Better Health Centre |+| Techniques for Stress Management

Proven Techniques for Stress Management

Everyone has to deal with stress at different times and at differing levels during their lifetime.

Learning techniques for stress management early on in life can have a big bearing on ones lifelong happiness.

Children can be stressed when they start school and learning to make friends or around exam times. 

The sudden change of environment and huge learning curves can be stressful for a child but this is all part of growing up in the modern day and age.

As teenagers, stress can occur from peer pressure, dealing with puberty, a sudden environment change with the appearance of dating and sex issues as well as a constant pressure to plan out their futures.

Adults and even those of any age can feel stressed from separation from those we love, deaths, illnesses and changes in our surroundings whether it is within our control or not.

Any of these lifestyle changes can include changes in career or jobs, growing older and moving towards retirement, things which make us question our morals and facing health problems.

There are some basic steps to take to help deal with stress.

To manage stress you will need:

• Yourself.

Health tools, understanding what causes stress, recognising the signs of stress, knowing how it can and does affect us, finding something to help relieve the stress and avoiding unnecessary stress are all things to which will also help.

Here are some good basic techniques for stress management:

Take these basic tools and even if you can’t avoid the stress, at least you will be strong enough to combat it!

• Do breathing exercises and muscle relaxation techniques.  The good thing about these is they can be so subtle no one will know you are doing them!

• Use your imagination – just don’t get mixed up between imagination and reality!

• Meditate to focus on yourself.  Not the stress surrounding you.

These can all help you calm both mind and body.

Understanding what causes stress and what are the signs:

One of the major reasons people feel stressed is because of physical illness.

If you or someone you care about has a chronic illness, a short but dire illness or a painful illness, it can be very stressful for you.  Illnesses such as these often cost a lot for treatments, doctor appointments, and insurance which can double the worry and stress.

People can become stressed due to emotional causes such as anger, depression, guilt, low self-esteem and sorrow.

Sometimes a lot of these emotions can happen in a relationship. 

You need to tell each other how you are feeling because it is impossible to have a relationship without this basis.  But this might stress you out because you do not like to rely on other people to make you feel better. 

You surroundings can make you stressed easily.  If your neighbourhood has a high crime rate and you are afraid of even allowing your children to play in the front yard without you watching, it can cause stress. 

If there is a lot of rubbish or pollution, you might not feel very good.  If you live alone or are lonely or you experience some sort of discrimination, your stress levels might hit the roof.

There are several stressful aspects you will experience in your life at varying ages. 

For example:

• The sudden changes in your body as you hit puberty;

• Being newly married or getting ready to be married;

• Entering a new stage of life such as becoming a teenager or having a midlife crisis and

• Starting a family and having young kids.

People who are born with physical or emotional problems generally have to manage high stress levels which is entirely understandable as they have to face a lot more physical or emotional challenges than the rest of us.

Evaluating stress and how it affects us:

Let us evaluate your stress levels so we can make a plan to manage it.

Everyone has a different response to stress.  Two people might be in the same stressful situation, but they both might react in completely different ways.

Sometimes both of these people will be in the same situation and one might be completely relaxed and the other stressed out of their brain.

A small amount of stress might not necessarily be a bad thing – depending on what it is about.

If you are feeling stressed and having trouble handling it, you can take a visit to your doctor, psychiatrist or other mental health professional to find out how stressed you are and for some suggestions on how to handle it.

Finding relief for the stress and avoiding stress:

There are lots of techniques people use to keep themselves relaxed.  You could try keeping a journal which will feel similar to telling someone how you are feeling and can be very beneficial. 

Sometimes it is a good idea to just tell someone.

If someone is stressing you out, perhaps telling them will bring relief for both of you, provided you do it in a nice way. 

Other techniques for stress management could include indulging in some meditation, music, laughter and guided imagery…..all of these will help to keep the stress levels down.