What is stress?
Anything beyond a limit challenges our capacity. Not only talking about humankind, but every worldly body also finds this hard to deal with. When we witness something that’s physically, emotionally, or psychologically overwhelming and difficult to adjust with; it causes a kind of uneasiness which we usually term as stress. The uneasiness has its reflection through emotional outbursts of anger, nervousness, behavioral disorders, and many times health troubles too. Stress is a kind of tension that usually is beyond our manageable limit and it denotes that there is something that needs our immediate attention or action.
The more we get into serious business in life the more we challenge our endurance. Every aspect of life today is exigent and on top of that now it is no more age-specific. This topic needs no introduction as none haven’t experienced this and tried fighting it. The present-day relevance of the topic needs no explanation either as the criticalities of our lives are exponentially growing and we see no end to it. Stress is not something recent we all are aware of, it existed since the time we existed; just that we never thought it would call for our attention so much one day.
Although inevitable, if left unattended it may cause serious health conditions over a period which includes chronic diseases and even personality disorders in many. Stress affects the metabolism and chemical balance in the body that reflects itself on the skin, gut, and hair health. Functions of the internal organs are not spared too. Hence, this issue is something that needs awareness to devise individual coping mechanisms. Better handling would ensure lesser damage.
Causes, symptoms, and types of stress:
1)The moment we start overthinking and worrying about something, 2) get under a pressure due to a dilemma, indecisiveness, to meet a deadline, 3) start facing uncertainty on professional and/or personal front, 4) get bogged down by instances around us, 5) do not have enough work, having excessive work, have unsatisfactory job role, 6) lose control over a situation, 7) face unwelcomed changes; and any other tension situation that goes beyond our acceptable magnitude causes us stress.
Let’s look at some signs and symptoms of stress. However, some of these surface some don’t. 1)racing heartbeat, 2)fluctuating pulse rate, 3) chest pain, 4)muscle tension, clenching, aches in multiple body parts, the aches are primarily evident around the head, lower back, and stomach, 5)delay or absence of periods, hormonal disbalances leading to lack of libido, 6) metabolic and digestive issues, 7)sleep disorders, 8)mild to severe tremors or shaking, 9)high or low blood pressure, 10) skin breakouts, acne, pimples, over oiliness of the skin, dryness of the skin, 11)lack of appetite and thirst, 12)sudden weight gain and loss, 13)heartburn, 14)hair loss, hair thinning, 15)irritable behavior leading to lack of socialization, 16)abnormal sugar cravings and eating disorders and there are many more to add to the list.
Types of stress can be broadly looked at as acute, episodic acute, and chronic. In addition to it, based on causes of stress, it is categorized ahead as psychological, psychosocial, physical, psychospiritual stress. Furthermore, based on levels of stress, we can see primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary levels to address. Based on Dr. Karl Albrecht’s research, the most common types of it people face are time stress, encounter stress, anticipatory and situational stress. Environmental and emotional stress adds to the list too.
After all the discussions above, now it is time to discover the ways, techniques, and tools to combat the condition. Although, every individual has their defence and coping mechanism to combat stress; we all look for help every moment we’re under its effect. Let’s have a quick look at them. If you have anything that you think would add up to the list, please do write to me and I will ensure incorporating them here. Let’s chart them out here:
This is a stress-busting tool that has helped me in rough times, I am sure most of you would benefit from it. Boring but true, it’s the water weapon. You have your twist to give it. Drink plenty of water but if plain water doesn’t appeal to you much, add your tang to it. Water with a dash of lemon, a dash of any citrus fruit, or a few slices of cucumber, ginger, and lime into your water would make it desired. Not only drinking but this weapon can be bathed with too to fight the stress off. Try adding some essential oil or bathing salt to your bucket of water and see the magic happen. Soaking your feet in some warm water with a pinch of salt into it has the capacity of washing most of your stress away. Water will manage metabolism, digestion, soothe tensed muscles, and prevent you from eating excessive junk, salty and sugary food. This also helps you flush out toxic elements in the body. Along with everything, you get to enjoy more toilet breaks!
Some food has magical benefits of fighting stress for you. Any citrus fruit and its aroma can do wonders for you. Even smelling an orange can relieve your stress. Eat vegetables, as much as you can. Vegetables despite being something of your dislike can bring you silent yet remarkable benefits. Any leafy or green vegetable cleans the gut, helps the brain release happy hormones, and maintains a healthy body temperature. Our internal organs get the best of the sustainable supplies from vegetables, grains, nuts, and dairy; on the other hand, animal proteins keep you moving. Food that contains high fiber and water are great sources of nutrition for a body that’s crying for help. Replace an aerated drink with dairy or non-dairy milk, replace a burger with a veg sandwich, instead of a synthetic sugary drink prefer fresh fruit juice and there’s nothing better if your plate has a high fiber roti instead of a paratha. Follow these replacements for just 21 days in a row and witness the change in your mind and body like never before.
Did you ever assess what type of learner you are? Have you ever tried finding your communication style? What is your intelligence type? What type of personality are you? Find it out for yourself to discover the true ‘you’; things will change for sure once you know why is something trouble to your peace. In addition to that, self-knowledge is the best thing one can possess; this not only tells your strengths and weaknesses but also allows you to identify the triggers. Triggers are the stimulus that leads to a certain behavior. Once you identify your triggers, you’d be emotionally intelligent enough to read, manage and control your behavior better.
Take the support of music the way you want. Our preferences and tastes differ in the choice of music we have. Music soothes your brain and helps relieve stress. Identify the type of music you’d like to listen to while experiencing stress. If you like a quiet and dark place to relax your tense muscles or if you like being around close people while experiencing stress; act according to your immediate requirement. Listen to your favorite tune, a favorite song, relaxation music according to your choice while sipping on your favorite drink.
Any sort of physical activity, yoga, cardio, or simple walking; if you can involve yourself in any of these- you’d be able to fight off most of the signs, symptoms, and effects.
Do you have a person who resonates with you well and knows your triggers? If you have one good enough. If you don’t have one, even better-you have all the power to yourself. Be by your side, respect yourself and please make sure you cease to react to the situation. Pamper yourself.
Stress was with us yesterday and will be there tomorrow. All you can do is trust yourself and keep devising a mechanism to push the barrier ahead. Stress brings difficulties but it also brings challenges that once we overcome turn out to be our strength. All we have to do is to have sufficient awareness about it so that we do not leave it unattended.
If we believe that only humankind experiences stress, we might have to rethink it again. Animals and plants do experience stress too. Upon losing a companion with which an animal is bonded with or any other unwanted incidence that challenges their normal course of life, stress arises and as they are not equipped well to cope with it leads to fatality in them. They withdraw themselves, quit eating, and silently cry. Hence, our kind and compassionate gesture towards them might help them fight back; and for us, we just have to shift our perspectives to look at this challenge.