Stress Awareness Month & Stress Prevention Tips
April is National Stress Awareness Month; wouldn't it be great if I could solve all the world's stress problems by then? But I can't. The stress epidemic sweeping America won't be solved by me banging away at a keyboard— instead, it begins with you. In light of that, I'm suggesting the next logical steps to saving our sanity are stress prevention and stress management.
Let's begin with two questions.
The first is: have you ever been unable to manage your emotions?
Burnout, a symptom of chronic stress, can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. If you've recently felt unable to manage strong negative emotions your body might be flush with cortisone, the stress hormone. You should probably deal with that.
The second is: do you know how to prevent stress?
The most effective way to deal with chronic stress is to manage it and prevent it. You can thrive from facing challenges if you know how to self-soothe, cope, and decompress.
With National Stress Awareness Month right around the corner, we have compiled a list of stress Q&A sets! (We will talk about prevention and management in the process.)
Q: Is Stress Always Bad for You?
A: If stress makes us more productive, then it may be true that stress isn't necessarily undesirable. Say you have a deadline from your manager, but you think you need more time to meet it. As a result of adding time constraints, you gained more experience of working under pressure. Short-term stress occurs less often, it's not always considered problematic.
Whenever you are experiencing stress, it is helpful to distinguish between chronic and acute stress. When you dread heading to work because of your manager, it might be time to look for a new position. It might be the best decision to create boundaries in order to eliminate the cause of chronic stress.
Q: Is Chronic Stress Bad for Your Health?
A: Stress, especially chronic stress, impacts one's health. Stress hinders our ability to manage our emotions. In order to live a fulfilling life, people must be able to manage emotional outbursts and overwhelming feelings such as anxiety. Stress takes away our belief in ourselves and our ability to function. Sure building a stronger constitution and honing into your purpose in life can help you make better choices and power you through tough situations, but you also need to make decompression time a habit.
Here are some effects of chronic stress mentioned by Medical News Today:
- Mental Health Issues
- Mental Health Conditions
- Lack of Appetite
- Poor Sleep
- Concentration Problems
- Physical Symptoms: Fatigue, Headaches, Stomach issues
In a nutshell, stress is bad, yes. But there are ways to deal with chronic stress.
You can actually exercise away chronic stress symptoms like tension. Physical exercise helps you get rid of toxins that cause chronic stress symptoms, says Very Well Mind.
Q: What are the Causes of Stress?
A: For most of us, we experience stress every day, multiple times a day: this is called temporary stress. Temporary stress occurs when we're faced with challenging circumstances and there really isn't a way to prevent this unless you live under a rock. Short-term pressure can be beneficial as we mentioned but it can also be tiring that's why you have to be proactive.
If there isn't an outlet for the stress it morphs into a long-term condition and lots of unwanted symptoms. So the best way to avoid burnout is to include lots of self-care in conjunction with the daily challenges you face— a sort of 1:1 ratio.
A week long vacation, isn't going to stop you from becoming overwhelmed the rest of the 358 days left in the year.
In short lifestyle, health, and mindset are some of the causes of stress. If you feel unable to manage your emotions you probably need two things, more emotional management skills and more decompression time.