realize our stress levels have already gone through the roof.
The first clues are usually tiredness, headaches, an upset stomach, or insomnia.

Chronic Stress
Traumatic or long-term stress can put your health at risk. Too much routine stress, day in and day out, can stir your nervous system into chaos. Restore balance in your life by recognizing the signs and symptoms of chronic stress.

• First, keep in mind that your nervous system isn’t good at distinguishing between emotional and physical threats. It cannot decipher regular routine stress, from a life-and-death situation. It is the same for your nervous system. So it’s up to you to take a pause, and say to yourself, wait, is this an emotional or a physical threat?
• Another important thing to keep in mind is that the more we get stressed, the easier it becomes to trigger it. What does this mean? The stressed state becomes your new normal, making it harder to shut off.
• When you get stressed frequently, this could lead to a host of problems in your immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and even reproductive systems.
• Chronic stress can also lead to speeding up the aging process, as well as cause obesity. Heard of stress eating? Stress can make someone more likely to turn to food as a coping mechanism.

With all that’s discussed here, it’s no surprise that stress always gets a bad rap. But we all have to  accept that, whether we like it or not, stress is part of our everyday lives. And that at any moment, we could be given a curveball that could throw us in for a loop. How to deal with this?

There are many articles, products, and experts online that claim to help ward off stress, or eliminate stress altogether (that’s impossible, though.)

The simple solution is, first, accept that stress exists. Second, develop self-awareness. Observe yourself in light of stressful situations, and list down your triggers. Set aside time to reflect on your reactions, and look for compassionate nuggets of wisdom to calm your soul. This is the way we grow into more emotionally mature people.

Meditation and exercise are highly-recommended anti-stress remedies (READ: Top 5 Free Meditations Apps You Can Download) Exercise releases happy chemicals, called endorphins, in our bodies. 

Learn to manage your stress by managing external pressures. Be wise enough to not squeeze in too many commitments in your daily life.  No need to spread yourself thin. Set aside time every day for rest and relaxation. 

What do you do when you’re feeling tired? You rest, recharge. Do not disillusion yourself that you need to be the superhero, or the employee of the year.

Develop emotional resilience by learning from your mistakes, and finding the silver lining in tough situations. Lastly, find time to be with your loved ones, who will always be there, should you need a shoulder to cry on. They love you at your best, and at your and worst. 

Learn to manage stress, and make it work for you, and not the other way around.

References:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress/

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-signs-and-causes.htm

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/stress/what-is-stress/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response