LIFE SKILLS FOR STRESS!
Actually, ‘stress’ is an involved subject to define. Firstly many people won’t be aware that they ‘are stressed’. In this day and age of often living and working at a fast pace, there are many things we could ‘stress’ about.
Firstly, what is ‘Stress’? The Oxford Dictionary explains it as ‘a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances’.
Another way to describe it, is a feeling of ‘overwhelm’ and anxiousness which in many cases could develop from fear and worry. Thinking about and discussing situations that haven’t worked out for us in the past can compound the problem, and in doing this, we re-create the stress response (stressor) that we experienced in the first place.
Stress when it’s experienced in it’s highest form can affect our bodies. We have all no doubt heard about how it comes into play in an ’emergency’ situation when we get a ‘kick in’ of adrenaline and this has even helped people lift cars when it’s been necessary. This is called a ‘fight or flight’ situation. In this case the heart beats faster, muscles tighten, our blood pressure rises, we breath quicker and we’re ‘on edge’. We can handle this occurrence for short periods but over a longer time, stress is unhelpful and starts to cause harm to our body. It will also change how we feel, cause problems at work and create challenges in our relationships.
The way we think, for example ‘is the cup 1/2 full’ or ‘1/2 empty’ is a good example of showing how important our attitude is about what happens to us and what we experience . Do we see the up-side in things or the down-side? It’s how we respond to situations that are ‘challenging’ that will determine whether we are stressed or not!
There are many symptoms and because of this, it’s best to get a medical check and doctor’s advice. Some of the warning signs are challenges with concentration and memory, being anxious, worrying all the time, seeing only the negative, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, frequent colds, changes in mood, feeling overwhelmed, being irritable, feeling lonely and depressed. Some of the behavioural symptoms are putting off doing things, using drugs, alcohol and cigarettes to relax, nail biting, either sleeping too much or too little and an inability to relax.
The good news is there are techniques which can be easily learnt to help turn around ‘stress’.
If further information is required, please email me at:
lis@skillsforlivingforlife.com or
phone me on (0418) 897 979
