Alan Henry of Lifehacker has a nicely done overview on the definition and nature of stress with points on dealing with stress in your life . . . see What Stress Actually Does to You and What You Can Do About It at http://lifehacker.com/5836879/what-stress-actually-does-to-you-and-what-you-can-do-about-it for his complete article.
Some highlights worth considering:
What You Can Do About Stress
Once you recognize the effects of stress and understand the damage you’re doing to your body by not coming up with ways to cope with the stress that you’re under, it’s time to do something about it. I spoke with clinical psychologist Jeffrey DeGroat, PhD about some of the ways you can reduce the impact that chronic stress has on you and how to cope with acute stressors.
Dealing with Acute Stressors: If the stressor is acute and temporary, Dr. DeGroat suggests applying simple relaxation techniques like deep breathing, to calm the mind and the body so you can get the clarity you need to address the situation. He proposes taking a 10-second breathing cycle: breathe in for four seconds, and then out for six seconds. “Works as a thought distraction,” he says, “as well as physically slowing down heart rate. This is a good technique to use anytime and anywhere.” Photo by Shawn Rossi.
The app CalmDown for Mac is a utility designed just for situations like this: it encourages you to take a deep breath (or a few) so you can step back from the stressor for a moment, gather your thoughts, and push through the fog of frustration and anger that often come with stressors.
I also spoke with Roger Gil about dealing with stressful situations and he reinforced the point: “Stressors like these can produce physical responses at first; so if you’re heart is racing, you’re short of breath, or you feel your muscles tightening somewhere in your body, know that you’re feeling a physiological stress response. In those cases, channeling your awareness of your body can sometimes distract a person away from the area of the body having the stress response.” Recognizing that you’re having a physical reaction will help you calm down and deal with the situation the way you really want to, as opposed to letting it stew in your mind only to come up with what you wanted to say 15 minutes after you should have said it.
In that vein, Dr. DeGroat explains that figuring out what you wanted to say a few minutes after you said it is very common, and often a result of being unprepared for the stressful situation you’re presented with. Aside from making sure to be ready for those situations in advance if you can be, he suggests acknowledging that you’re stressed in the situation and telling the person or people you’re dealing with that you’ll get back to them later.
“Rather than responding immediately with something we may regret later, or not saying anything at all,” he says, “another option might be to indicate to the person that you’ll talk to them later about the situation. For example, [imagine] you find out that a co-worker is dating an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend of yours. Rather than yelling at them and making yourself look out of control, or saying ‘oh, that’s cool,’ when you’re really upset about it, you could say, ‘let’s not get into this right now.’ This will give you some time to collect your thoughts and approach them on your terms and on your time.” Time, as Dr. DeGroat explains, is key to defusing acute stressors, letting your body and mind return to normal, and giving yourself the space to deal with them in a healthy way.
Dealing with Chronic Stressors: Stressors that you deal with on a daily basis or that are always hanging over your head are a different matter entirely. Usually they give you a little more time and space to deal with the thing that’s making you stressed, and there are other relaxation techniques for stressors that may not require action on your part right away, or stressors that are always lurking in the background, like your boss, for example.
Visualization is one way to relax yourself when you’re presented with a stressor that you don’t need to respond to immediately. Dr. DeGroat suggests that if you can, take five to ten minutes to immerse yourself in the most relaxing environment you can possibly imagine, whether it’s green fields, a chair by the sea, or your favorite easy chair at home. Focus on as much of that environment as possible, trying to manifest the sounds, smells, and details about it in your head. The more you do this, the farther away you’ll get from the thing that’s bothering you. It won’t make that thing go away, but it will give you a little clarity of mind and distance from the stressor. Photo by Gabriel Pollard.
If you have additional time to relax and some space to be alone, Dr. DeGroat suggests progressive muscle relaxation to defuse some of the natural tension that comes with being stressed. “Systematically tense and relax muscle groups, beginning at your toes and working your way all to the top of your head. [This] serves as a distraction from current stressors and can help reduce physical tension that often accompanies stress.”
Another tip Dr. DeGroat offers is to identify whether level of stress and your response to it is realistic or unrealistic when you’re in the middle of it. If it’s realistic, as in anyone would respond the same way and there’s something you can do about it (like your computer froze or you just dropped something,) then address the situation and move on. If the response is unrealistic and others may not respond the same way (traffic isn’t moving fast enough or security lines at the airport are too slow,) then address yourself: calm down, step back, and try to relax.
The first step to addressing yourself is to challenge the way you’re thinking about the stressor. “Challenging these automatic thoughts that often hijack our minds and promote stress has been shown in research to be a great way to help break the patterns of thinking & behaving that are counterproductive/harmful,” Roger Gil explained. “Once the ‘mental battle’ is won, the IRL battle is more easily handled.”
Granted, none of these measures have to be practiced only in the context of chronic stress, but it is more likely that if your boss is getting on your nerves again today or the rent is due and you’re worried about being able to afford groceries, you’re more likely to take a few minutes and address how you feel so you can approach the issues in a clear manner than you are if you’re stuck in a meeting and asked to speak on a topic you weren’t ready for.
How to Deal with Stress In the Future
When I asked Dr. DeGroat how we could deal with certain kinds of stress that seem to crop up from time to time, like an overbearing extended family or an aggressive and disrespectful employer, he pointed out that while there are ways to deal with each situation on its own merits, much of the stress that gets to us the most comes from relationships. “Really, I believe stress in relationships (occupational, family, social), often includes difficulties with setting and maintaining boundaries. Others seem to expect too much from us. Rather than setting our own limits/boundaries, we allow others to cross these boundaries, and end up feeling irritated and resentful. One of the best ways to prevent stress in relationships is to identify our own limits/boundaries and hold to them,” he says. Photo by Joel Mendoza.
In some cases, it may simply be better to remove yourself from chronic stressors if you’re having difficulty adapting to them or minimizing them. After all, if your job is wearing you down and there’s no improving it, it may be time to look for a new job. If your relationship is so stressful it’s destructive for everyone in it, it may be time to break it off, and if your apartment is run down and your landlord won’t fix it, it’s time to move out. There are plenty of good reasons to learn to cope with stress, but there are other equally good reasons to remove the stress from your life when you can.
To that end, there’s no real way to live a completely stress-free life. Remember, there are positive stressors as well as negative ones, and the positive ones are usually good experiences that we enjoy or seek out. The same applies for negative stressors: they’re bound to happen eventually and avoiding them is a futile effort. The key is in knowing how to deal with them, and how to minimize their effect on you.
If the stress you’re experiencing is chronic, consider other activities like taking up a hobby, meditating, or traveling—anything that can take your mind off of those stressors and provide a healthy outlet where you can relax. “Other helpful stressful coping mechanisms are exercise, doing an activity you’re good at that won’t worsen the stress (e.g. cooking, video games, etc), and watching a very engrossing movie/TV show,” Gil said, “Sometimes interrupting the state of stress a person is in with an activity they enjoy is enough to keep them from losing control.”
There’s no magic formula for dealing with stress, but employing coping mechanisms that give you distance, helps you get through the moment, and at best minimizes the overall impact the stressor has on you are a good way to stay healthy, happy, and productive. Photo by Jacob Bøtter.
“It is how we approach it that can cause us problems, or allow us to grow. The more control we can find within a situation, or over ourselves, the more likely we will grow from the situation,” Dr. DeGroat explained, “The more we are able to identify and act upon the control and choice we have in situations, the less debilitating the stress will be.”
Of course, regular readers here know that an excellent way to handle stress is the use of focused trance, active meditation, or experiential hypnosis.
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All the best,
Brian
http://www.briandavidphillips.com
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