Stress Triggers & Management

Breathing difficulties, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, fatigue, problems with indigestion and trouble focusing, are you familiar with any of these? 

If so, then you might be suffering from stress or know someone who might be undergoing it. You may represent one in 14 British adults who encounter stress every day. 

Even if you don’t, you may be subject to stress in the future and if you don’t know how to manage stress, it could be quite dangerous to your wellbeing. 

Unmanaged stress can lead to hospital admissions and further health problems like heart disease, diabetes and more. To know how to manage stress or stop yourself from getting stressed keep on reading. Today in this article we’re going to cover all things stress.

Overview of stress

Stress is a form of response to your body when it is under pressure, senses a threat or requires action. The response is not unusual, it's quite common but can take a toll on your health if not managed. If you have too much stress going on in your life, you might feel overwhelmed or trigger a mental, physical or emotional response.

Stress kicks in when a small area, your hypothalamus in your brain responds to a stressor which sends signals to produce stress hormones, mainly adrenaline or cortisol. Too much adrenaline or cortisol can initiate a “fight or flight” response tricking your body into survival mode.

If this mode occurs for too long, our relationships, body and more can make us feel out of control. It can trigger anxiety and make us more irritable causing problems with our confidence.

Common triggers of stress

There are many things that can trigger and influence stress as a result of biological or environmental issues, some of the main ones are:

Change
Sometimes major life events can trigger stress such as a house move, wedding, promotion or anything else. Even unpleasant situations like a death of a family member, loss of job, financial setback or anything else.

Personal relationships
You might find there are people in your life who could cause you to feel stressed. Sometimes it could be a co-worker, friend, partner or even family member. After all, there can be a lot of toxic people around and it could significantly impact your mental and physical health. Stress experienced from relationships can be similar to general stress triggering anxiety, depression and sleep difficulties.

Work
Around one quarter of UK, adults say they feel stressed at work. Work-related stress can occur due to a range of things from the insecurity of a job, dissatisfaction, conflicts or even work overload. Simply putting your job first before other life commitments can really impact your own personal relationships, mental and physical health.

Daily life
At times, our lives can get incredibly hectic and we may run into a lot of daily stressors that slow us down. It may just be the case of running late, misplacing keys and forgetting to attend an event. While most of the time these are small things, sometimes they can trigger more anxiety and problems that repeat regularly. Moreover, if you’re undergoing a busy life you may find you have less time for your own basic needs like eating healthy and exercising when needed. This alone can cause stress to pile up!

Negative effects of stress on the body/mind

If not managed correctly, stress can have drastic effects on your body, mood and behaviour. Some of the negative and common side effects of stress are:

Body	Mind	Behaviour
Muscle pain/tension	Restlessness	Anger
Chest pain	Difficulty concentrating or finding motivation	Misuse of drugs and alcohol
Headache	Anxiety	Overeating or undereating
Stomach upset	Irritability	Exercising less frequently
Change to libido	Feeling overwhelmed	Social withdrawal

 

If you can relate to the above symptoms and feel you might be struggling with stress, there are some things you can do to help manage it. If you feel they aren’t going away, you should see a doctor for medical attention.

However, before doing that, you might want to try the following:

• Be active: Physical activity can act as a stress reliever due to the production of endorphins.
• Relaxation techniques: Consistent practice of meditation, yoga, deep breathing and more can help you manage stress.
• Be positive: Often when you’re stressed you should try practising what you’re grateful for. A good thing to do is to write down three things that went well at the end of each day.
• Socialise: Spending time with family and friends can keep you busy and your mind away from stress.

When looking to manage stress, you should always try and find active ways to manage it. When possible try and avoid inactive ways like surfing the internet, playing video games, watching television and more. You’ll also want to ensure you have a healthy diet, get good sleep and avoid smoking tobacco.

How to prevent stress in the future

To prevent a stressful situation from arising in the future, it’s always good to put preventive measures in place in case anything develops. Some things you might want to do are:

Take breaks when required
Remember to schedule regular breaks when you need to, especially when you’re working. Breaks are essential to helping you re-organize, re-energize and gain more clarity over your thoughts. Doing this will also help you with your work and enhance your productivity.

Maintain a good social life
Spending time with your favourite people such as your friends, family members, partner or anyone else can help ease your stress. Plus spending time with your favourite people directs your energy in the right way, outwards instead of inwards making it easier to cope.

Have “me” time
Always take time out to schedule sessions of self love for yourself. Having me time that’s uninterrupted can help you unplug from the world and relax. Doing this can help you have more control over your sleep, moods and patience.

Conclusion

Overall, stress is inevitable for every people. There are many factors which can influence stress such as a death in the family, work struggles, financial difficulties and more. One of the best ways of managing stress is exercise as it can help you manage your stress due to the release of endorphins.

If stress goes unmanaged it can cause greater risks to your health like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and more. Therefore it’s always best to implement preventive measures like having breaks and me time, to stop stress from getting out of hand.