Stress gets your heart racing and your hands sweat just before a performance at school or work. Stress is the emotional exhaustion that you feel after long hours of overwork and lack of sleep. Everyone at some point of time has felt stress in their life. Stress can be beneficial. It can motivate us to set and achieve goals, and it can increase our productivity. However, the positive effects of stress wear off after a certain point.
The relationship between stress and performance is an inverted U-shaped curve, known as the Yerkes–Dodson law. The law suggests that performance improves as stress levels rise until a point (the top of the curve) is reached where performance begins to deteriorate as stress continues to increase. Excessive amounts of stress affect your focus and memory, making you less productive. Stress is made up of a set of physiological responses.
When faced with a stressful situation, your muscles tense, your breathing becomes heavy, your heart beats faster, your blood vessels dilate and hormones such as adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol are released. Your body definitely goes either into fight or flight mode. Chronic stress puts your body in a constant state of stress, which can predict negative health outcomes.
There are many ways in which chronic stress can negatively affect your health. As it is connected with physical conditions such as high blood pressure, headache, obesity, heart disease, diabetes and strokes. It is related to mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. It can also promote unhealthy behaviors, such as overeating, substance abuse, and social withdrawal. Additionally, studies have shown that chronic stress can cause long-term damage to the structure and function of your brain. That’s why reducing stress is the key to improving your long-term health. Here are some ways you can reduce stress.
Identify stressful triggers.
Record your stress levels and activities throughout the day to find out which situations make you stressed. Write down all your commitments and responsibilities. You may need to re-prioritize or eliminate some non-essential tasks.
Change the way of thinking about stressful situations.
There are some common events that make most people feel stressed, such as death, divorce, marriage, job loss, starting a new job, moving, chronic illness or injury, and interpersonal conflict. But when faced with the same stressor, different people respond differently. This difference is due to the estimation of the tensioner. Personalities can contribute to the assessment, but one may choose to think of the stressor rather than the problem. Of course, implementing or doing so is easier said than done. Learning to evaluate situations more constructively may require continued practice. It’s not just a positive thought; It’s thinking in the most useful way.
Build strong relationships.
Building a strong relationship can always be a good deed. Strong social support may provide a buffer for stress. Family and friends can listen to your problems and provide support and advice, which may cause some frustration. Social support can slow down brain circuitry that is triggered during times of emotional pain (similar to physical pain).
Get more sleep.
The relationship between stress and sleep deprivation is two-pronged. Stress can keep you awake at night, and lack of sleep can contribute to your overall stress level. To break the cycle, practice good sleep hygiene, such as reducing caffeine, developing a regular sleep schedule, eliminating screens that can trick your brain into thinking it’s time of day. (such as television, phone and computer) and avoid naps. During the day.
Get regular exercise.
Regular exercise is the key. Doing moderate regular exercise can help reduce your stress levels. It is always beneficial for your overall physical and mental health. Whenever you feel caught by negativity or stress, you better take a deep breath and try to engage yourself with some Meditations or an exercise. Which will help releasing your stress and diverting your mind from negativity around.
Relax your body and mind.
There are many relaxation techniques that you can do on your own. These include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness meditation, and imagery. These exercises help clear your mind, slow your heart rate, and reduce muscle tension. You can search for any free online resources to help you practice these relaxation techniques. You can download audio clips to your phone or iPod and relax whenever you want:
Get help.
When You’re Still Overwhelmed, you can consult a psychologist or other mental health physicians. You not need a serious mental health condition to seek professional help though. They can help you with developing effective coping strategies to get you rid of from the unwanted stress.
We hope following these tips will help you releasing your unwanted stress and will help you to enjoying a healthy and stressful life. If you liked reading this article, please comment to motivate us providing you the best of us.