Stress is a word that no one wants to hear but each one of us faces it at some point in time. There can be multiple reasons for stress occurrence like excessive work, bad health, financial problems, and many more. If one of you or your close ones is suffering from stress, then don’t take stress at all! This article presents stress management tips and tricks. But before we learn how to deal with it, let us first understand the context in deep regarding what is stress, how, when, and why it occurs.

What Does Stress Mean?

Stress is the physiological and psychological reaction of our body, occurs when our body senses danger, threat, or some kind of uncomfortable feeling. 

Usually, stress is of two types. Good stress occurs when a person has to perform activities like sports, examinations, presentations, etc. As the name suggests, the occurrence of good stress signifies the positive sign and is good for the performance as well. However, the other type, known as bad or distress, signifies bad health which is generally a warning for the body. When such type remains for a long time, it results in anxiety and depression which is not a good sign.

Symptoms of Stress

Irregular Eating Habit

When you observe a stressful person, you will either watch them eating or munching all the time or not eating at all. The reason behind the eating disorder is the hormone cortisol which releases a signal to the brain. Afterwards, the person starts relying on unhealthy junk foods.

Headache

Headache is the most common visible symptom that occurs while having stress. Severe stress can even lead to migraine, which causes a severe headache. Migraine stress management is one of stress management techniques including medications and lifestyle change.

Trouble Sleeping

A stress-free person will experience a good night’s sleep. While a person having stress will find it difficult to have a proper sleep schedule. Sometimes, a person develops stress due to a lack of sleep.

Depression

Depression is one of the prime reasons for stress. There are multiple reasons through which a person feels saddened such as the loss of a close one, financial problems, family and relationship issues, etc. These factors cause depression ultimately leading to death.

Smoking/ Drinking habit

Cigarettes have nicotine that provides temporary relief. The person who suffers from stress falls into the trap and develops an addiction towards smoking or drinking. But the fact is just the opposite. Despite giving temporary relief from stress, it leads to a serious health issue.

Panic and anxiety

Sometimes, the stressful situation is so out of control that it leads to a sudden panic attack and anxiety. Sudden grieving news can be one of the reasons.

Digestive problems

Various studies show that the stressed person often tends to have a digestive problem. Stress initiates in the brain however affects all our body parts including our gut. It leads to multiple health issues such as irregular bowel movements, constipation, diarrhoea, etc.

Excessive sexual desires

According to the research, the person who suffers from stress is often hypersexual.

What Are The Causes of Stress?

Excessive Work

Everyone wants to grow and flourish in their life, but taking extra work and setting higher goals are sometimes not easy to chase, such conditions lead to stress. According to the research, many people feel dissatisfied over work schedule and try to find more suited jobs for their satisfaction.

Financial Conditions

Financial problems mostly cause stress to people. People are willing to make more money while working overtime. This is such a thing that can never give you satisfaction and the desire tends to grow with the passing time. That is why at first, we should learn to be happy with what we have while doing what we can.

Otherwise, such type of stress can lead to hypertension, low/high blood pressure, heart attack, and other serious health issues.

Personal Relationships

Some toxic people or misunderstandings can affect our life up to a great extent. These people can be acquaintances, life partners, particular family members, etc. Sometimes, it is difficult to avoid conflict with the other person that leads to anger and stress.

Parenting

The parents of whether single or more than one child is often seen in stress conditions while managing the household, and sweet but notorious tantrums of the children. Work is also important to fulfil the necessities in life. What parents should do is to maintain a fine balance between work and personal life and try to spend valuable time with the children as well.

Stress Management Tips: How Can We Handle It?

Listed below are the types of stress management techniques that are reliable in relieving stress.

Wake Up Early

You might have heard in motivational videos that successful people wake up early in the morning. Indeed, it’s a quite difficult task which is the reason why they stand out from the crowd. Successful people develop the habit of waking up early while enjoying some “me time” and achieving their respective goals. This makes them less stressed and worn out in the morning. But for waking up early and stressed free you have to sleep early.

Gratitude and Acceptance

Gratitude is one of the best ways for relieving stress. Gratitude is the method of reminiscing the good and positive things that occur in life. Suppose if a person feels stressed about a certain situation, then negative feelings or thoughts take place in their mind leading to stress.

To avoid stress, a person can reciprocate the negative feeling and think of a positive side for any circumstances. We should try to accept our self, our flaws, and everything.

Yoga/ Exercise

Whether a person chooses yoga or exercise, it is an efficient way for stress relief. If a person does yoga or exercise on a routine basis, the stress gets reduces to a greater extent.

It takes only 21 days to days to develop any kind of habit. Exercise must be a part of daily routine. It not only relieves stress but also tones the body as well as enhances physical or mental health.

Avoid Overthinking and Procrastinating

Overthinking and procrastination are the two factors that cause stress. Thinking about the things that we can’t control is not worth our precious time. The overthinkers soon develop a habit of thinking too much the entire time and straining their brain. This not only leads to stress but other serious issues like anxiety or depression.

There is a correlation between stress and procrastination. Pile of unfinished works or projects at the last moment ultimately causes stress. To avoid that, we should always try to finish our respective works on time so that we can have stress- free tomorrow.

Anti-Oxidants Like Green Tea and Dark Chocolate

Anti-oxidant foods like green tea and dark chocolate can help in relieving stress levels, says the scientific research. This type of food helps maintain the cortisol level; a hormone responsible for causing stress. The cortisol hormone gets released inside the brain at a high level, causing the body to respond against stressful conditions. Dark chocolate and green tea contain constituents that reduce the cortisol mediated stress level.

We can often use green tea as a substitute for other beverages as this one has multiple benefits and no side effects.

Maintain Journal

Journaling is a beautiful way to express one’s thoughts and opinions. Maintaining a journal daily can help in alleviating life. The best way is to wake up in the morning, grab your favourite journal and a pen, express your thoughts and worries and jot it down on paper. This can help in your mind diversion from extra worries to more valuable things. Maintaining a journal daily can help maintain stress level and brings immense positivity to life.

Therapy

Relaxation therapies can help in relieving stress. There are multiple relaxation therapies available from expensive to free ones. The logic here is to keep your body relaxed so that it can be away from extra stressful situations. Some techniques like self-massage, tai chi, mindful meditation can bring the body in a relaxed state and reduce the stress level. Just take a timeout from the routine and pamper yourself with relaxation techniques to avoid stress and anxiety.

Extra Activities

While following the daily routine, make some way for extracurricular activities especially during the weekends. Watching movies or series, outdoor and indoor games, and gardening are some of the activities that help in maintaining the cortisol level.

Doing things that you love can never get you stressed. Spend your time productively on hobbies like painting, dancing, listening to music, etc.

Conclusion

All we want is to remain miles away from tensions and live a stress-free life. Getting such a life is not a mere dream. It just requires little effort. Always try to remain positive and deal with the situations. This way we can make ourselves and our surroundings happy, healthy, and stress-free. Happy living!