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Stress is terrible for your health, both physical and mental.
You might think that it’s not a big deal and it won’t impact you in any big way, but you’re wrong. Stress can be a killer if it becomes part of your day to day life, so first you’ve got to understand why you are stressed. Then you can work on getting rid of it.
Let’s take a look at why stress is so bad for you, and some of the things that you can do about it.
Why It’s Bad
First, you need to understand why stress could be such a problem for you. It is a killer to both your physical and mental health, starting with the latter and then moving into physical symptoms. If you don’t find the source of your stress, or at least figure out a way to deal with it before it becomes too much, you’re going to end up with stress spots, dark bags under your eyes, and a number of other symptoms that can appear. Not only this, but stress can lead to mental breakdowns if you’re not careful. It can all pile up, especially if you aren’t dealing with it effectively.
When you are in a stressful situation, your body goes into fight or flight mode. The hypothalamus (tiny region in your brain) sets off the alarms which in turn creates a cascade of nerve and hormonal signals that causes your adrenal glands to release the floodgate of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. This is important in dire conditions like Indiana Jones trying to out race a boulder. But nowadays, the most stressful things we are up against are backed up traffic and bills. In modern times we can get perpetually stressed out over day to day life like bills, raising kids, pleasing our parents, or things that just don’t matter. And when we do this Adrenaline and Cortisol rein supreme in our blood stream. Here’s the MayoClinic‘s description of why this is so bad for your body and mind…
“Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.
Cortisol also curbs functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a fight-or-flight situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes. This complex natural alarm system also communicates with the brain regions that control mood, motivation and fear.”
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The Solutions
So, what are the solutions ? The first step is figuring out what it is that is stressing you out. Maybe you are worried about bills, kids, parents, achieving a goal, money, work, friends, and more. Determining why you are stressed can be easy or hard depending on what it is and whether or not you want to face the problem.
I could say the next step is getting rid of whatever is causing your stress. The only probably with that is we all have bills and don’t get rid of your kids! Maybe you need an extra job or need to improve your skills and education in the field you work. Maybe you are worried about parents or have a Debbie Downer type “friend” you need to reduce time with. Maybe you just need to be easier on yourself about achieving a goal which will probably help you enjoy the process to reach that goal.
For me, money has been a huge stress for years. When I was a kid, we were almost kicked out of our house. I’ll never forget the feeling of having as many clothes as possible on my body and stuffed in pockets as we could only take out of our house what was on our body. It still looms over me and it shouldn’t. We are financially secure and my husband has a good job. Still, I worry about it. Ooo, I can feel my muscles tensing up as I type.
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So over the past 3 months, I’ve been mulling over the idea of getting back into the job force. Don’t worry! I’ll still be keeping up with SimpleStepsForLivingLife though. Just getting signed up for some certification classes has helped my anxiety so much. Also my kids just started back to regular school today (they were doing at home virtual school). And yes, having a minute to breath without someone interrupting every 15 minutes has helped my stress levels settle down as well.
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This reminds me of one of the best solutions for relieving stress. Take some uninterrupted time in your day for a break. We all need at least 30 minutes a day without having to worry or care for someone else. People kept telling me this while I was facilitating my kids online school and sometimes I took the advice and sometimes I didn’t. I wish I would have added this to my daily routines.
For your everyday life, you should consider doing things such as taking a break like baths, doing the things you enjoy, or in some extreme cases, see a doctor for help and possibly some medication. There are also a number of herbal remedies that you can try including supplements, teas, marijuana, and others. If you visit an online headshop, there is a bunch of equipment that you might find useful for such herbal remedies.
Stress is part of life but living daily with stress is not good for your health. Not everything is going to work for every person to eliminate stress. It’s not always going to be a case of the first thing you try will be the thing that helps you out… so don’t stress out of that. (heh heh) Trial and error is your friend here, so just take your time and enjoy this ride we call life!
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If you are feeling down or depressed for more days than not, please seek medical attention. If you are feeling like you cannot go on, please call the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or chat here>>> https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ Or visit the suicide prevention lifeline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
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