STRESS MANAGEMENT

How to Reduce, prevent, and Cope with Stress

Human psychology sees stress as a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense.

Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in your life. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Your true sources of stress aren’t always obvious, and it’s all too easy to overlook your own stress-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Sure, you may know that you’re constantly worried about work deadlines. But maybe it’s your procrastination, rather than the actual job demands, that leads to deadline stress.

To identify your true sources of stress, look closely at your habits, attitude, and excuses:

• Do you explain away stress as temporary (“I just have a million things going on right now”) even though you can’t remember the last time you took a breather?
• Do you define stress as an integral part of your work or home life (“Things are always crazy around here”) or as a part of your personality (“I have a lot of nervous energy, that’s all”).
• Do you blame your stress on other people or outside events, or view it as entirely normal and unexceptional?

Until you accept responsibility for the role you play in creating or maintaining it, your stress level will remain outside your control.

Finding out about STRESS in your life

Write down:

• What caused your stress (make a guess if you’re unsure).
• How you felt, both physically and emotionally.
• How you acted in response.
• What you did to make yourself feel better.

Look at how you currently cope with stress

Think about the ways you currently manage and cope with stress in your life. review your findings above.

 Are your coping strategies healthy or unhealthy, helpful or unproductive? Unfortunately, many people cope with stress in ways that compound the problem. Here are a few of them;

Unhealthy ways of coping with stress

These coping strategies may temporarily reduce stress, but they cause more damage in the long run:

Smoking Drinking too much Over eating or under eating Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities Using pills or drugs to relax  Sleeping too much Procrastinating Filling up every minute of the day to avoid  facing problems Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence)

Learning healthier ways to manage stress

If your methods of coping with stress aren’t contributing to your greater emotional and physical health, it’s time to find healthier ones. 

There are many healthy ways to manage and cope with stress, but they all require change. You can either change the situation or change your reaction. 

When deciding which option to choose, 

it’s helpful to think of the four A’s: 

• Avoid,
• Alter, 
• Adapt, 
• Accept.

Healthy ways to relax and recharge

Go for a walk. Spend time in nature. Call a good friend. Sweat out tension with a good workout. Write in your journal. Take a long bath. Light scented candles. Savour a warm cup of coffee or tea. Play with a pet. Work in your garden. Get a massage. Curl up with a good book. Listen to music. Watch a comedy.

Don’t get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs.

 Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.

AYARA NDIFREKE SYLVESTER

       ayarandifreke@gmail.com

               +234 703 222 0924