Stress is your body's natural response to a real or perceived threat. Everybody experiences stress from time to time. The physical, emotional, and cognitive processes that take place in your body is its way of telling you to pay attention and take action. Here are some five great tips from the National Institute of Mental Health to help you understand stress:
1. Stress affects everyone.Everyone experiences stress from time to time. There are different types of stress—all of which carry physical and mental health risks. A stressor may be a one-time or short-term occurrence, or it can happen repeatedly over a long time. Some people may cope with stress more effectively and recover from stressful events more quickly than others.
Examples of stress include:
3. Long-term stress can harm your health.Coping with the impact of chronic stress can be challenging. Because the source of long-term stress is more constant than acute stress, the body never receives a clear signal to return to normal functioning. With chronic stress, those same lifesaving reactions in the body can disturb the immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproductive systems. Some people may experience mainly digestive symptoms, while others may have headaches, sleeplessness, sadness, anger, or irritability.
Over time, continued strain on your body from stress may contribute to serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other illnesses, including mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.
4. There are ways to manage stress.If you take practical steps to manage your stress, you may reduce the risk of negative health effects. Here are some tips that may help you to cope with stress:
Source: National Institute of Mental Health, 2020
Coping Skills
We all face stress and adversity in life. How we react to the emotional discomfort can either help us adapt in healthy and positive ways or it can be destructive. Unhealthy coping mechanisms may help us relieve pressure in the moment, but are not good for us in the long run. This includes behaviors like substance abuse, over or under eating, dangerous thrill seeking, self-injury, social withdrawal, behavioral disengagement, or aggressive actions.
A coping skill is any tool or mental activity that helps you tolerate, minimize, or deal with stressful situations in life in a healthy way. Some coping skills are emotion focused meaning they help you release or manage uncomfortable emotions. Other coping skills are problem focused meaning they help you understand identify the problem and work towards active solutions.
Here are some examples of healthy coping:
1. Stress affects everyone.Everyone experiences stress from time to time. There are different types of stress—all of which carry physical and mental health risks. A stressor may be a one-time or short-term occurrence, or it can happen repeatedly over a long time. Some people may cope with stress more effectively and recover from stressful events more quickly than others.
Examples of stress include:
- Routine stress related to the pressures of school, work, family, and other daily responsibilities.
- Stress brought about by a sudden negative change, such as losing a job, divorce, or illness.
- Traumatic stress experienced during an event such as a major accident, war, assault, or natural disaster where people may be in danger of being seriously hurt or killed. People who experience traumatic stress may have very distressing temporary emotional and physical symptoms, but most recover naturally soon after. Read more about Coping With Traumatic Events.
3. Long-term stress can harm your health.Coping with the impact of chronic stress can be challenging. Because the source of long-term stress is more constant than acute stress, the body never receives a clear signal to return to normal functioning. With chronic stress, those same lifesaving reactions in the body can disturb the immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproductive systems. Some people may experience mainly digestive symptoms, while others may have headaches, sleeplessness, sadness, anger, or irritability.
Over time, continued strain on your body from stress may contribute to serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other illnesses, including mental disorders such as depression or anxiety.
4. There are ways to manage stress.If you take practical steps to manage your stress, you may reduce the risk of negative health effects. Here are some tips that may help you to cope with stress:
- Be observant. Recognize the signs of your body’s response to stress, such as difficulty sleeping, increased alcohol and other substance use, being easily angered, feeling depressed, and having low energy.
- Talk to your health care provider or a health professional. Don’t wait for your health care provider to ask about your stress. Start the conversation and get proper health care for existing or new health problems. Effective treatments can help if your stress is affecting your relationships or ability to work. Don’t know where to start? Read our Tips for Talking With Your Health Care Provider.
- Get regular exercise. Just 30 minutes per day of walking can help boost your mood and improve your health.
- Try a relaxing activity. Explore relaxation or wellness programs, which may incorporate meditation, muscle relaxation, or breathing exercises. Schedule regular times for these and other healthy and relaxing activities.
- Set goals and priorities. Decide what must get done now and what can wait. Learn to say “no” to new tasks if you start to feel like you’re taking on too much. Try to be mindful of what you have accomplished at the end of the day, not what you have been unable to do.
- Stay connected. You are not alone. Keep in touch with people who can provide emotional support and practical help. To reduce stress, ask for help from friends, family, and community or religious organizations.
Source: National Institute of Mental Health, 2020
Coping Skills
We all face stress and adversity in life. How we react to the emotional discomfort can either help us adapt in healthy and positive ways or it can be destructive. Unhealthy coping mechanisms may help us relieve pressure in the moment, but are not good for us in the long run. This includes behaviors like substance abuse, over or under eating, dangerous thrill seeking, self-injury, social withdrawal, behavioral disengagement, or aggressive actions.
A coping skill is any tool or mental activity that helps you tolerate, minimize, or deal with stressful situations in life in a healthy way. Some coping skills are emotion focused meaning they help you release or manage uncomfortable emotions. Other coping skills are problem focused meaning they help you understand identify the problem and work towards active solutions.
Here are some examples of healthy coping:
- Processing difficult situation and emotions. This differs from venting in that the point is not to release the built up emotions but to set them down and take a good look. Talking through a situation with a trusted friend, adviser, or mental health professional can help you understand what happened, why you had the reaction that you had, and what you might need to do to either let it go or work towards a solution.
- Planning/problem solving .There is wisdom in being able to differentiate situations that need to be solved vs those that we must accept. If there is a problem that has a solution it can be helpful to make lists or use a decision balance worksheet (pros vs cons of specific actions).
- Distraction. Sometimes you just need to take your mind off the problem for a while. Read a book, watch a show, go for a walk, immerse yourself in a hobby. This gives your mind a break, and can have the added benefit of providing self-care or grounding, too (more on that below!)
- Grounding . Any activity that gets you out of your head and into your body - meditation, physical exertion, deep breathing, getting into nature, or taking a warm bath or shower is going to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. In this way, your body can trick your mind into thinking it is safe and help reverse your body's natural stress responses. This gives you a chance to use the thinking part of your brain and make planned decisions. Oh! And it feels, good, releasing loads of stress reducing hormones and activating neurotransmitters.
- Emotional release. This means letting yourself feel the feeling - turning up some music, watching a sad movie, howling at the moon!
- Self-love. Pamper yourself with an in-home spa day, wrap yourself in a blanket and binge watch a favorite show, buy yourself a little treat.
- Accessing a higher power. Finding a way of being of service to others or relying on your faith both help you tap into something larger than yourself.
- Positive reframing. While it's not always helpful to focus soley on the silver lining, it should be part of your coping tool box. What is the lesson I am learning through this? What part of me is growing, changing? What will I do different in the future because of this? When we are able to draw a deeper meaning or significance from adversity, we feel better. Happier people tend to practice gratitude, forgiveness, and positivity. These states of being don't come naturally for everyone, but putting intentional focus can be beneficial.
- Humor. Laughter, as they say, is the best medicine. And it costs absolutely nothing.
- Use of emotional supports. Pets are people, too! Connecting with others is crucial to our overall mental health. And you will find different friends are good for different needs. You might find your indulgent buddy that wants to watch a show with you; your exercise pal that keeps you active; and your friend that always has the best advice. Just be sure to return the favor - remember number 7 above.
- Processing difficult situation and emotions. This differs from venting in that the point is not to release the built up emotions but to set them down and take a good look. Talking through a situation with a trusted friend, adviser, or mental health professional can help you understand what happened, why you had the reaction that you had, and what you might need to do to either let it go or work towards a solution.