Reduce your Stress Burden
Pay attention when people talk about the sudden onset of bizarre and unusual ailments. This is especially true at this time of year. The answer can be found in a little word with big implications: stress. Our bodies endure stress, which can be simply defined as anything that causes a reaction. There are three main areas in which we experience stress: physical, emotional and chemical. Stress involving any of these areas can affect us profoundly. Here are some of the common signs of stress, along with ways to reduce your stress burden.
STRESS SIGNALS
Unusual fatigue: Stress weighs on you physically, emotionally and mentally. It wears you down and drains you. Can’t get out of bed in the morning? Stress may be what’s keeping you there.
Sleeplessness: You may feel like sleeping for a day or two, but stress tends to keep you up at night.
Impulsivity: If you find your eating habits changing suddenly, you may be turning to comfort foods to deal with stress. The same is true with impulse buying, particularly when it involves items you don’t really need.
Anger/impatience: Stress can make you short-tempered and easily roused to anger, even if your demeanour is normally calm, quiet and reserved.
Lack of concentration/forgetfulness: Stress usually occupies our mental time, so much so that we can have trouble remembering things or make more mistakes. Never forget your keys in the morning? When you’re stressed, you just might.
Physical ailments: Back pain, neck pain and pain in general that doesn’t have a clear cause (e.g., an injury) is often related to stress. The same is true for colds and flu; stress can lower your immune system, increasing your risk of developing illness.
WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS
Work it off: Find the time to exercise. Whether it’s a quick trip to the gym, a peaceful run or a brisk walk with family or friends, exercise puts the focus somewhere else for a while. Biochemically, exercise has a big anti-stress benefit. It helps reduce levels of the stress hormone (cortisol) and increases your “feel-good” hormones, endorphins.
Get away from it: This can be challenging, but doing what you can to distract yourself can go a long way toward reducing stress. Schedule a holiday, visit old friends, take a long walk; whatever it takes to remove yourself from your stress environment.
Smile about it: It’s much harder for stress to exist in a fun, laughter-filled environment, so put yourself in a position to smile when you’re under stress. After all, laughter truly is the best natural medicine.
Talk about it: When you’re stressed, your mind can be a continual stream of negative, overwhelming, stressed-out thoughts. Don’t keep it all to yourself; sometimes the best way to reduce your stress is to vent about it and get a neutral perspective, rather than staying in a bottled-up, stressed-out state.
Ross McDonald & Rebecca Vickery Registered Chiropractors
240 Queensferry Road Blackhall, Edinburgh, EH4 2BP
0131 332 0063 41
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