What is stress?
Stress is a feeling of being under abnormal pressure. This pressure can come from different aspects of your day to day life. Such as an increased workload, a transitional period, an argument you have with your family or new and existing financial worries. You may find that it has a cumulative effect, with each stressor building on top of one another.
During these situations you may feel threatened or upset and your body might create a stress response. This can cause a variety of physical symptoms, change the way you behave, and lead you to experience more intense emotions.5
Stress affects us in a number of ways, both physically and emotionally and in varying intensities.
How can I identify the signs of stress?
Everyone experiences stress. However, when it is affecting your life, health and wellbeing, it is important to tackle it as soon as possible, and while stress affects everyone differently, there are common signs and symptoms you can look out for:15
feelings of constant worry or anxiety
feelings of being overwhelmed
difficulty concentrating
mood swings or changes in your mood
irritability or having a short temper
difficulty relaxing
depression
low self-esteem
eating more or less than usual
changes in your sleeping habits
using alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs to relax
aches and pains, particularly muscle tension
diarrhoea and constipation
feelings of nausea or dizziness
loss of sex drive.
Three steps to take when feeling stressed
1. Realise when it is causing you a problem
Try to make the connection between feeling tired or ill and the pressures you are faced with
Look out for physical warnings such as tense muscles, over-tiredness, headaches or migraines38
2. Identify the causes
Try to identify the underlying causes
Sort the possible reasons for your stress into three categories 1) those with a practical solution 2) those that will get better given time and 3) those you can’t do anything about
Try to release the worry of those in the second and third groups and let them go
3. Review your lifestyle
Could you be taking on too much?
Are there things you are doing which could be handed over to someone else?
Can you do things in a more leisurely way?
To act on the answer to these questions, you may need to prioritise things you are trying to achieve and re-organise your life
This will help to release pressure that can come from trying to do everything at once
Seven steps to help protect yourself from stress
1. Eat healthily
Eating healthily can reduce the risks of diet-related diseases39
There is a growing amount of evidence showing how food affects our mood40 and how eating healthily can improve this
You can protect your feelings of wellbeing by ensuring that your diet provides adequate amounts of brain nutrients such as essential vitamins and minerals, as well as water41
2. Be aware of smoking and drinking alcohol
Try not to, or reduce the amount you smoke and drink alcohol
Even though they may seem to reduce tension initially, this is misleading as they often make problems worse42
3. Exercise
Try and integrate physical exercise into your lifestyle as it can be very effective in relieving stress
Even just going out and getting some fresh air, and taking some light physical exercise, like going for a walk to the shops can really help43
4.Take time out
Take time to relax
Strike the balance between responsibility to others and responsibility to yourself, this can really reduce stress levels
Tell yourself that it is okay to prioritise self-care · Are you needing time out but saying 'I just can't take the time off', if so read more about how taking a break is important for good mental health
5. Be mindful
Mindfulness is a mind-body approach to life that helps us to relate differently to experiences. It involves paying attention to our thoughts and feelings in a way that increases our ability to manage difficult situations and make wise choices
Try to practice mindfulness regularly
Mindfulness meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time
Research has suggested that it can reduce the effects of stress, anxiety and related problems such as insomnia, poor concentration and low moods, in some people44
Our Be Mindful website features a specially developed online course in mindfulness, as well as details of local courses in your area
6. Get some restful sleep
Are you finding you are struggling to sleep? This is a common problem when you’re stressed45
Could your physical or mental health be impacting your ability to sleep?
Could you amend your environment to help improve your sleep?
Could you get up instead of staying in bed when your mind is worrying at night?
Could you make small changes to your lifestyle to help your get a restful sleep?
For full details on tips on getting a good night’s sleep read our guide How to sleep better and ten top tips for good sleep
7. Don’t be too hard on yourself
Try to keep things in perspective.
Remember that having a bad day is a universal human experience
When your inner critic or an outer critic finds faults, try and find truth and exception to what is being said
If you stumble or feel you have failed, don’t beat yourself up
Act as if you were your own best friend: be kind and supportive
Take a few minutes each day to appreciate yourself.
There is going to be more....