Create a positive mindset
Do you feel stressed today?
Stress can easily sneak into our lives. Living in a COVID -19 pandemic, loss of family, health issues, problems at your job, having financial difficulties, low income, and poverty are just a few things that can boost the stress response.
When I finished my Ph.D. in public health I could not find a job for a long time. It was very stressful to keep searching, sending in applications, having student debt, and no sign of a paycheck. It took me a long time to realize that my dreams of having a job in public health are not realistic at this time. It is a weird cycle when you are newly graduated, yet have no experience. Many jobs are looking for people with experience. It can be difficult to get experience if you are not hired without it. I had to readjust my dreams and take an available job. A job that I was familiar with and have been doing for the past 25 years. I went back to nursing.
Responding to stress can be defensive, at first, and it is easy to take things personally. Negative thoughts can occlude our minds. Determining the cause of your stress is helpful to work on decreasing stress by learning coping mechanisms and communication skills.
Learned skills help eliminate and decrease stress in your life.
Triggering stressors can pop up in our day at any time. Stress can show up in the workplace, at home, on the road while driving, with friends, and with family. There are a lot of stressors in today’s society related to very high expectations with competitive work environments and financial strains. working hours are long, housing prices are extremely high and it is difficult for many people to keep up.
It is essential to recharge our system with positive energy by attending to nature and each other.
Additional stressors include the lack of medical benefits, high co-pay for medications and treatments, pay grades, and family issues. Stress affects relationships by creating discomfort between people. Financial problems come up in your everyday life college funding, making house and car payments, and paying medical and utility bills.
I had to go to the emergency department a few years back and I am still paying a monthly payment from that one visit even though I had health insurance. It was a shock to got the bill. I just keep biting that bill one small payment at a time. Looking back I am grateful I went to make sure nothing major was wrong.
Stress affects your health by creating a circle of unhealthy behaviors, which can lead to addiction including smoking, drinking, using drugs, gambling. Stress can lead to eating unhealthy sugary foods that increase weight and create obesity and the potential for diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
For me, stress causes the unhealthy habit of eating too much and eating unhealthy things. Before I notice I grab the next thing to eat when I am not even hungry. Then, I feel sick and more stressed because I had just done something that is not good for me. I am working on implementing positive thinking into my life to break the cycle of my behavior.
Stress can also cause emotional problems, including depression and anxiety. Stress creates an immediate response in the brain sending chemical signals affecting your whole body. Long-term stress creates mental problems and diseases in your body.
When we feel stressed it can be helpful to change our thinking and mood and focus on positive things in life. Simple deep breathing, smiling, being grateful for the things that are going well in your life can be helpful to break the cycle.
Do things have to be perfect? –setting up for failure
CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), reflective listening, and validation of feelings are helpful tools to reduce stress and anxiety. CBT is described as a technique that creates coping strategies to break away from anxiety and worry.
Helpful Techniques to overcome Stress and Anxiety
Visualization/Imagery techniques
Practicing breathing exercises has been helpful for me when my mind goes down a deep rabbit hole. I take a few deep breaths counting to five breathing in, holding my breath while I count to five again, and slowly breathe out. I repeat this relaxing breathing technique a few times a day.
Ways to Believe in YourselfWays to believe in yourselfmedium.com
Resources
Anxiety and Depression Health.org https://www.iwanttochangemylife.org/anxiety/anxiety-symptoms-disorder.htm
Brainfacts.org https://www.brainfacts.org/thinking-sensing-and-behaving/emotions-stress-and-anxiety
Shrestha, S., Robertson,S., & Stanley, M.A. (2011). Innovation in research for treatment of late-life anxiety. Aging and Mental health 15(7), 811–821.
