Learning to De-Stress
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
―William James
Why do people often get frustrated over trivial issues that we do not care about otherwise? The particular reason for this can often be Stress. Stress is something that in today’s world has become the most underlying cause of anxiety and panic attacks. We are living in a century where everyone keeps rushing towards their goals and aims to achieve more and more. The worry of making more money or providing yourself or your family, the ideal life that you have dreamt about can become stressful in many possible ways. People often do not realize the extent of exertion that they might have been putting into achieving something. This exertion turns into stress and later on, this stress will come out in the form of frustration, rage, or being vociferous.
There should be more awareness about what stress is and ways of calming oneself in conditions of anxiety. The lack of information among people and the gap between social relationships can be a factor of increased stress conditions. If a person is going through a trauma or stress triggering situation, he/she should be supported and encouraged by others to speak up about their feelings and emotions. This way a natural outlet of stress is formed and a person can feel much lighter and relaxed afterward. That is why the individual or group therapies are also provided to people with acute or chronic stress conditions. It is our responsibility on us to be aware of our surroundings, and if we have a friend or a family member going through any stress-related conditions, we should reach out to them. They should be given a break or small talk with a person they are comfortable with. This helps to remove the stress of being lonely or isolated, and it will help the person to calm down so that their stress does not turn into depression.
Some people do tend to come out of stressful situations and they can move on with an optimistic perspective of life. Unfortunately, some people are not able to move on as swiftly and effortlessly as others. They need more time, private space, and emotional support from their family, friends, and loved ones. This is where the role of parents, siblings, children, husband, wife, or a friend is required. Parents should make their children realize from the start that they are safe around them, and you are all eyes and ears for them whenever they need. So they can share anything with their parents without distancing themselves. Most scenarios are evident that the childhood traumas or disturbing incidents can also lead to acute or chronic stress conditions in them during their adulthood. Which can resultantly become hellacious. Therefore, a child’s odd behavior should not be taken by the grain of salt, as they need more attention.
Stressful life events often precede anxiety disorders as well (Faravelli & Pallanti 1989, Finlay-Jones & Brown 1981). Stress not only impacts our moods and senses, but it also damages our mental and physical health. There are tons of studies, papers, and researches available on how chronic the impacts of stress can become if left unchecked. People do not take such issues seriously as unfortunately, these have become common behavioral factors. These unattended elevated stress conditions can lead to depression, body weakness, obesity, lethargy, cardiovascular disorders, memory issues, disturbing immune system, which will make a person more prone to other illnesses, and yet the list goes on and on. The teens or even the adults who commit suicides or have suicidal thoughts are the ones who had been living under stress for years, and that stress had led them to depression and isolation from others. This shows that emotional conditions can bring a huge mess to your physical and mental health.
There is plenty of minutia in our daily life routines, which can prove beneficial for our overall health and can hinder the stress triggering factors. Everyone who is just rushing all day for their goals must take a minute to pause and calm themselves down. A variety of things can make our mood happy or relaxed. Accordingly, this can eventually de-stress our minds. Owing to this fact, the chain that leads towards chronic stress will be broken. The activities or things like watching a movie, listening to a song, dancing, painting, cooking, or doing house chores that may change your mood or simply sitting on a sofa in a cozy setting and reading a book, anything can prove a blessing in disguise if a person gives him/herself the proper space to relax. It does not have to be a super tricky activity, just anything you are good at or comfortable with. Our body and mind need that healthy kind of break from regular chores and office work. On a healthier note, people who have a habit of doing exercise, yoga, meditation or jogging, are more jovial and live a stress-free life.
Taking everything into account, stress is no joke. It is not something to simply ignore and sit back, waiting for it to go away on its own. We have to take care of our mental health. We need to stop worrying about things that are not in our control. On top of that, if you are living a stress-free life, then it is necessary to look out for those, who may need your attention. No one’s life is perfect and thus no one can live on a bed of roses each day. But the least we can do is to remove the negativity and to make ourselves and our health the top priority so that we can live a de-stressed life. We must know how to make ourselves at peace. We must reinvigorate ourselves by doing things that make us calm, only then we will be able to achieve our dreams more conveniently. The stress-free perspective will lead us towards a positive and healthy perspective.
