Stress: Danger, Causes, and Tips

Stress: Danger, Causes, and Tips

In today’s fast-paced world, chronic stress is common, and also Stress takes many forms in our lives, but your mind and body can pay a high price. Learn how to recognize overwhelming stress—and some tips for reducing stress

WHAT IS STRESS

Stress is your body’s response to a challenge or demand. In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid danger or meet a deadline. But when stress continues for a long time, it may harm your health.

In other words, Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any experience or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry,worried, or nervous.

If you frequently find yourself feeling frazzled and overwhelmed, So it’s time to start taking action to bring your nervous system back into balance.

WHY STRESS IS SO DANGER?

As we already know, Stress can be positive, keeping us alert, motivated, and ready to avoid danger. Stress becomes negative when a person faces continuous challenges without break or relaxation between stressors. As a result, the person becomes Tired and overworked,

Emotions:

when under relentless and unmanageable stress, a person’s self-worth is impaired. Relationships suffer and positive planning becomes very difficult.

Health:

long term stress can severely affect a person’s health. The immune system is damaged, the nervous system is impaired and susceptibility to minor (and sometimes major) illnesses increases.

Performance:

of course, when under long-term stress at work, the ability to function at peak levels diminishes. How can we be expected to give 110% of our minds and bodies are slowly shutting down through endless misuse? Typically, a highly stressed person, who is not managing it well, will subconsciously develop behaviors that attempt to minimize exposure to more stress:

+ A fear to act – procrastination
+ Fear of failure
+ Avoidance of the issues
+ Withdrawal from ‘the cutting edge’

CAUSES OF STRESS

The situations and pressures that cause stress are known as stressors. We usually think of stressors as being negative, such as an exhausting work schedule or a rocky relationship. However, anything that puts high demands on you can be stressful. This includes positive events such as getting married, buying a house, going to college, or receiving a promotion.

Of course, not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be internal or self-generated, when you worry excessively about something that may or may not happen, or have irrational, pessimistic thoughts about life.

Finally, what causes stress depends, at least in part, on your perception of it. Something that’s stressful to you may not faze someone else; they may even enjoy it. While some of us are terrified of getting up in front of people to perform or speak, for example, others live for the spotlight. Where one person thrives under pressure and performs best in the face of a tight deadline, another will shut down when work demands escalate. And while you may enjoy helping to care for your elderly parents, your siblings may find the demands of caretaking overwhelming and stressful.

Common external causes of stress include:

Major life changes
Work or school
Relationship difficulties
Financial problems
Being too busy
Children and family

Common internal causes of stress include:

Pessimism
Inability to accept uncertainty
Rigid thinking, lack of flexibility
Negative self-talk
Unrealistic expectations / perfectionism
All-or-nothing attitude

TIPS FOR REDUCING STRESS

People can learn to manage stress and lead happier healthier lives. You may want to begin with the following tips:

Get organized

However busy you may think you are, it is a sure bet that there is a half-hour or so every day that is being wasted. Check out goal-setting techniques and time management strategies. They really help – and will show you how to get far more done in the same time than you ever imagined possible.

Preparation

Get in to work ten minutes earlier than usual to write yourself a list for the day. Consider what you need to achieve and point your day towards that end. As Seneca said in the 3rd century BC, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

Breathing

Few people know how to breathe. They suck in, and blow out air periodically, but without conscious thought.

Every couple of hours become aware of your breathing.
Take a deep breath, deep into your stomach, filling the very bottom of your lungs, then slowly let it out.
Repeat five times. This basal breathing is very relaxing and the few minutes it takes are highly beneficial in easing stress.

Exercise

What happens when all that excess adrenaline has nowhere to go? It builds stress even further. A little exercise is the best way of all of burning it all off.
There is no need to join a gym or run a marathon – just walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, do a set of sit-ups before bedtime, or take two minutes to perform an easy stretching routine before lunch. The more exercise you can build into your daily life the better you will be at dealing with each day.

Reduce stimulants

Coffee might keep you alert in the short term, but it plays havoc with your ability to function in the longer run. Alcohol is a great relaxant in moderation, but more than a couple of glasses have the opposite effect. Tobacco puts many added stresses on your body. Drugs are simply crazy. All these stimulants just add to the problem: if you are already stressed, they will not help you get over it – they will make the situation worse.

Recognize stress-point and adjust accordingly

Possibly easier said than done, but knowing your enemy is 50% of the way to beating it. Take the time to work out what your stress triggers are and then try to devise strategies to minimize each one. Taking problems one at a time is a far more positive approach than panicking about them all at once.

Make time to relax

No matter how hard you work, or how many demands are put on you, remember – it’s your life. You deserve at least some time every day just to be with you. Maybe it is just 5 minutes in the morning, but treasure it, make it yours, and don’t allow outside pressures into your time. Believe me, enjoying your own time every day will make you far more effective in everybody else’s time.

Drink herbal tea

Not as silly as it sounds. Many herbal teas contain substances with naturally carminative properties. Chamomile tea is very relaxing, Raspberry and Echinacea tea soothes the mind and helps strengthen the immune system, Peppermint tea aids indigestion. And they are refreshing and taste good too.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

One of the most often heard complaints I hear from highly stressed people is that they have too much work and too little time. Yet they are often the worst delegators. If you have a downline, delegate. (But mind you don’t pile too much on your subordinates that they crack under the strain). If you have an upline, see if any of your workloads can be passed that way. That is more difficult, but often a task that is way too much for you is easy for someone with a few more years of experience. And bosses often like to show that they ‘still have it.’

Smile

The last on the list, but probably number one in importance. Smile on the telephone, smile in stores Find Article, smile to your colleagues. Your subconscious mind is just waiting to run whatever program you plug into it. Stress is a kind of program with an endless negative loop. Smiling is like pressing the ‘break’ key. Smile enough and that becomes a new program in its own right. You will feel happier and everyone around you will respond positively.