STRESS MANAGEMENT

What is stress?

Stress is a physical, mental or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension.

Stress is a biological and physical response experienced on encountering a threat that we feel we do not have the resources to deal with, bear or cope with. Tension builds, there is no longer any fun in normal daily challenges,there seems to be no relief, no end in sight.

What are stressors?

These are situations that cause stress. All stressors are not necessarily negative, however anything that push high demands on a person is a stressor.

Stressors can be:

• Internal: These are self-generated, when you worry excessively about something that may pr may not happen e.g pessimism, rigid thinking , self-talk, lack of flexibility, negative thinking, unrealistic expectations/perfectionism, all or nothing attitude etc...

• External: These are heavy workload, low academic performance, relationship difficulties, financial difficulties, death of a spouse, divorce, marriage separation, imprisonment, death of a close family member, injury etc.

Stress management: This is not stress elimination but rather the ability to manage the symptoms of stress. Your ultimate goal is to live a balanced life with time for work, relationships,relaxation and fun, and the resilience to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on. Identify the sources of stress; both the internal and external stressors, you might want to keep a stress journal to help you identify a pattern, replace unhealthy coping strategies with healthy ones.

Unhealthy coping method includes: smoking, excessive alcohol ingestion, in-discriminate sex, using psychoactive drugs to relax, withdrawal from friends, family and activities, buying of junks/comfort food, procrastination, taking out your stress on others,being busy all day to avoid problems etc.

Avoid stressors but if you cant adapt to it, accept the things you cant change. Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. Physical activities is a way of de-stressing: exercise a lot, connect with people, build relationships, make time to relax, manage your time better. Maintain a healthy lifestyle, eat a healthy diet, reduce the intake of caffeine and sugar, avoid alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. Get enough sleep and see a specialist/ get help if need be.

Always remember that health is wealth, no matter what you do keep your health and body as safe as possible. You can't afford spending all your income on drugs and doctors.

Thanks for reading.....

Have a lovely afternoon...

I remain my humble self @joanna-godfrey.....