Stress Management - Fight Stress: Stress Management by Conditioning Mind and Body - the Right Way

Learn to Manage Stress & Chill Like a Pro

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Simple Plant-based Lentil Bolognese

Stress hormones are first released, making energy stores that are available for the body to use immediately. Next, energy is distributed to the tissues that become more active during stress, which usually means the skeletal muscles and the brain. Less critical systems are put on pause or suspended , for example, think digestion and the production of growth hormones. We all get stressed. Robert Epstein, a Harvard-trained psychologist, introduced us to four ways to healthfully handle and manage stress.

While there are things you can do to plan for stress and potentially eliminate it before it happens, there are certain situations and events that can be inevitable. The next step is to practice your ability to change your outlook of the stressor. Stressful thoughts and feelings will hold you back from reaching true relaxation. When was the last time you were chilling out, and your mind was still racing? Reframing is a transformative cognitive exercise you can practice when you have thoughts and feelings of anxiety, stress, pain, and suffering. It's obviously essential if you are driving while tired, but a quick sleep is a powerful de-stressor too.

A lunchtime snooze is very practical for home-workers - it just requires the realisation that doing so is acceptable and beneficial when we are conditioned unfortunately to think that sleeping during the day is lazy, rather than healthy. At some stage conventional Western industry will 'wake up' to the realisation that many people derive enormous benefit from a midday nap.

Tell that to the many millions in the Mediterranean countries who thrive on a mid-day siesta. People in the Mediterranean and Central Americas take a siesta every working day, and this is almost certainly related to longer life expectancy and lower levels of heart disease.

If your work situation is not quite ready to tolerate the concept of a daytime nap then practise a short session of self-hypnosis, combined with deep breathing, which you can do at your desk, or even in the loo. In the summer of course you can go to the nearest park and try it alfresco that's from the Italian incidentally, al fresco, meaning in the fresh air - which is another good thing for stress reduction. Fresh mint is wonderful, and excellent for the digestive system. Nettles are fantastic and contain natural relaxants. Orange zest is super use one of those nifty little zester gadgets.

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Ginger root is brilliant. Many herbs, spices, fruits and edible plants make great flavoured tea, and many herbs and spices have real therapeutic properties. Use a 'base' of green tea leaves - about half a spoonful per serving - plus the natural flavouring s of your choice, and freshly boiled water. Be bold - use lots of leaves - experiment until you find a blend that you really enjoy. Sugar or honey bring out the taste. Best without milk, but milk is fine if you prefer it. Making the tea and preparing the ingredients take your mind off your problems, and then smelling and drinking the tea also relaxes you.

There is something wonderful about natural plants and fruits which you can't buy in a packet. Use a tea-pot or cafetiere, or if you are happy with a bit of foliage in your drink actually brew it in a big mug or heatproof tumbler. Put all this into a teapot or cafetiere and add boiling water for cups. Allow to brew for a minute or two, stir and serve. This is enough for mug-sized servings:. Alter the amounts to your own taste. The recipe also works very well without the orange and ginger, which is effectively the mint tea drink that is hugely popular in Morocco and other parts of North Africa.

Dried mint can be substituted for fresh mint. The Moroccan tradition is to use small glass tumblers, and somehow seeing the fine colour of the tea adds to the experience. Not much is known about the physiology of crying and tears, although many find that crying - weeping proper tears - has a powerful helpful effect on stress levels. Whatever the science behind crying, a good bout of sobbing and weeping does seem to release tension and stress for many people.

Of course how and where you choose to submit to this most basic of emotional impulses is up to you. The middle of the boardroom during an important presentation to a top client is probably not a great idea, but there are more private situations and you should feel free to try it from time to time if the urge takes you. It is a shame that attitudes towards crying and tears prevent many people from crying, and it's a sad reflection on our unforgiving society that some people who might benefit from a good cry feel that they shouldn't do it ever - even in complete privacy.

Unfortunately most of us - especially boys - are told as children that crying is bad or shameful or childish, which of course is utter nonsense. Arguably only the bravest cry unashamedly - the rest of us would rather suffer than appear weak, which is daft, but nevertheless real. Whatever, shedding a few tears can be a very good thing now and then, and if you've yet to discover its benefits then give it a try. You might be surprised. While not a scientific gauge and not measuring serious stress health problems, this gives some indication as to how prevalent work-related stress is.

UK HSE work-related stress statistics suggest that work-related stress affects men and women in equal numbers, and that people in the retirement age suffer more than younger people. More socially-based USA research suggests that the following American social groups are more prone to stress this therefore not limited to work-related stress: Combined with the factors affecting stress susceptibility detailed below , it's not difficult to see that virtually no-one is immune from stress.

The threat from stress is perceived so strongly in Japan that the Japanese even have a word for sudden death due to overwork, 'karoushi'. Data is sparse and confused stress statistics are also complicated by metal health reporting in the UK , but the statistics do indicate certain growth.

Working days lost per annum appear to have been about 6. Greater awareness of the stress ailment in reporting no doubt accounts for some of this variance, but one thing's for sure: Stress is caused by various factors - not all of which are work-related of course, which incidentally doesn't reduce the employer's obligation to protect against the causes of stress at work. Causes of stress - known as stressors - are in two categories: From the above, it is easy to see that work can be a source of both external and internal stressors.

The working environment can generate both acute and chronic stressors, but is more likely to be a source of chronic stressors. Stress is proven beyond doubt to make people ill, and evidence is increasing as to number of ailments and diseases caused by stress. Stress is now known to contribute to heart disease; it causes hypertension and high blood pressure, and impairs the immune system. Stress is also linked to strokes, IBS irritable bowel syndrome , ulcers, diabetes, muscle and joint pain, miscarriage during pregnancy, allergies, alopecia and even premature tooth loss.

Various US studies have demonstrated that removing stress improves specific aspects of health: The clear implication for these ailments is that stress makes them worse. Stress significantly reduces brain functions such as memory, concentration, and learning, all of which are central to effective performance at work. Some health effects caused by stress are reversible and the body and mind reverts to normal when the stress is relieved. Other health effects caused by stress are so serious that they are irreversible, and at worse are terminal.

Stress is said by some to be a good thing, for themselves or others, that it promotes excitement and positive feelings. If these are the effects then it's not stress as defined here. It's the excitement and stimulus derived by one who wants these feelings and can handle them from working hard in a controlled and manageable way towards an achievable and realistic aim, which for sure can be very exciting, but it ain't stress.

Stress is bad for people and organisations, it's a threat and a health risk, and it needs to be recognised and dealt with, not dismissed as something good, or welcomed as a badge of machismo - you might as well stick pins in your eyes. A person's susceptibility to stress can be affected by any or all of these factors, which means that everyone has a different tolerance to stressors. And in respect of certain of these factors, stress susceptibility is not fixed, so each person's stress tolerance level changes over time:.

At a clinical level, stress in individuals can be be assessed scientifically by measuring the levels of two hormones produced by the adrenal glands: Managers must therefore rely on other signs. Some of these are not exclusively due to stress, nor are they certain proof of stress, but they are indicators to prompt investigation as to whether stress is present. You can use this list of ten key stress indicators as a simple initial stress test: How did I do?

Life's short enough as it is; illness is all around us; why make matters worse? Commit to change before one day change is forced upon you. If you recognise signs of stress in a staff member, especially if you are that person's manager, don't ignore it - do something about it. It is your duty to do so. If you do not feel capable of dealing with the situation, do not ignore it; you must refer it to someone who can deal with it.

You must also look for signs of non-work-related stressors or factors that increase susceptibility to stress, because these will make a person more vulnerable to work-related stressors.

Manage Stress with Exercise | Fitness Magazine

These rules apply to yourself as well Stress relief methods are many and various. There is no single remedy that applies to every person suffering from stress, and most solutions involve a combination of remedies. Successful stress management frequently relies on reducing stress susceptibility and removing the stressors, and often factors will be both contributing to susceptibility and a direct cause. Here are some simple pointers for reducing stress susceptibility and stress itself, for yourself or to help others:.

Note also that managing stress does not cure medical problems.

Conditioning Your Body and Mind in Better Managing Stress

Relieving stress can alleviate and speed recovery from certain illnesses, particularly those caused by stress, which depending on circumstances can disappear when the stress is relieved ; i. Importantly, if the stress is causing serious health effects the sufferer must consult a doctor. Do not imagine that things will improve by soldiering on, or hoping that the sufferer will somehow become more resilient; things can and probably will get worse. If appropriate this may involve removing the person from the situation that is causing the stress. Counselling may be necessary to identify the cause s , particularly if the sufferer has any tendency to deny or ignore the stress problem.

Acceptance, cognisance and commitment on the part of the stressed person are essential. No-one can begin to manage their stress if they are still feeling acutely stressed - they'll still be in 'fight or flight' mode. This is why a manager accused of causing stress though bullying or harassment must never be expected to resolve the problem.

The situation must be handled by someone who will not perpetuate the stressful influence. Removing the stressor s or the person from the stressful situation is only part of the solution; look also at the factors which affect stress susceptibility: This particularly and frequently involves diet and exercise. The two simplest ways to reduce stress susceptibility, and in many situations alleviate stress itself although not removing the direct causes of stress itself are available to everyone, cost nothing, and are guaranteed to produce virtually immediate improvements.

They are diet and exercise. It's widely accepted that nutritional deficiency impairs the health of the body, and it's unrealistic not to expect the brain to be affected as well by poor diet. If the brain is affected, so are our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. We know that certain vitamins and minerals are required to ensure healthy brain and neurological functionality. We know also that certain deficiencies relate directly to specific brain and nervous system weaknesses: The Vitamin B Group is particularly relevant to the brain, depression and stress susceptibility. Vitamin B1 deficiency is associated with depression, nervous system weakness and dementia.

B2 deficiency is associated with nervous system disorders and depression. B3 is essential for protein synthesis, including the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is necessary for maintaining a healthy nervous system. Vitamin B6 is essential for neurotransmitter synthesis and maintaining a healthy nervous system; B6 deficiency is associated with depression and dementia. B12 deficiency is associated with peripheral nerve degeneration, dementia, and depression.

Can Food Improve Your Mental Health?

Vitamin C is essential to protect against stress too: Vitamin C speeds healing, which contributes to reducing stress susceptibility. Vitamin C is associated with improving post-traumatic stress disorders and chronic infections. A UK 18 month study into violent and anti-social behaviour at a youth offenders institution provided remarkable evidence as to the link between diet and stress: Around inmate volunteers were divided into two groups. Vitamin D helps maintain healthy body condition, particularly bones and speed of fracture healing, which are directly linked to stress susceptibility.

Adequate intake of minerals are also essential for a healthy body and brain, and so for reducing stress susceptibility. A properly balanced diet is clearly essential, both to avoid direct physical stress causes via the brain and nervous system and to reduce stress susceptibility resulting from poor health and condition. Toxins such as alcohol, tobacco smoke, excessive salt, steroids, other drugs and other pollutants work against the balance between minerals, vitamins mind and body.

Obviously then, excessive toxins from these sources will increase stress susceptibility and stress itself. Useful information about salt and steroids. The rule is simple and inescapable: If you are suffering from stress and not obeying this simple rule you will continue to have be stressed, and moreover you will maintain a higher susceptibility to stress.

Irrespective of your tastes, it's easy these days to have a balanced healthy diet if you want to - the challenge isn't in knowing what's good and bad, it's simple a matter of commitment and personal resolve. You have one body for the whole of your life - look after it. We have evolved from ancestors whose sleep patterns were governed by and attuned to nature.

We are born with genes and bodies which reflect our successful evolutionary survival over tens of thousands of years. Our genes and bodies do not reflect the modern world's less natural way of life. If the stress-inducing situation disappears, your body returns to normal. Well, that's the problem. The kind of stress most of us face is the ongoing sort — credit card bills, relationship tension, office layoffs — which keeps cortisol levels elevated for days.

And that increased cortisol, in turn, appears to encourage the body to store additional abdominal fat. An expanding belly is just one side effect of a stressed-out life. Heart disease, diabetes, depression, and some cancers are the most notable examples. Recent research from the Yale School of Medicine indicates that stress may also be responsible for encouraging addictive behaviors and other unhealthy habits by disrupting the part of your brain responsible for self-control and decision making. Conventional wisdom suggests that you are just a deep breath, a relaxing bath, or a soothing movie away from discovering the secret to a stress-free life.

But because the stress response is largely physical your brain stimulates the release of certain powerful hormones that subsequently increase your blood pressure and heart rate , it's not always possible to think yourself calm, says Monika Fleshner, PhD, a professor in the department of integrative physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Rather, the latest research reveals that revving up your body with exercise may be the most effective antidote.

Stress and Stress Management

In lab studies, when scientists at Princeton put animals on a six-week aerobic conditioning program, then compared their brain cells with those of a group that remained sedentary, they found that the "brains on exercise" morphed over time into a biochemically calm state that remained steady even when the subjects were under stress.

The nonexercising group's brain cells continued to react strongly to anxiety-inducing situations. This breakthrough discovery has scientists now saying that cardio workouts may actually remodel the brain to make it more resistant to stress hormones. The power of exercise to protect against stress is encouraging news for women, who are more likely than men to experience certain harmful health side effects from feeling chronically maxed out, including a higher risk of depression and autoimmune diseases.

Moreover, scientists at the Connors Center have discovered that anxiety-inducing situations can actually lead to different hormonal changes in women's brains than in men's. Yet while they're more susceptible to stress on the one hand, women also appear to have a unique, built-in ability to alter their stress response. When scientists monitored the brain activity of a group of healthy men and women looking at disturbing images, women at the beginning of their menstrual cycle showed an emotional reaction similar to men's, but a lower stress response during ovulation. Tapping into that natural capacity, more and more research suggests, begins with regular exercise.

When Pamela Epstein, a year-old account manager at a public relations firm in New York City and self-described "perfectionist," ended a six-year relationship last fall while simultaneously starting a new job, she felt her stress levels soar sky-high and stay there. Suddenly living on her own for the first time, Pamela worried about making ends meet, carving out a new social life, and keeping up at work.

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