Understanding Stress: A Guide for Stress Awareness Month
What is Stress?
Stress is the body’s natural response to challenges and demands. It can be triggered by various factors, including work, relationships, financial concerns, and major life changes. While short-term stress can be helpful in motivating action, chronic stress can negatively impact physical and mental well-being.
While stress is universal and typically happens in common ways, we all experience stress differently based on disposition and life experiences. This means we all have different factors that induce stress and different tools will work differently for us all. It is crucial that we all take a mindful look at what our stress inducers are as well as what soothes us or exacerbates distress
in our life.
Types of Stress
Acute Stress: Short-term stress that arises in response to an immediate threat or challenge.
Chronic Stress: Long-term stress resulting from ongoing pressures and difficulties.
Episodic Acute Stress: Frequent episodes of acute stress, often experienced by people who take on too many responsibilities.
Psychological Stress
Psychological stress occurs when an individual perceives a situation as overwhelming or beyond their coping abilities. This type of stress can be caused by emotional distress, trauma, or excessive mental workload. Common signs include:
- Persistent worry or racing thoughts
- Feelings of helplessness or lack of control
- Mood swings, irritability, or sadness
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
Managing psychological stress involves cognitive-behavioral strategies, therapy, and mindfulness techniques to regulate emotions and reframe negative thinking patterns.
Effects of Stress
Stress can affect various aspects of life, including:
Physical Health: Headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, digestive issues, and a weakened immune system.
Mental Health: Anxiety, depression, irritability, and difficulty concentrating.
Behavioral Changes: Changes in eating or sleeping patterns, social withdrawal, and increased substance use.
Common Stressors
While we all have different things that produce stress in our bodies, minds and lives, they typically fall into some of the following common areas:
- Work pressure and deadlines
- Financial worries
- Relationship conflicts
- Health concerns
- Major life transitions
- Mental health concerns
- Societal pressures, conflicts or distress
Effective Stress Management Techniques
Mindfulness and Meditation: Practicing deep breathing or guided meditation can help calm the mind.
Being in Nature: Regular exposure to nature has been show to reduce stress and overtime increase overall wellness.
Physical Activity: Regular exercise releases endorphins, which help reduce stress.
Healthy Diet: Eating a balanced diet with nutritious foods supports mental well-being.
Quality Sleep: Establishing a bedtime routine and maintaining good sleep hygiene can improve resilience to stress.
Time Management: Prioritizing tasks and setting realistic goals can prevent overwhelm.
Social Support: Connecting with friends, family, or support groups provides emotional relief.
Relaxation Techniques: Activities such as yoga, progressive muscle relaxation, and aromatherapy can promote relaxation.
Skills to Deal with Stress
Cognitive Reframing: Changing the way you perceive stressful situations by adopting a more positive perspective.
Problem-Solving: Identifying stressors and developing actionable solutions to address them.
Emotional Regulation: Practicing self-awareness and techniques such as journaling or deep breathing to manage emotions.
Assertiveness Training: Learning to communicate effectively and set boundaries to reduce unnecessary stress.
Relaxation Training: Engaging in activities that trigger relaxation responses, such as guided imagery or progressive muscle relaxation.
Self-Compassion: Being kind to yourself and recognizing that stress is a normal part of life rather than a personal failure.
Exposure to nature: Being in nature has proven to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones in the body, while also enhancing immune system function, self-esteem, reducing anxiety, and improving mood. Even just looking at nature scenes has shown to be able to help us feel more relaxed and increases activity in areas of the brain associated with empathy and altruism. Spending time in natural settings is linked to reductions in stress, anger, fatigue, and depression, and increases in happiness and wellbeing.
Building Long-Term Resilience
Practice Gratitude: Keeping a gratitude journal can shift focus from stressors to positive aspects of life.
Develop Healthy Boundaries: Learning to say “no” and setting limits can prevent burnout.
Engage in Hobbies: Creative and enjoyable activities provide an emotional outlet.
Seek Professional Help: Therapists and counselors can offer strategies for managing chronic stress.
Resources for Stress Awareness Month
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): www.nimh.nih.gov – Information on stress and mental health.
American Psychological Association (APA): www.apa.org – Articles and resources on stress management.
Mindful.org: www.mindful.org – Guided mindfulness exercises and stress reduction tips.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): www.cdc.gov – Public health guidance on stress and coping.
The Stress Management Society: www.stress.org.uk – Practical tips and resources for stress relief.
Take Action This Stress Awareness Month
Throughout April, take small steps to manage stress effectively. Identify personal stressors, implement stress-relief techniques, and reflect on what works best for you. Building resilience takes time, but with consistent effort, managing stress can become an achievable part of daily life.
Engage in our Clarvida Stress Awareness Month: Daily Self-Driven Activity Handout and share your experience! By way of connecting, we are helping ourselves and other move from distress to de-stress!
