How to delink stress from mental health

We are now living in a sophisticated world that assures a comfortable life at all levels.? But along with it comes “stress” that waits for the right time to come into our lives.? It is not something to let go with minimum care when even a toddler complains about stress.?

Even a child studying in a primary school complains of stress. The never-ending demand of parents to attain success both in academics and other extra-curricular activities makes the children face stress every day. So, taking care of mental health even in children has become a crucial responsibility of the parents.

Apart from providing a comfortable life along with all available electronic gadgets of the day, the parents must check if their children have sound mental health or need their help in resolving issues they face in their day-to-day lives.? Parents must believe even at school or college they may face stress and they must always share with us their concerns and worries.

Understanding Stress

How to identify there is stress in a person. A valid question. The word “stress” as a noun means emotional, mental, tension, or physical strain felt by a human. It is the reaction of our body to any type of change that requires a response or an adjustment to be free.?

Though stress can help you work faster to meet your deadlines, if you start to feel stress frequently, it turns harmful.

Knowing Your Type of Stress

Stress can affect your mental and physical health significantly.? It can weaken your immune system, and develop headaches and recurrent digestive problems.? It can affect you mentally causing depression, anxiety, difficulty in concentrating, irritable mood swings, and disturbed sleep.? If you undergo stress for a long time, it can trigger heart disease or mental health-related disorders.

Understanding what type of stress, you are facing can help to manage it effectively.

Acute stress:? This type of short-term stress relates to preparing for exams, participating in social events, and challenges faced at the workplace or home.? Though it is considered common, if it exists for a prolonged time can lead to health issues.

Chronic stress:? This type of long-term stress can result in pressure at the workplace, unexpected challenges, and misfortunes faced in life.? Chronic health issues, problems related to relationships, and being in jobs that will not satisfy you. ?It has been found that chronic stress can lead to dysfunction of immune systems, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, anxiety, and depression.

Eustress or Positive stress: This type of positive stress helps to achieve your goals, get the required motivation, engage in activities that challenge your abilities, and get yourself adapted to new environments and experiences. ?Positive stress brings in a sense of fulfillment, excitement, and anticipation of good tidings. It includes starting a new career, preparing for a competitive exam, and planning for auspicious events at home or in the workplace.

Learning to handle stress

As stress affects both body and mind, it is necessary to know how to handle stress at home or in your workplace.? If you want to prevent stress from affecting your health, you must first learn how to identify it.? Stress can occur as mood swings or common aches that will look so normal.

If mood swings happen regularly with you, it can be a sign that you are under stress.? Changing eating patterns, having altered sleep patterns, and forgetting trivial things are visible signs that tell you are facing stress.

Here is a real-time scenario:? Saranya who had just completed her graduation after financial struggles was forced by her mother to stay at home. Though she wanted to work and support her family, her mother did not allow her.? Staying at home brought her much stress. But she did not complain. The stress she compressed within herself led to frequent headaches for no reason.?

Initially, she thought it may be due to climate change and the hot temperature.? It ended in a peptic ulcer.? She started to have frequent pain in the stomach.? Even when she ate bland food, she experienced uneasiness.? Until the doctor told her that she had peptic ulcer due to her mental stress.? It took more than three years to get cured of ulcers.

Techniques for Managing Stress

With the latest advancements in medicine, there are many simple techniques to manage stress at all levels for all age groups.

Meditating?

Learn Yoga. It will allocate quality time to meditate and keep your mind at peace.? To begin with, start to meditate at least for five minutes. Meditation can help you feel your surroundings and listen to your breath. ?

Mindfulness brings your focus back to the present, acting as a mental anchor. Try starting with five minutes of meditation a day. Listen to your breath, feel your surroundings, and immerse in the moment. These small sessions can significantly ease a cluttered mind.

Exercising

Regular exercise helps to give away your accumulated stress.? If it is cycling or walking briskly releases the much-needed endorphins which are natural stress busters in our body.

Managing Time

Schedule your tasks.? List them according to their priority so that you will be able to reach your goals with ease.

?Getting Help Professionally

When you are not able to handle your stress with simple techniques, it is better to get an appointment with a professional.? The meeting with the counselling professional will help you to understand the issues and the level of stress you are in.? Two to three sessions with a counsellor will help you get the guidance effectively.

Unchecked stress levels in you may slowly affect your physical and mental health to a large extent. To lead a balanced life, you must know how to handle stress efficiently.?

Some people may say smoking or taking a tumbler of beer will help you get relief from feeling stressed.? But these habits pave the way for addiction and you may not be able to come out of it easily.? Instead of choosing such things, be conscious to choose something that will benefit you both physically and mentally.

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