Stress and Anxiety
How to reduce stress & anxiety
Stress and anxiety is commonly faced by people from time to time. Stress can be referred to as any strain placed on the body and brain.
People usually report stress when faced with multiple tasks at once and are finding it hard to cope with them. Events such as exams can trigger one's stress by feelings of frustration and nervousness. The American Psychological Association defines anxiety as an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thought and physical symptoms such as blood pressure. However, anxiety is a normal reaction to have when faced with stressful and difficult situations. It usually occurs due to anticipation of the future and future tasks. Most adults go through stress and anxiety at some point in their life. It is often accompanied by physical signs as well, such as sweating, increased pulse rate and muscle tension. It is important to be educated about the different symptoms of them both.
Stress and anxiety symptoms on the body
1. Stomachache
2. Muscle tension
3. Headache
4. Rapid breathing
5. Fast heartbeat
6. Sweating
7. Shaking
8. Dizziness
9. Frequent urination
10. Change in appetite
11. Trouble sleeping
12. Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or bloated
13. Fatigue
Tips on how to deal with stress and anxiety
Relaxation technique:
Simple activities can help reduce the physical signs of anxiety. These techniques include yoga, resting in the dark, long baths, and breathing exercises.
2. Mind Exercise
Exercises to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts - Writing down negative thoughts on a piece of paper and rewriting and replacing them as positive thoughts can bring a great sense of comfort. This allows one to create a mental image of successfully facing one's fear, this can especially help when one has anxiety in relation to phobias.
3. Supportive Network
Talking to familiar people who you trust and believe to be supportive is super important. This can be either a family or a friend. If your local area provides support services, it can be beneficial to reach out.
4. Exercise
Physical activity not only helps with creating a positive image of oneself but also releases chemicals in the brain which triggers positive thought. Eating a balanced and healthy diet is also proven to help.
5. Me Time
Having time to do your favorite things and scheduling time for hobbies can help reduce stress.
6. Recognizing your triggers
Identifying stressors and triggers of anxiety and keeping an account of them will help you avoid a situation that you know will most likely lead to a negative outcome.
Some emotional symptoms of both stress and anxiety are:
• Feelings of impending doom
• Panic or nervousness, especially in social settings
• Difficulty concentrating
• Irrational anger
• Restlessness
While these symptoms may be normal to experience once in a while. However, when faced regularly and also at extreme levels should be looked into. Understanding the different reasons for anxiety and stress is complicated. However, it is still important to be aware of the different reasons.
Possible causes of anxiety and stress are:
1. Environmental stressors such as difficulties at work, relationship problems, etc
2. Medical factors, such as the symptoms from a prolonged disease, effects of medication. The stress of an intense surgery or prolonged surgery.
3. Brain chemistry, psychologists have defined that many anxiety disorders occur due to misalignment of hormones and electrical signals in the brain.
4. Withdrawal from an illicit substance, can lead to other effects being intensified.
5. Adjustment to new life situations such as moving to another school, death of a family member or even getting married can be because of stress.
It is beneficial to know ways in which you can cope with your anxiety and be able to help yourself, this may not be as effective as seeking professional help but will help to some degree nonetheless
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Prevention:
Stress and anxious feelings are a normal part of life. However, it can help you to take small steps to reduce the chances of it occurring
Steps to tackle stress and anxiety:
1. Reducing intake of coffee
2. Maintaining a healthy diet
3. Having a healthy sleep pattern
4. Avoid alcohol and other drugs.
When to seek help:
Stress and anxiety have been linked to quite a few medical conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. To be on the safer side it is always a good idea to talk to a doctor about this. If you're concerned about your feelings of stress and anxiety, that in itself is enough reason to talk to your doctor about it. There is no need to wait. Paying attention to your body and how it reacts to negative situations is an important conversation to be had. The sooner you have an honest conversation with a health care professional it will help you get better and prevent worsening conditions.