Healthy Ways to Manage Stress in Our Lives - Essay Example

Healthy ways to manage stress in our lives Stress is the most emotionally and physically exhausting s in human life. The following ways help in management of stress; Take some minutes in a day to organize yourself. Use at most 30minutes. This makes one to be organized and be able to manage time to prevent endless task list that is intimidating. Eating healthy also contributes to stress management. A person who takes time to eat is likely to cut stress in half and feels more energized. Eating healthy is an antithesis of stress because an individual focuses in bettering his or her life. Detox diets also help to minimize stress by freeing the body of harsh chemicals making one feel much better. Certain acts like doing well to someone else can contribute in stress management. Doing good temporarily frees one from his or her circumstances and provides a sense of refreshing new perspective. Free association is also another ways of stress management techniques recommended by therapists. It includes taking a pen and book and writing anything. At end of the day, an individual is refreshed. Health practitioners recommend sleep as a method of relieving stress. They say sleep but do not oversleep or do not stay up for long hours and sleep for a few hours. Exercise is the ultimate stress reliever because exercises release endorphins that increase and build confidence. Bubble baths are a way of relaxing and in the process they help soak away worries. It also cuts down on water and energy intake as compared to taking a shower. Taking a walk can minimize stress by exposing one to a quick break and fresh air that clears up one’s mind. Getting up earlier can make a difference in a person’s schedule throughout the day. This initiates a better attitude to start the day because all morning preparations are finished on time, which sets in some extra time to plan for work. Another stress management technique is engaging in something creative like painting, singing or hiking. Doing something, fun will make one feel self-satisfied and provides a positive perspective of dealing with other things. Music can lift ones spirits and pose a stress lubricant for any situation like cooking, work, or traffic. Listening to music or singing along is an instant stress destroyer. Limit internet and cell phone use. Technology makes it easy to keep in touch with people but it can also be a stress factor. Turning off the phone for some time or changing ringtones to something that provides laughter can help relieve stress. Laughter is another stress reliever. Laughter lets us take life less seriously and gain instant happier perspective. Listen to stand up comedies, have a funny show, or watch a favorite movie to increase laughter. Call a friend. Even if one is addicted to text messaging, take a break to call a friend. It helps get the mind off things and reminds one that he or she cannot face the world alone. Cutting down on caffeine is a tactful method in managing stress. Caffeine raises anxiety and too much makes one feel cracked out and more stressed. At the start of the day, make a habit of doing something happy. Start your day positive. Instead of rushing to work, watch an episode of a favorite show. This puts one in good spirits to begin the day. Meditating is a stress manager in that if done right and regularly it makes one feel relaxed and confident. It clears up the mind. Another way of managing stress is concentrating on what you want to happen. Take mind over matter and create a can do mindset. Make time for activities that provide happiness. Dealing with heavy workload while happy and while miserable are two different things. Making happiness a priority will benefit other areas in life. Having a welcome routine is the most basic way to fight stress. Lack of routine can make everything feel messier than it needs to be. Making time for friends and family reduces stress by making one not to get lost in everyday stress of work in the city. Stretching also helps in managing stress through yoga or stretching out the limbs first thin in the morning. Stretching helps in loosening up the body and relaxing. Do not make things bigger than they are. Hugs are a solution to stresses in life. It is the most effective way of decreasing stress instantly. It sounds silly but it works. Ways that exercise helps our bodies physically combat the negative effects of stress Exercises pumps up your endorphins, which are good neurotransmitters that produce a pain killing effect. It is also meditation in motion. After a fast-paced game or several laps in the pool one finds that, he or she has forgotten all the irritations of the day. As one begins to regularly, shed the daily tensions through movement this results into energy and optimism that help to remain calm. Exercise also improves a person’s mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence and lower symptoms associated with mild depression. All these can ease stress levels. A good exercise routine can act to relieves muscle tension that one experiences at work. Simple exercises like jogging relieve our bodies from unnecessary muscle cramps and fatigue. Exercise also stimulates the body to generate more white blood cells that are useful in providing immunity to our bodies. People who exercise regularly rarely succumb to sickness. Exercises boost ones mental ability by improving alertness. A person with improved alertness has the ability to concentrate properly on a certain task. Scientists say that a good exercise routine like aerobics decreases levels of tension and improves sleep pattern of an individual. It stimulates anti-anxiety effects. Exercises also boost self-esteem. A person who trains or exercises and has a body with perfect shape is likely to be comfortable around other people in a swimming pool than a person regarded as fat and shapeless. Exercises help to reduce body fat hence a person attains a body with good shape. Exercises helps to decrease stress associated with heart conditions like high blood pressure. It strengthens heart muscles and prevents hypertension. Physiological effects of stress The brain releases endorphins during stress that help to relieve pain. Heart rate increases and the heart increase its strength of contraction to pump more blood to act as a compensatory way of supplying blood to vital organs of the body. Blood pressure rises because the body is under stress meaning blood supply to other organs has to step up hence the pressure of blood has to rise. Digestion slows so the much-needed blood may divert to muscles. Salivation and mucous secretion decreases resulting into cottonmouth sensation. Pupils dilate to increase sensitivity of vision. The senses of sight, hearing, smell, and taste become more accurate and ready to identify any threats. Sweating increases to flush waste and to cool down the body. Blood clotting sets in to prevent bleeding to death during a physical threat. The purpose of releasing of fats and sugars into the blood stream is to supply energy to the body. Adrenaline and other hormones in the blood stream provide physical energy. The bronchi dilate to allow more air to move into the lungs. Stress can trigger the immune system and result into asthma attacks especially in delivering sad messages to people. It can also result into hyperventilation that is associated with panic attacks. Stress signals from the hypothalamus cause the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol that gives the body strength to run from danger. In the liver, the release of cortisol and epinephrine takes place; more glucose is produced to provide energy for flight or fight. Stress affects the normal functioning of the male reproductive system in that excess amounts of cortisol affect the normal biochemical function of the male reproductive system. It affects testosterone and sperm production. Three stages of the General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) General adaptation syndrome is a term that describes the body’s long term or short-term reactions to stress. Alarm stage is the first stage. The body reacts to the pain signal sent to the hypothalamus with a burst of energy to help deal with the stressor. If one is sitting under a tree at night then something falls down from the tree, the hypothalamus will inform the pituitary gland to release glucocorticoids hormones. In response, adrenal glands release cortisol and adrenaline to help the body react. This causes an increase in heart rate and blood glucose level to boost energy. The second stage is the resistance stage. Once the body has responded to stress, it will still maintain the state of alertness. This helps to fight or take flight. The adrenal cortex continues to release glucocorticoids to help body to react to the stressor until the stress is resolved. Deep energy reserves are used. The body’s energy reserves are going to the stressor hence body is not able to fight flu or colds at this time. The last stage is the exhaustion stage because all the energy reserves are over. The body’s resistance to the stress has gradually reduced. The immune system is very weak. Patient may succumb to heart attacks or severe infection because of low immunity. Eustress vs distress Eustress is also known as good stress or positive stress. It is short term and is within our coping abilities. It motivates and focuses energy resulting into improvement in performance. On the hand, distress is a bad stress or negative stress. It can be both short term and long term. It is outside our coping abilities. It demotivates and drains our energy. It has a very unpleasant feeling. Often decreases performance. Stressors in personal life Childhood trauma. Some individuals experience stress related to their childhood life. Adverse childhood experiences cause physical stress. Another stressor is the death of a loved one. Happens when a person loses a partner he or she loved and is even worse when the partner left behind many debts. Divorce can also be a source of stress because it involves one or both the spouses must leave their home. It also entails disagreements. Finances, particularly mortgage foreclosures can result into stress. Job for example work related stress is common amongst us because our jobs demand long working hours. Health especially personal health issues can be stressful because of medical costs or dealing with chronic condition. Personal relationships often result into stress because of disagreements. Pregnancy is another stressing factor for women because it involves regular hospital checkups and physiological changes of the body. Danger for example dangerous situations like fire burning down the whole house can result into stress. Chronically ill child can result into stress to the parents because the devote most of their time in taking care of the child. Time management tips The first time management tip is to eliminate the unnecessary. Evaluate the daily routine and identify things that have no actual importance in the routine to create more time to perform meaningful tasks. Secondly, have a plan of work. Be able to come up with goals that one can accomplish within a given set of time. Thirdly, multitasking skills are important in time management. It can result into multiple projects being successful over a short time. The fourth is know when to multitask. One should be able to select tasks that need multitasking skills and those that do not. The fifth is reducing interruptions. Reducing the number of interruptions in life creates more time for one to focus on more ideas that are constructive. Sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous systems Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) controls homeostasis and the body at rest and is responsible for rest and digestion. PNS originates from the spinal cord and medulla and it has longer pathways as compared to sympathetic nervous system. On the other hand, Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) controls the body’s response to a perceived threat. It originates from spinal cord, thoracic and lumbar cord. It has very short neurons hence the system is faster. Stress-related hormones Major stress hormones include cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Cortisol is responsible for increase in blood sugar, increase in blood pressure and suppressing the immune system. Norepinephrine causes heart rate to increase, release of simple sugars and increases blood flow to the muscles. Epinephrine also known as adrenaline comes from the adrenal glands and causes an increase in heart rate stimulating the fight or flight mode. Type A vs Type B personalities Type A personalities are individuals preoccupied with social status, self-esteem, and accomplishment in life. They are domineering, impatient and quick to anger. They are high achievers and are great at multitasking duties because they are in a race to achieve higher goals. They find it difficult to accept failure and have urge to compete always. Their stress level is often high. On the other hand, Type B individuals are tolerant and indulgent. The have a high level of satisfaction in life. They know their abilities and work steadily for their goals. They have minimal stress. They often enjoy games and competition for the love of the game. They live less stressful lives. Contact me-nevesbradley-at-gmail-dot-com Read More