Stress and Anxiety: What is it and how to deal with it?
Mariana has a degree in Psychology with specializations in the…
We all have been dealing with stress and anxiety for a long time, but certainly in the last year we have heard a lot more about this topic due to the pandemic and all it brought to our lives.
Before jumping into magic recipes to combat stress we must understand what it really is and how does it serve us. Stress can be defined as a reaction of the organism comprising psychological, physical, mental, and hormonal components which occurs when there is a need for significant adaptation to an important event or situation.
All emotions have their importance in our lives, even those that are considered by society to be negative. The same happens with stress which can be considered as positive or negative. We talk about positive stress when it is in its initial phase, which we call the alert phase. In this phase our system produces adrenaline that provides drive and energy, increasing our productivity and even our creativity. Certainly, it is a phase we all like to be in as it makes us perform well. However, our body cannot stay in this state for long. When we stay in a state of alert for too long or if new stress factors accumulate, our body starts to take action to prevent the loss of energy, trying to return to balance entering the resistance phase. In this phase we are still not very conscious, but our productivity starts to drop, and our body starts to produce cortisol, decreasing our physical resistance. If the body cannot re-establish itself, we enter the two most worrying phases: Almost Exhaustion and Exhaustion Phase, better known as burnout. In the phase of almost exhaustion, physical and emotional resistance begins to break down and opens the way to more intense states of anxiety. In the exhaustion phase, we enter a pathological phase in which there is a very significant inner instability. It is characterized by a state of depression and the inability of the person to focus or work. Some more serious illnesses can also occur, such as ulcers, high blood pressure and psoriasis.
Stress is considered ideal when a person begins to have the ability to manage between the alert phase and the remaining phases. To do this, we should be aware of certain symptoms which may indicate that we are going through a phase of greater stress. These symptoms can differ a lot from person to person. Some people are more likely to have psychological symptoms, while others are more likely to have physical symptoms. Psychological symptoms include fear, excessive irritability, apathy, self-doubt, emotional sensitivity, anxiety, frequent nightmares, among others. In turn, physical symptoms appear in the form of dermatological problems, lack of memory, insomnia, constant tiredness, gastritis, changes in appetite, muscle tension, tachycardia, etc.
Now that we have better clarified what stress is and how it manifests, it is important to understand what the main sources of stress are. Both internal and external events are undoubtedly sources of stress, but THOUGHTS are one of the main sources of anxiety. Back in the first century, Epitetus said that what disturbs human beings is not the facts, but their interpretation of the facts. We have certainly experienced situations in which the same situation produced different reactions in different people or even the same situation that happened to us at two different times in our lives also resulted in different reactions. This has to do with the way we think about that situation and these thoughts are based on our beliefs which can often be irrational beliefs. The good news is that we can control our thinking and the way we perceive situations to have more adaptive reactions.
This being said, what can we do in times of more intense stress? The first step should always be prevention. There are 4 anti-stress principles that will help us maintain balance:
- Physical Exercise – 30 minutes of daily exercise makes our body produce beta endorphin which bring us feelings of tranquility and well-being;
- Diet – Especially during stressful periods, we should be particularly careful about our diet. Eat more vegetables and vitamins B and C, keep your body very hydrated and avoid heavy foods with lots of fats – the body in this stage is fighting the unbalance caused by stress so we don’t want it to divert that energy into heavy digestion;
- Relax – try breathing exercises, yoga, meditation or anything that makes you relax (music, movies, etc);
- Cognitive restructuring – this involves changing the way we perceive situations. This work is done by psychology professionals who will help you evaluate our ways of thinking, of perceiving situations and work on more adaptive ways of thinking. I can assure you that this type of work is a great personal investment!
When you already are in a more stressful period, there are also some strategies and tools that you can apply:
- The first tip I want to give you is: Try not to demand too much of yourself in a stressful phase. We cannot keep our levels of demand always high at every stage of life. There are times when we will have to dedicate ourselves more to certain aspects and less to others. For example, if I need to recover some energy because I am going through a more stressful moment, I may have to give up some day-to-day responsibilities (e.g. having the house extremely tidy, cooking, being 100% productive, etc.). There are phases in life when we will have to know how to manage our priorities or even ask for help with some tasks.
- In stressful phases we should not make important decisions in our life such as changes of work, change city, relationship decisions, etc. In this phase our body is not in balance and therefore it wouldn’t be good in making rational decisions.
- Try on relaxation exercises. If this is a new concept for you, there are plenty of applications today that take you through meditation and breathing techniques. I would suggest Jacobsen’s progressive muscular relaxation which will also work on our physical level relieving any tension that may exist in your body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihO02wUzgkc
- “Anxiometer” – Try to identify the thoughts and emotions you are feeling in certain situations and analize if these thoughts translate reality, if they help you achieving your goals and if they bring you tranquility.
- Curtogram – a technique that I really like and that I encourage you to try from time to time to understand which activities may be causing you stress/anxiety and what you might be lacking in your life. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into four quadrants, each one referring to: I like it and do I it; I like it and I don’t do it; I don’t like it and I do it; I don’t like it and I don’t do it. Place your daily activities in each quadrant and observe how are they divided. If the category ‘I like it and I do it’ have few activities, try to increase them. We should have pleasurable activities in our lives but sometimes with our daily routine we forget to do more of what brings us joy.
Stress doesn’t have to be seen as our enemy and it is often what allows us to take action and achieve our goals. It’s also normal to need help learning how to better deal with all our emotions and life events so, since we are approaching the end of the year and the beginning of a new one, don’t forget to put in your “new year resolutions” to take time to invest in yourself! ?
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Mariana has a degree in Psychology with specializations in the areas of anxiety and stress management and currently working as a Business Manager at Affinity. In addition to project management, Mariana also provides training in her areas of expertise. In and out of the working world she is passionate about human behavior/development, sports and travel.