WHAT IS STRESS? 9 BEST STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

Every day we come across certain situations that in some or other way cause stress.

Isn’t it?

Some people claim that stress is good and they have even named it eustress. Which is considered to be a positive form of stress.

Now from a personal point of view, I am not convinced by the idea of calling stress positive.

And if you have landed here I assume you are coping up with some tough times.

But not to worry as i am going to share with you the 9 Best Stress Management Techniques

Dear friend,

Remember every one of us gets through these times and you are not alone.

In this article, we are going to discuss everything about stress, how it’s affecting our lives and the lives around us, and how we can manage it.

WHAT IS STRESS?

We human beings are very resistant to change. We like to be in our own comfortable space. 

No one wants to step out of their comfort zone, we love to live in our cocoon.

But that’s not possible 

Right?

So whenever there is a change in the situation around us that disturbs our equilibrium we undergo a weird feeling that is stress.

Stress is the body’s reaction to any change which requires adjustment.

When we feel or think that we will not be able to cope up with the change, we feel stressed out.

We will not get into that part where people talk about the positive impact that stress has on our performance. 

TYPES OF STRESS

There are three types of stress

ACUTE

Acute stress is the stress encountered when there is a certain situation with which we deal in our day to day life. They come and go and so is the stress associated with it. It is for a short period and doesn’t negatively affect our body.

For example, an important presentation in the office, having your first baby, or even common situations like traveling to a new place or going on your first date.

Do you remember your first date?

Were you stressed or not?

Well, jokes apart let’s see what’s the next type.

PERIODIC

Periodic stress is due to unexpected situations that don’t happen daily but periodically.

For example, in an annual audit of a company during this time of the year, the employees of the company are relatively more stressed as compared to the rest of the year.

And after the audit gets over everything comes back to normal.

Relatable?

Periodic stress may result in an irritated or frustrated mood slight headaches but there is again no negative impact on our body

CHRONIC

This is where the entire game of stress changes.

Situations like unhappy marriages, loss of a family member, or anything that doesn’t let you be okay are chronic stress and this has some serious effects on health. 

Chronic stress mess up with our

• Respiratory system
• Cardiovascular system
• Our sleep cycle
• Reproductive system
• Immunity

WHAT CAUSES STRESS ?

Well, there is an endless list of things that cause stress.

We can divide the cause into two broader parts 

1. INTERNAL CAUSE

This is due to our habits of overthinking and stressing about things.

Some people are very harsh on themselves. They blame themselves for every problem they experience which results in low self-esteem and no self-love. 

Common internal causes include

• Negative self talk

Some people tend to think negatively and constantly talk negatively with themselves. Repeating this habit can create a lot of confusion and stress.

• Pessimistic attitude

A person who sees the worst aspects of things and believes that the worst will happen is pessimistic. This is a negative mental attitude that can create a lot of stress.

• Resistant to change

Change is inevitable whether you want it or not. Everything around us changes constantly. In such a situation if we do not adjust according to the change, it is bound to create stress. 

• Poor flexibility to adapt

Some people tend to stress a lot even with the slightest disturbance in their comfort zone. 

And remember my friend this attitude is going to take you nowhere.

In science, we learn ‘survival of the fittest.

You will survive only if you are flexible enough to adapt to the changes

• The negative approach to everything

Don’t overthink and stress yourself about every little thing which is not in your control because by doing that neither the situation will come under control nor your mental state will remain good.

• Unrealistic expectations

Never have an unrealistic goal. Even unrealistic expectations of people can cause unwanted stress.

2. EXTERNAL CAUSE

Sometimes it is not us but the situation that causes a lot of stress and takes a toll on a person’s body. and we have little or no control over it.

If someone is emotionally strong he/she may be able to cope up but a person who is not so emotionally strong will succumb to the situation and will be under a lot of stress.

Common external causes include

• Disturbed married life

An abusive relationship is the worst nightmare one could have. If you are someone who is into toxic relationships, you need to get it fixed.

Nobody deserves that kind of stress.

• Loss of a family member

Losing a near and dear one can take a toll on our body mentally and emotionally. It is hard to get over it but this is the life we need to get going with the flow. Though the vacuum created by the person can never be filled, we need to stand strong.

• Unemployment/Financial Problems

Unemployment can create a lot of stress and even more if that person has a family to feed. But you know instead of stressing about it and making the situation worse try out different things and explore new ways of earning. Nowadays just with a smartphone, you can make money online. 

• Disturbed relationship with children or family

If the relationship between the family members is not good, stress is going to come again and again. 

• Highly competitive environment at work

Imagine a world full of rats racing against each other.

What a chaotic sight!

Isn’t it?

The same is the condition with us.

Whether it is a workplace or a school/college we all are constantly racing against each other. And we create a lot of chaos in our life. Sometimes we hurt people, sometimes people hurt us to get ahead of us.

All of this takes a toll on a person’s mental health.

• Peer pressure

Does it happen with you that you open a social media platform and check out your friend’s feed?

And immediately you feel anxious. You start to compare your life with others and feel that all of your friends are way ahead of you.

But do you know?

No one is posting their failures on social media.

• Undergoing divorce

I know this is not the best thing to go through. Especially in an orthodox society.

Situations even become more stressful when you are a woman.

Our society just doesn’t want to accept divorced women.

But what you can do on your part is just turn a deaf ear to the opinions of the people and listen to yourself because you are the one suffering, not the people. 

Sooner or later you will realize that it is the best thing that has ever happened to you.

HOW DOES IT AFFECT YOU?

The only stress that affects your body is chronic. And you know what is the worst thing about it. We tend to compromise with our situation every time and slowly and silently it creeps into our life and then the extremes are seen.

It attacks you physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Let’s see how and let’s make a promise that we won’t let this happen to ourselves.

PHYSICALLY

• Palpitations
• Loss of sex drive
• Chest pain 
• Tingling feeling in the chest
• Aches and pains
• Constipation or diarrhoea
• Nausea
• Flu and cold
• Sweating
• Fainting

MENTALLY

• Unable to remember
• Unable to concentrate
• Poor judgment
• Negative thinking
• Anxiousness

EMOTIONALLY

• Panic attacks
• Sudden outburst
• Depression
• Feeling unhappy
• Irritated, frustrated mood
• Cutting off from people

BEHAVIOURALLY

• Eating too little
• Eating too much
• Sleeping too much
• Insomnia
• Starts biting nails
• Procrastination
• Use of alcohol and drugs
• Relationship problems

HOW MUCH STRESS IS TOO MUCH?

This may depend from person to person some people may have strong willpower and they can punch the stress straight in their face.

While some succumb to their situation and become a victim to stress and depression.

Long-term stress can result in severe health problems so it is important to know your limit. 

Your intolerance level depends on several factors.

• Your attitude 

Your attitude towards life can make a huge difference in your ability to cope up with the stress. If your attitude towards the inevitable life changes is positive it will be easier for you to adapt to the changes.

Having an optimistic attitude towards life and situations can help you to be less vulnerable.

• Your support system

Another factor is the people who surround you, if you have supportive family and friends, it is easier to cope up with stress. On the other side if you see lonely people suffer more in their life.

Always try and get to be in touch with people who are motivating.

Maybe they can not find a solution to your problem but definitely, they will not let you face all of that alone.

• Your readiness for situations

Being prepared for the outcome can help you to ease out stress. When you are prepared to make a plan you even make a plan b in case plan a doesn’t work. 

For example, a student who works hard the whole year for an exam does not stress out as much as the student who has studied just before the exam.

Well, that was just an example but the same theory is very well applicable to our life also.

• Ability to self-control

Self-control is the realization of the fact that it is you who has control of your life. Only you can decide for yourself about what is serving you and what is not.

If at any point you feel that you don’t have control over your life and the people around you, the environment around you is controlling you that’s when stress will knock you off.

• Your emotional sensitivity

It is good to be emotionally sensitive but not to a point where we are not able to control our anger, irritation, and other likewise emotions.

We need to learn how to calm ourselves from our mood outbursts.

This way it will be easier to fight stress.

STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

Stress management techniques are how you can manage your stress. 

It can help by:

Removing the cause of stress

Changing the cause of stress

Finding an alternative option to cope up with the stress

Change the vision of a person towards stress

Lowering the effects that stress has on your body

Some ways by which you can manage your stress are:

1. GET GOING WITH YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE

Do you know that exercise not only keeps you fit but also calms your mind?

A study proves that people who exercise regularly are less likely to experience stress than those who don’t exercise.

After exercising our body releases ‘endorphins’ which is a ‘feel-good’ hormone.

It helps us to get relief from stress and pain, it works similar to a class of drugs called ‘opioids’. 

If you don’t like to work out much or you don’t have time you can also go for a walk at whatever time you prefer with some good and soothing music on. 

2. SAY NO TO ALCOHOL, SMOKE, AND DRUGS

I will not say to avoid it. I will strongly recommend you to quit right away. If you are not able to do it yourself ask for some help there is enough help available for this. 

These are the worst things you can put into your body. And if you are treating your body like a trash bin how are you even expecting that your body will function well.

3. MAINTAIN DISTANCE FROM TOXIC PEOPLE

Keep your circle small. Few friends are better than toxic people.

Cut out people from your life who are not serving you in any way.

In this way, you will be able to focus on your work more because toxic people are very smart. They keep a close eye on your strengths and weaknesses and attack when you are vulnerable. And if you fall prey to their tactics, you will go through a lot of emotional stress which is not acceptable.

4. PRACTICE RELAXATIONS TECHNIQUES

Relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, etc help a lot in managing stress.

Listen to some motivational speech. 

Listen to some self-love affirmations.

Practice self-love.

Stress is all about brain games. If you remain calm and composed no stress will give you discomfort. And all these relaxation techniques affect your brain directly.

You just start practicing these and you will automatically see a great difference.

5. EAT HEALTHY DIET

What you put in your body, it reflects that.

If you eat healthy food your brain and body will be healthy and if you eat all sorts of trash and junk your body and mind will become a trash bin in no time. It is as simple as that.

I understand that sometimes we all crave street food

And it’s completely ok to satisfy your tongue once in a while.

But don’t make it a habit because then you will become what you eat.

junk!!

6. PRACTICE EARLY TO BED AND EARLY TO RISE

Take proper rest. There is so much going on in our day to day life that we need time to just switch off completely from everything. 

Everybody wants to wake up early but face a hard time snoozing the alarm, again and again, to get up. 

To avoid this just follow a simple rule, sleep on time.

If you will sleep on time you will automatically wake on time.

And if you master this practice of early to bed and early to rise, trust me you will become a lot happier person.

7. SPEND SOME QUALITY ‘ME’ TIME

Take some time off from your responsibilities and spend time with yourself.

Our body is so smart that it gives us signs if something is not going well and to listen to that you need to sit and pay attention to yourself.

Listen to what it is trying to tell you.

Or simply do whatever you like at that time.

And Enjoy your own sweet me time.

It will help you to calm your mind

8. MANAGE YOUR PRIORITIES

You know sometimes we juggle a lot between what to do and what not to do. This situation can create a lot of chaos and stress. To avoid situations like these it would be great if you can plan things according to your priority.

9. SHARE YOUR FEELINGS

Last but not the least, share your feelings.

Talk to your people, the one who makes you happy. Sharing your heart out is a great way to relieve stress.

And if it is something which you are not comfortable to talk about or you are afraid that people will judge you, 

WRITE!

Make a journal write whatever you feel like writing.

And the good thing is that it won’t judge you.

WHEN TO SEEK HELP?

If after trying everything you are not able to handle the situation on your own, don’t shy away from taking help from a therapist.

Don’t worry about what everybody would think and what your family will think.

Don’t OVERTHINK

The one who loves you will only want your good and the one who doesn’t love you should not matter.

right?

So if it gets out of control and the severity of symptoms has increased to such an extent that it is affecting you and the people around you.

That’s when you should ask for help without a second thought.

CONCLUSION

I know it is very easy to say- control your worries, manage your stress, and live a happy life, but I do also know how difficult it is to apply. 

But you know the truth is that only you can help yourself

People around you can help you but in the end, only you can change your thoughts and life.

Remember no problem comes without a solution.

You just have to find it and work upon it to create a better life for yourself.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS