It’s Stress Awareness Month and we will be releasing a series of 3 articles across April. This is to hopefully help people in different scenarios dealing with stress, managing it, different types of stress and how to reduce stress. So, this weeks’ article focuses on personal stress, being at home amongst friends and family.
What is stress?
Stress in our personal lives can come in many forms and triggered by changes in our lives, being either; financial worries, relationship issues or health reasons, plus many more. This is a normal part of life, everyone gets stressed and sometimes it is good for us. Healthy stress can challenge us to complete a task or project, through putting all our attention into it and focusing on the particular situation. The real key issue with stress is how you manage it individually to suit your lifestyle, needs and capabilities. This is so it doesn’t affect yourself and become detrimental to your health.
However, stress affects many people in different ways and sometimes it is not so clear cut or black and white. Some people can manage more stress than others, or certain situations will be very overwhelming for some. But for others it is just a challenge, so isn’t considered stressful. The below points are just standard terms to help explain and differentiate between the categories of stress, generic symptoms that vary, different ways to manage and the causes of stress.
Different types of stress
Eustress (Positive stress)
Some situations can be stressful but in a good way. Stress that is only short-term can motivate you and end in a positive outcome i.e. acing your exams, expecting a child or buying your first home. The difference between Eustress and distress, is that Eustress evokes more excitement and is perceived in an optimistic way, yes you feel nervous but it isn’t affecting your wellbeing. But with distress, you may feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed, this isn’t healthy or positive.
Distress
Distress can occur when someone is feeling very overwhelmed and can’t cope within a certain situation, which then can cause panicking and anxiety. This can be short-term or long-term, depending on the capabilities of that person with managing the situation and their stress levels. Examples of distress can be; bullying, relationship breakdown or the death of a loved one.
Chronic stress
Chronic stress is a more extreme type of stress, that you don’t have much control over and is long-term and reoccurring. This has serious effects on individuals, as it can cause major illnesses and mental health issues. These situations that cause chronic stress can consume the individual, be quite threatening and demanding. For example; unemployment, injury and intense relationships.
There is a free ‘Stress Test’ from the British Association of Anger Management that you can utilise: How Stressed are you? (angermanage.co.uk)
Symptoms of stress
Symptoms can vary from person to person and situation, but it’s important to identify the cause and rectify this, before the stress affects your body and mind. The main symptoms are:
- Becoming extremely moody and irritable – this can lead to being angry or tearful
- Feeling tired more and more
- Low self-esteem and feeling hopeless
- Not being able to focus/concentrate – includes feeling overwhelmed
- Struggling to sleep
- Headaches, dizziness, feeling faint
- Loss of appetite
- Some people experience skin reactions i.e., rashes, hives and acne
- Stomach issues/digestive problems
- And of course, stress can cause people to turn to alcohol, smoking or drugs.
Causes of stress
As stated above there are many causes of stress that vary from each individual and their situation. Stress levels can be tolerated more by some and not so much by others, meaning people all have a point where the cause of stress will be too much for them. Common causes are school, work, home, illness, finances, major life events/changes and the loss of a loved one. The below can be a build up of multiple different situations or events that may seem small but cause big issues, or one large event/change in your life:
- Stress can route all the way back from your childhood and life experiences, depending on how you were brought up.
- Personal relationship issues i.e., family, friends or partners, can have an affect on a lot of people and their day-to-day lives.
- Big life changes such as; expecting a child, buying a property, marriage and bereavement, can cause people to feel very overwhelmed, under pressure and anxious.
- Work commitments is a very popular cause of stress for people, especially when it comes to finances and unfortunately redundancy.
- Another can be illness; this doesn’t have to be just yourself but it can also be someone close to you that is going through health issues.
- Finally, one of the most important causes of stress is loneliness and mental health issues, that could derive from a feeling of not being supported or nobody to talk to.
The above points can make it very difficult for someone to identify the main factor that causes stress or asking for help and support, when multiple variables can make someone worry or not have any control over a situation.
Management and solutions
Being able to manage your stress and ensure your stress levels don’t exceed a certain point where you can’t cope, is a great way to build resilience and protect yourself from future stressful situations. This can be done through key methods and solutions to ease the particular situation, to make individuals prepared and also how to recover after a stressful event.
Ideas you could try:
- Everything starts with you – be kind to yourself and give yourself time, deep breaths and really take a step back from the situation rather than beating yourself up about it. Positive thinking is key – what are you thankful for?
- Look after yourself and get active – eating a balanced diet, having enough sleep and physical exercise, is a known element that can reduce stress and of course, improves your overall health.
- Communication – speaking about your worries and struggles to friends, family and colleagues really does help you open up and get support form others by just talking, however small or big the issue is. If you don’t want to share these worries to people you know, you can always contact free helplines, such as Samaritans 24hr helpline.
- Splitting up big tasks – feeling overwhelmed can be reduced by tackling one tasks at a time and making the situation more manageable. Don’t forget to acknowledge your achievements and reward yourself.
- Planning ahead – if you get yourself organised before a big event that is making you nervous or anxious, this will help reduce the impact of the actual event when it’s time.
- Hobbies – if you’re feeling lonely or want to make new connections in your life, a new or old hobby can help you get back into something you love or discover more about yourself, whilst making new friends.
- Relaxation – if there is something that you can’t control and is making you feel hopeless, take some time to do absolutely nothing and either go for a walk, listen to music, have a pamper night or do whatever you find relaxing to ease the pressure.
Summary
Considering all the great points above will definitely help individuals in managing and coping with their stress or encountering stressful situations. Always seek professional medical advice from your GP, talking to a therapist or friends and family, to help with any topics raised in this article. To find out more about stress, visit the NHS website and ‘Mind’ a mental health charity.