Stress is a natural mental and emotional reaction to demands placed upon us. These demands may be challenges we have chosen ourselves, such as getting married or having a baby. They may also be challenges imposed upon us, such as changes in work schedules or duties, a baby sitter who gets sick and can’t watch your children, or a car breaking down. Whether we’ve chosen the changes or they’ve chosen us, a reaction is normal. How we react, however, has a major impact on our long-term health and happiness.
Stress can be positive, negative, or both. It can motivate us to excel on a project or cause us severe anxiety and medical problems. Identifying stressors, managing them effectively, and being proactive to change are the keys to balancing stress.
Here are some common symptoms of stress:
- headaches
- low energy
- insomnia,
- irritability
- memory loss
- frequent illness
- low productivity
- appetite change
- poor time management
Identifying your specific responses to stressful situations is the first step in becoming aware of your stress level. Does your heart pound when a stressful situation occurs? Do you eat more/less? At night, does your mind race with thoughts of the day and prevent you from sleeping? Once you’ve identified your symptoms, you can build a plan to combat your stress.
The ideal way to keep your stress in check is to ward off the symptoms on a daily basis. Some general “stress busters” to accomplish this are:
- eat balanced meals
- exercise
- drink plenty of water,
- play with children, relax
- avoid alcohol or drugs
- solve problems
- express feelings
- do something just for you.
As you become more skilled at identifying your specific reactions to stress, you can add stress buster activities to meet your needs. For example, let’s say one of your symptoms is insomnia at night because your thoughts are racing. You can combat this symptom by telling someone your thoughts or writing them down. By “dumping” your thoughts, you can clear your mind to go to sleep.
For more helpful stress management tips, check out our website page at the
Counselor's Corner at
LifePlan EAP.
