The research on how people cope with crisis and stress in
their lives has shown that people tend to resolve problems within 2 weeks of
experiencing a crisis. Because stress
involves a disruption in your equilibrium, and the body does not function well
in a chronic state of disequilibrium, it is human nature to seek a way to
alleviate the stress your body is experiencing and return to a steady
state. Our bodies cannot function for
very long in the fight or flight response without serious damage, and so you
will naturally strive to make changes to resolve the stress for survival.
However, it is important to note that the way
that you resolve your problems and alleviate your stress may be positive or
negative.
There are a number of negative ways of dealing with stress
that are quite common and often quite harmful.
Some turn to alcohol and drugs to avoid their problems and numb their
feelings, and cigarettes are also cited as a way of relieving stress. Many people use food to comfort
themselves. Procrastinating distasteful
tasks and avoiding stressful situations is another negative way of coping with
stress. Some people use sleep as a way
of escaping their problems and certainly depression has been associated with
not having the ability to effectively manage stress.
What are some positive, effective methods to cope with
stress? There are different strategies
and methods for stress management involving the physical, social,
environmental, and psychological aspects of your stress. We will review techniques and strategies
within each of these dimensions, and you will need to practice and experiment
to find the stress management techniques that are right for you.
The Physical Aspect
of Stress Management
The physical aspect of stress management involve meeting
your basic needs of nutrition, sleep and exercise.
Nutrition
Nutrients provide the necessary fuel the body needs to
function. When people are stressed, they
often skip meals or eat on the run.
Since the fight or flight response requires more energy than is normally
needed, it is even more essential that you eat a balanced, nutritious diet
during stressful times.
Without proper
nutrition, the body will begin the breakdown of its own tissues in an effort to
obtain the energy required to survive.
The immune system can then become compromised and the body is more
susceptible to disease. It is not a
coincidence that many people who are under a great deal of stress for prolonged
periods of time become ill and regaining their health takes longer than for
those who are managing their stress well.
As was previously mentioned, people often use food to cope
with stress and can overeat, typically eating high sugar and high fat foods
such as chips, candy, and cookies, when under stress. Eating too much or too little is not an
effective way to manage stress and can eventually lead to more serious health
problems such as obesity, eating disorders, diabetes and hypertension.
Sleep
As with eating, too much sleep or too little is also an
ineffective way of managing stress. Most
adults require 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.
Sometimes people get very little sleep during the week and they try to
“catch up” over the weekend, sleeping in 14 hours at a time or taking naps
during the day. Sleep is not like a bank
account in which you can make deposits and withdraws, and so getting an average
of 7 to 8 hours a night over a week’s time is not the same thing as sleeping
this amount each night.
It is also important that you experience uninterrupted
sleep. Normal circadian rhythms, the
biological process related to the 24-hour light/dark cycle, are necessary for
normal sleep and optimal daytime functioning.
Our sleep patterns relate to these biological cycles which also impact
our patterns of hunger and eating, body temperature, and hormone release. It is important that these cycles be in
harmony to have a sense of well-being during our waking hours. Research also shows that sleeping too much
can result in increased depression and decreased energy levels. Sleep deprivation has been found to cause
losses in higher cognitive processing tasks, decline in the performance of
simple tasks, memory loss, and, with prolonged sleep deprivation, temporary
psychosis such as hallucinations and delirium.
So getting adequate rest is an essential aspect of stress management.
Exercise
Exercise is another physical aspect of stress
management. Exercising aerobically at
least three times a week for 20 to 30 has been found to manage stress
effectively for several reasons. First,
exercising requires you to focus on your breathing and to breathe deeply, the
key to stress management. By tensing and
releasing the ,muscles through exercise, you are allowing your body to relax
and unwind. Secondly, exercise can
alleviate stress through the release of endorphins, naturally occurring
chemicals in the brain. Endorphins help
to counter stress, subdue pain, and increase pleasure, which is the reason
people talk about the runner’s high.
Hitting a racquet ball against the wall or playing basketball can be a
great way to release the frustrations of the day and let go of tension and
stress. Aerobic exercise includes
walking briskly, running, bicycling, skating, and dancing.
The Social Aspect of
Stress Management
It is important in managing your stress effectively for you
to make time to have fun and play. Like
exercise, laughter increases the release of endorphins and requires you to
breathe deeply, and so having humor in your life is an essential part of stress
management. Research has shown that
stress can be related to having inadequate social interactions. Hugging and human contact has also been
demonstrated as having a significant effect in reducing the harmful physical
effects of stress. Participating in
social activities such as social organizations, sports or just talking with
friends can give you the break you need to rest your mind and focus on
something other than work.
Actually you don’t even have to have human contact to reduce
stress- as just owning a pet can make the difference. Studies have shown that just petting an
animal produces calming effects such as lowered blood pressure and decreased
heart rate. Cardiac patients who own
pets tend to live much longer than those who have no pets.
The environmental
Aspects of Stress Management
To effectively manage your stress, you need to take into consideration
environmental stressors such as the noise level, amount of light, and aesthetic
quality of the space you inhabit. Stress
has been linked to being exposed to prolonged, daily noise such as in a
factory. We know that depression can be
related to the amount of light to which you are exposed, and this can also
affect your circadian rhythms. Natural
light tends to elevate your mood while prolonged exposure to artificial
lighting can increase your stress level.
There is also research to suggest that different colors can raise or
lower your stress and energy level. Some
people associate the color red with feelings of anger or hostility and blue
with feeling more depressed. Having
plants or photos of friends and family around your living and workspace can
also alleviate stress.
Smell can also play a significant role in managing
stress. As the saying goes, “stop and
smell the roses,” Studies have shown that aromatherapy, can lower stress
levels. When you breathe in these oils,
they send a direct message to your brain via your olfactory nerves, where they
can then affect the endocrine and hormonal systems via the hypothalamus. Odors have an amazing effect on our emotional
states because they hook into the emotional or primitive parts of our brains such
as the limbic system. Aromatherapy has
been used to relieve pain, enhance relaxation and stress relief, unknot tense
muscles, soften dry skin, and enhance immunity.
So it is wise to pay attention to your aromatic surroundings, as they
may affect you much more than you may realize.
While social interaction has been shown to have positive
results on lessening the effects of stress, it does make a difference as to the
type of friends with whom you surround yourself. Spending time with negative, pessimistic
people can increase your stress level rather than decrease it. It is obviously more advantageous to surround
yourself with positive, optimistic friends to better manage your stress. Feeling crowded in a room and not having
enough personal space can also lead to an increase in stress. Interestingly, it is not being in crowds
itself but how familiar you are with the people, the activity that is taking
place, and how much control you feel over your personal space that makes the
difference. In other words, being in a
crowded room filled with your friends during a party feels subjectively
different than feeling trapped in a crowded restaurant filled with strangers.
Other important aspects of managing stress in your
environment include having meaningful work that is stimulating but not beyond
your abilities helps to keep your stress response at a moderate, optimal level
for performance.
The Psychological
Aspect of Stress Management
Lastly, you can effectively cope with stress by using a
variety of cognitive and psychological strategies. There are several different techniques, but
as you will see many are focused on deep breathing, which is the key to
managing stress.
Relaxation and Deep
Breathing
The relaxation response is powerful weapon in ensuring you
do not remain in the stress response for too long. It is effective because it entails the
opposite of the stress response. Rather
than taking shallow breaths, you are required to breathe deeply, inhaling to a
count of four while sitting in a comfortable position. As you breathe deeply, your muscles unwind
and relax, again the opposite of the stress response. It is generally advised not to cross your
legs or arms so that your muscles can relax easily. Blood flows to the extremities and your heart
rate slows. In fact, experienced users
of this technique can temporarily lower their breathing rate from typical rate
of fourteen to eighteen breaths per minute to as few as four breathes per
minute. Body temperature decreases and
blood pressure is lowered as well. The
entire nervous system is slowed, in direct opposition to its role in the stress
response. You are instructed to focus on
your breathing and inner experience and become less aware of your external
environment. To help to tune out the
outside world, you are instructed to close your eyes and let go of the worries
and concerns of the day.
To try this technique, take a moment to focus on your
breathing and breathe in four a count of four and out of four. After doing so after a few times, tighten
your body, clench your hands, teeth, and jaw, close your eyes tightly, and pull
your shoulders up while you are still breathing deeply. Are you able to do so? It is virtually
impossible to tense your body and breathe deeply, as they are mutually
exclusive activities. Thus, the
relaxation response is the foundation of most of the stress management
techniques. Deep breathing is the
fundamental aspect of stress management.
Progressive Muscle
Relaxation (PMR)
Progressive muscle relaxation involves learning to recognize the difference between contracted and
relaxed muscles, in order to gain a sense of control over your body and the
stress response. Progressive muscle
relaxation enables you to intentionally put certain muscles into a controlled
state of relaxation and reduce your overall stress level.
PMR is based on the use of positioning your body in a
comfortable position, sitting or laying down, and concentrating on certain
muscle groups. As you inhale, breathing
in for a count of four, you contract your muscles starting with your forehead
and counting for four as you exhale and relax your muscles. Continue to clench and relax the muscles,
using your breathing to help you to tighten and release, working your way down
your body all the way to your feet and toes.
Concentrate on the sensations of relaxation and how different this feels
from feeling tense and stressed. Fifteen
minutes, twice a day, is the recommended schedule. In 1 to 2 weeks, you will have mastered the
basics and will be aware of which muscles need more attention in order to
relax. You will also be more sensitive
to the buildup of tension in your body so that you will be able to decrease
your stress level before it becomes overwhelming.
Guided Imagery and
Visualization
Guided imagery involves having someone describe a beautiful,
relaxing scene while focusing on taking deep, comfortable breaths. While in a comfortable position, in an
environment free from interruptions and distractions, you breathe deeply,
relaxing your muscles and imagining a pleasant scene. The imagery includes all of the senses, not
just what you see, but pleasant smells, sounds, touch, and even taste. Guided imagery can be self-taught or you can
listen to recordings of narrated scripts.
Visualization is similar to guided imagery with the scene
being more specifically focused on something you are about to do, want to
accomplish, or some performance or activity that may be causing you
distress. Guided imagery and
visualization techniques help you to consciously program change through
positive mental images. For example, you
might imagine yourself auditioning for a part in a play, seeing yourself go
through your lines effortlessly and flawlessly, and feeling confident and proud
of yourself. You are probably already
skilled at visualization. Unfortunately we
frequently engage in negative visualization and are unaware of doing so: we
imaging ourselves making fools of ourselves or making mistakes.
Athletes are trained in using positive visualization to
improve their performance and visualize their goals. Positive visualization has also been used in
managing pain, especially chronic pain management. The technique has also been effective in
weight management, smoking cessation, insomnia, and for almost any type of
behavior change.
Meditation and
Hypnosis
Meditation allows the mind to transcend thoughts
effortlessly when the person concentrate on a focal point. In transcendental Meditation, a widely
recognized approach to meditation, people repeat a mantra, or a personal word,
while using deep breathing and relaxation techniques. In other meditation approaches, alternative
focal points are used to establish the depth of concentration needed to free
the mind from conscious thought.
Physical objects, music, relaxing environmental sounds or breathing can
be used as focal points.
Hypnosis is an artificially induced state, resembling, but
physiologically distinct from, sleep. It
involves a heightened state of suggestibility that creates flexible and
intensified attention and receptiveness, and an increased responsiveness to an
idea or to a set of ideas. The focus is
on the unconscious rather than on the conscious state of mind, using deep
breathing and relaxation techniques.
Hypnosis is perhaps the oldest and most misunderstood type of relaxation
technique. It has been given a bad
reputation by stage entertainers who use hypnosis t have unsuspecting audience
members engage in embarrassing behavior.
Hypnosis is a natural state of mind that occurs
spontaneously in nearly every person. It
is a trancelike state, similar to those that you experience upon awakening,
prior to falling asleep, or when you are engrossed in thought while performing
other tasks-such as driving down a highway-on autopilot. It is possible to learn self-hypnosis from a
trained professional or participate in hypnosis sessions with a qualified
hypnotherapist.
Similar to the other techniques described, meditation and
hypnosis are best when you are in a comfortable, quiet environment and are
practiced at least once a day, every day, for 15 to 20 minutes.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is a training technique in which people are
taught to improve their health and performance by using signals from their own
bodies. It operates on the premise that
individual can alter their involuntary response by being “fed back” information
either visually or audibly about what was occurring in their bodies. In addition, studies have shown that we have
more control over so-called involuntary bodily functions than we once thought
possible.
One commonly used device, for example, picks up electrical
signals from the muscles and translate the signals into a form that people can
detect. This device triggers a flashing
light or activates a beeper every time muscles become more tense. If one wants to relax tense muscles, one must
slow down the flashing or beeping.
People learn to associate sensations from the muscles with actual level
of tension and develop a new, healthy habit of keeping muscles only as tense as
is necessary for as long as necessary.
After treatment, individuals are then able to repeat this response at
will without being attached to the sensors.
Other biological functions that are commonly measured and used in a
similar way to help learn to control their physical functioning are skin
temperature, heart rate, swet gland activity, and brainwave activity. In this way, you can manage your stress by
decreasing the physiological components of the stress response.
Stress Inoculation
Similar to being protected from influenza by injecting some
of the flu strain into your system, stress inoculation involves exposing an
individual to specific stressful situations, a little at a time, under
controlled, safe conditions. Stress
inoculations teaches individuals to relax using deep breathing and progressive
muscle relaxation while exposing them to stressful situation rather than
avoiding them.
The first step is to construct your personal list of
stressful situations and arrange the list from the least to the most stressful
items, and learn how to evoke each of these situations in your mind while at
the same time focusing on your breathing and relaxing your muscles. The second step is to create an arsenal of
stress-coping thoughts, such as “I’m going to be alright,” “I’ve succeeded with
this before,” and “Getting started is the hardest part, then it will get easier
for me,” to counteract stress.
The first step is to practice this in vivo meaning in real life situations, while using the relaxation
and cognitive techniques to minimize the stress response. In addition to stress management, stress
inoculation has also been helpful in anger management.
Cognitive Self-Talk
What we tell ourselves, our self-talk, has a tremendous
impact upon how well we manage our stress.
Stress can be generated from faulty conclusions, misinterpretations and
expecting the worst, they won’t feel disappointed or hurt, but in reality, they
still feel the pain from their disappointment.
Also, it is important to be careful what you expect because you may
inadvertently make it happen, a phenomenon referred to as self-fulfilling
prophecy. Self-fulfilling prophecy can
for you or against you. If you expect
that work will be boring and uninteresting, you will trend to portray a
negative, unmotivated attitude and will probably have a miserable time. However, if you expect to enjoy yourself at
work, you are more likely to go into work looking for challenge and making it
more fun.
In order to change your cognitive distortions, you need to
generate some rebuttals to your negative self-statements. This entails finding middle ground between
all-or-nothing thinking by asking yourself, “What is the evidence?” that this statement is true and identifying
some exceptions to this statement. Look
for balance in your statements by asking yourself what is the opposite of this
negative self-statement? Rather than telling yourself what you “should” do, ask
yourself what do you “want” to do. Be
specific instead of generalizing and avoid labeling yourself and others. Instead of telling yourself, “I’m lazy,” you
might say, “I wish I would have studied a few more hours for that test,” stick
to the facts without blaming yourself or others. Question yourself as to how you know
something is true and if you might be making an assumption or mind reading. Be mindful of your self-fulfilling
prophecies. It may be wiser to
acknowledge that you don’t know or consider many different possible outcomes
rather than expect the worst.
Changing negative self-talk requires time, practice, and
patience. We develop these patterns of
thinking over years and they become almost automatic. It takes concentrated effort to be aware of
and change this way of thinking.
Remember that your rebuttals need to be strong, nonjudgmental, and
specific. Practice developing more flexible
and balanced thinking about people, behavior, and situations.
As
you can see, there are many different aspects to consider in managing stress,
such as the physical, social, environmental, and psychological component of
stress. As you think about how you can
more effectively manage your stress level, you will need to practice and
experiment to find the stress management techniques that will be most
beneficial for you.
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