Understanding chronic stress
Stress Is Tough on Your Body
Stress is typically accompanied by muscle tension, headaches or even just a general uptight feeling. Listen to your body to learn how you respond to stress physically; sometimes this is the easiest way to work with stress in your life. Feelings of fatigue, tiredness and high blood pressure are also good indications. More obvious physiological symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux and nausea are also associated with stress.
Recognizing Stress Can Reduce It
Daily activities often cause a moderate amount of stress. This is normal, and even healthy in some instances. However, chronic stress is often a result of prolonged stressful situations such as a demanding job, turbulent relationships or family problems. Learning how to recognize stress triggers before they become chronic is a key to helping eliminate the negative outcomes of chronic stress. Keep a daily stress journal and rate situations on level of stress from 1 to 10, where 1 is not stressful and 10 is extremely stressful.
Fight Stress by Getting Healthy
Regular visits to your primary care physician can identify some of the more pervasive physiological problems with chronic stress, such as high blood pressure, hypertension or headaches. However, taking care of yourself is a big part of dealing with stress. Receiving regular massages can do wonders to reduce muscle tension and prevent migraines and other symptoms associated with built-up tension in the body. A dietitian can help you develop a meal plan and find foods that help you to feel energized and more peaceful. And a therapist or counselor can help you with deal with emotional reactions to stress that can be very damaging.
Relax and Eliminate Your Stress
You can combat chronic stress and tension by staying conscious of what causes your stress. Making a career change or seeking counseling for interpersonal problems is a big start in changing your life and eliminating toxic stress responses. Meditation is also a wonderful way to help release the day's built-up stress and has been shown to provide wonderful results to those who practice it regularly. Yoga concentrates on integrating the body and mind into relaxation and helps to loosen tight muscles. Steer clear of caffeine and alcohol, since they can exacerbate stress responses in the body and mind.
Seek Medical Help When Stress Is Too Much
If you find that your stress responses and anxiety seem to be a bit more serious than you can handle on your own, medication is very successful in managing the emotional and psychological pressures from stress reactions. Antianxiety medications can reduce anxious feelings and lift some of the heaviness that stress can leave on the mind and body. Consult your doctor or a psychiatrist to help you decide the best course of medication for you.