Today’s world is increasingly busy and involves multiple demands and responsibilities that lead to many people experiencing high levels of stress. This can negatively affect your mood and lead to
increased levels of anxiety; empowering yourself by building skills for improving your mental well-being and resilience can improve your physical and mental health, and buffer against the effects
of stress.
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Stress is something that is an inevitable part of life; both positive and negative life events bring stress as we adapt to some kind of significant change. Daily small stresses can also add up over time. Constant high levels of stress can become something we start to get used to, which means we stop noticing we are stressed, and crucially, stop using self-care strategies to manage it. This can lead to poor physical health, as your body gets worn down by high levels of stress and starts to give signals that something needs to change. High levels of stress can affect our mood also and can lead to feeling more tense, and we start feeling less happy and positive, and we hardly feel any kind of enjoyment in life. High stress can also lead to more anxiety, as we start to worry more and feel less and can balance our thinking with more realistic and accurate thoughts. Less tolerance for any additional challenges can also lead to more tension and conflict in relationships which can lead to guilt and shame.
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Managing your stress levels is thus crucial for your physical and mental health; noticing stress is the first step and making a plan for managing stress in your life follows next. Managing stress daily means doing some simple (but important) things for your well-being. Getting adequate sleep, eating well, keeping yourself hydrated by drinking water, and moving your body to release tension will help your body physically manage stress. Being physically well is a key part of being resilient. Many of the demands of life require energy to meet them and a body that is well rested and cared for will be better placed to manage stress. When we are physically well, we are also better able to
manage our emotions.
Doing something you enjoy and spending time with people you care about will bring positive emotions and lift your mood. So can taking small steps to live by your values and beliefs, which can
really help people feel they are living a life with meaning and purpose and feel connected to their community. Daily de-stress activities (such as meditation/mindfulness/prayer) will help to keep you in the present moment and give your body and brain a break from the demands of daily life. This also helps us to connect with the world around us and pay attention to things that are important to us. When we are stressed, our brain has a habit of doing one of two things. It will look back over things we have done and pick out times we could have done something differently, which can lead to feelings of regret and sadness. Or our brains will try to look into the future, to predict things that might go wrong. This can lead to feelings of worry, anxiety, and even helplessness, as these are things that have not yet happened. Staying in the present moment will help keep focus on what is happening right now, which is what we have the most amount of control over.
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It is important to be kind towards ourselves for past mistakes, as this is an important way to learn and develop new skills for managing problems. When we think about possible challenges ahead,
making some plans for problem-solving for the most likely ones can help us feel prepared. However, we can’t know all the possible challenges life will throw at us. But we can remind ourselves of our ability to cope. Resilience comes from getting through difficult times – even if you would now choose to do something differently. Coping doesn’t mean it was easy or that we didn’t feel a lot of emotions at the time; coping means we got through.
Also Read: Expert Reveals 5 Reasons Why Bigg Boss Can Have Your Mental Health Screaming, “Bigg Boss Mujhe Hurt Ho Raha Hai”
A key part of coping, stress management and resilience is knowing that this is not something people need to do (or should do) on their own. A key part of mental well-being and resilience is social support and asking for help when you need it. The most resilient people are those who maintain strong connections with their friends, family and community. The saying “strength in numbers” reflects that no one should feel they have to deal with significant challenges on their own.
Associate Professor Kirsty Ross
Senior Clinical Psychologist
Head of School of Psychology
Massey University
