I
f you’ve felt stressed this month, this week or
even at some point today, welcome to the club.
Stress is an inevitable part of modern life.
While it can be useful in small doses and
certain situations, over a long period stress can
wreak havoc and do damage. It is, however, possible
to make friends with stress. You can recognise the
signs when it arrives, keep it in check or even use it
to your advantage, and let it remind you to aim for
better balance in body and mind.
There are lots of things in today’s world to trigger
stress. Overflowing inboxes, complex relationships,
credit card debt and workplace worries are abundant.
Interestingly, while a social media snub may send
you into a stressed-out spin, your bestie may not bat
an eyelid at such ‘trivial’ things. Recognising what
sets your stress off, and where your upper limit lies,
can be crucial in managing it responsibly. It’s
important to respect that everyone’s triggers
and thresholds vary.
Not only do we all differ in what causes us stress,
our behaviours during periods of stress can be wide-
ranging too: overeating or missing meals, becoming
tired or wired, acting irritably or withdrawing
completely. It helps to notice your own signs and
signals and how you respond when demands get too
high. Developing a deeper awareness of how you react
can help you to identify early on that you’re becoming
stressed – and therefore, how to handle it best.Your body naturally responds to demands and
danger by activating the stress (fight or flight)
response. Within an instant, this can signal that
something is seriously wrong, and you should always
pay attention to the warning signs your brain and
body shares with you. However, you also need to
judge the weight of your worries realistically, because
your brain can be quick to panic based on perceived,
rather than real, threats.
Whether something stressful is actually happening
or you’re imagining it, your stress response reacts
in the same way. Your brain and body is immediately
flooded with hormones and chemicals preparing you
to fight or flee. As you sit in safety imagining the
worst-case scenario, you’re signalling danger
and can feel totally stressed out within seconds.
Keeping your stress in check is good for a number
of reasons. Not only does life feel a lot better when
you’re cool, calm and collected, but it’s also seriously
important for your overall health and wellbeing.
Managing your stress will keep you happier and
healthier; it lifts your mood, boosts your immune
system, makes it easier to focus and can even help
you to live longer. But the more you put yourself
under pressure or find yourself frequently dealing
with stressful situations, the more compromised your
systems become – you’re more likely to feel frazzled
and act irritably, catch a cold or pick up an infection.
Chronic stress over a prolonged period of time canGood stress
vs bad stress
Stress is a natural response, and can even be useful
when we keep it in check, says Annika Rose
wellness