5 Ways to Manage Your Stress
April 14, 2023
By: Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare
Categories: Healthy Living, Mental Health, TMH Physician Partners
Experiencing stress is part of being human, but it affects everyone differently. Stress is described as a physical, mental or emotional strain or tension brought on by a situation when a person feels anxious or threatened.
Adults and children alike face challenging situations that can be overwhelming and cause high emotions. In some of these instances, your stress may be short term and in the moment. In others, it can be long term or chronic and last for weeks or months.
While our bodies are well equipped to handle stress in small doses, chronic stress can have serious effects on your body and mind. Effectively managing stress is key to maintaining your overall health and wellbeing.
It’s important to recognize the symptoms of stress and learn healthy ways to cope, with the right care and support to guide you. At Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, we’re committed to helping our community stay healthy through all phases of life, especially the most stressful ones.
What Stress Feels Like
It is completely normal to experience different symptoms when you are stressed – different situations may elicit different reactions. Symptoms related to stress can be physical or emotional.
Common reactions include:
- Feelings of fear, shock, anger, sadness, worry, numbness or frustration
- Changes in appetite, energy, desires and interests
- Nightmares or trouble sleeping, concentrating and making decisions
- Physical reactions like headaches, body pains, stomach problems and skin rashes
- Worsening of chronic health problems
- Worsening of mental health conditions
- Increase use of tobacco, alcohol and other substances
When Stress Becomes Chronic
If you have chronic stress, your body will remain in a hypervigilant state, increasing your risk for chronic health problems. Battling stress can also cause you to become sick more often because stress weakens your immune system.
Some health issues caused by chronic stress include:
- Hypertension
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety
Chronic stress can also cause symptoms including:
- Diarrhea
- Constipation or other stomach issues
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Forgetfulness
- Trouble sleeping or sleeping to much
How to Cope with Stress
While stress is unavoidable, there are ways to help minimize its impact. Finding coping tools that work for you is key to managing your stress and preventing it from becoming overwhelming or chronic.
Here are five ways you can work to manage your stress.
1. Use guided meditation and practice deep breathing.
Learning to incorporate relaxation techniques into your daily life can help reduce stress and anxiety. Some exercises include meditation, journaling and yoga.
Meditation helps to lower stress, anxiety and chronic pain as well as improve sleep, energy levels and mood. Practicing deep breathing turns on your body’s natural ability to relax. It creates a state of deep rest than can change how your body responds to stress. Taking deep breaths sends more oxygen to your brain and calms the part of your nervous system that controls your ability to relax.
Try a guided meditation to get started.
2. Maintain your physical health.
Twenty to 30 minutes of walking a day is a great stress reliever and a good way to get your mind off your daily concerns.
Exercise reduces your body’s levels of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, while boosting your feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Endorphins are your body’s natural pain killers and mood boosters and the reason you feel good after a workout.
Physical activity has many other health benefits for your heart, bones and muscles. When your body feels good, your mind often follows.
You can experience stress relief with running, swimming, dancing, cycling, weightlifting and aerobics.
3. Eat a healthy diet.
Your gut and brain are constantly sending signals to each other, so keeping your microbiota – bacteria in your gut – healthy helps your brain feel less stress. Research has found that dietary patterns emphasizing whole foods – foods that have not been processed – were associated with lower depression, anxiety and stress.
Stress can often lead people to eat junk or comfort food. In moderation, having an indulgent snack is OK. But if you repeatedly find yourself reaching for a bag of chips or milkshake as a coping mechanism, it can negatively impact your health. Instead, grab an apple, hummus or another healthy alternative.
4. Connect with your community or faith-based organizations.
It’s important to talk to people you can trust about your concerns and how you are feeling. Your initial inclination when you’re irritable or stressed can be to isolate yourself. Instead, reaching out and making social connections can distract you from your stress, provide support and help you tolerate the ups and downs of daily living. It could also provide an opportunity for laughter, which can lighten your mental load and cause positive physical changes in your body.
5. Take breaks from watching, reading or listening to news stories.
It’s good to be informed, but hearing about traumatic events constantly can be upsetting. Consider limiting your news intake – including social media – to a couple times a day and disconnecting from phone, TV and computer screens for an extended period.
Read our advice for putting your phone down and being present.
Is There Good Stress?
Not all stress is bad stress – stress can be helpful sometimes! Your stress response can save your life – it’s your body’s way of protecting you. Stress can give you extra strength to defend yourself or prompt you to slam on the brakes to avoid a car accident.
You may also experience good stress when you’re excited or nervous for a big event, and it may motivate you to better prepare or perform. Some examples of positive stress can include the feeling you get when going skating for the first time, going on a job interview and going on a first date. Positive stress is defined by the effects it produces. These stressors allow you to live outside your comfort zone.
Good stress has many benefits. You’ll likely experience these if you challenge yourself:
- Growing your self-esteem
- Being more inspired and motivated
- A stronger and more sprightly body
How to Get Help
If you are experiencing overwhelming feelings of chronic stress, anxiety or depression that you’re unable to settle on your own, or it’s interrupting your home or work life, reach out for professional help. Mental health professionals are trained to help you identify the root of your stress, develop effective coping mechanisms and provide evidence-based treatment.
At the Tallahassee Memorial Behavioral Health Center, we offer inpatient treatment for mental health crises and outpatient mental health care, which can include a variety of evidence-based therapies and sometimes medications, available by appointment.
TMH’s Behavioral Health Center also has a Direct Admissions team available for walk-in consultations 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Our Direct Admissions team will connect you with the best mental health resources for your individual needs.
To learn more about the mental health services available at the Tallahassee Memorial Behavioral Health Center, please visit TMH.ORG/MentalHealth.
