Navigating through Stress

 “Stress is not what happens to us. It us our response to what happens. And response is something we can choose.”

~ Maureen Killoran

Severe scenarios involving stress are commonplace, whether you're getting ready to deliver a presentation, caught in traffic and running late for an appointment, or struggling to maintain a healthy work-life equilibrium. Stress occurs to everyone from time to time. Stress is actually the body's attempt to protect us. Stressful circumstances may arise very frequently, even on a daily basis, if you lead a high-stress lifestyle, have a lot on your plate, or suffer from a mental health illness like anxiety disorder. Your daily stress levels can be lowered by developing coping skills in challenging situations.

According to Claude Bernard (1865–1961), maintaining our internal milieu in the face of a changing world is crucial for maintaining life. This was dubbed "homeostasis" by Cannon (1929). Despite the fact that stress reactions have developed as adaptive mechanisms, Selye noted that severe, protracted stress reactions may cause illness and tissue damage. Both humans and other animals initiate coping strategies based on how serious they perceive a danger (Lazarus & Folkman 1984). Integrated coping responses, as opposed to discrete, single response alterations, are often produced by our central nervous system (CNS) (Hilton 1975). Mammals, therefore, often exhibit heightened autonomic and hormonal activity that optimize the potential for physical effort when an urgent fight-or-flight response looks possible (Cannon 1929, Hess 1957).

Get closer to nature

We all live with worries and fears, uncertainties, losses that leave us sad and pressures that make us feel stressed. Some people say nature helps them feel calmer, more hopeful and less alone. Our research found that going for a walk was the UK adults’ favourite way of coping with stress during the pandemic in 2020. In Japan, some people use “forest bathing”, which may improve their mental health. So going to a forest or wood and experiencing the different smells, sounds and textures may really help. 

Learn to understand and manage your feelings

Feeling very upset can interfere with our lives, making it hard to think clearly or work, relax, study, sleep or deal with other people. Many of us will know when we’re upset but not be sure what we’re feeling. Is it sadness, fear, shame, loneliness, anger or something else? We don’t always know why we’re feeling that way. It often helps to give our feelings our attention without judging them, without telling ourselves we’re stupid or weak to feel the way we do. It may seem strange and uncomfortable to do this. But practice and patience with ourselves will help. Naming what we’re feeling is also likely to help. So, we can say to ourselves: “I’m feeling really irritable today but also sad.” Talking kindly to ourselves, in the same way, we might reassure a small child we care about, is also important. It can be very comforting. You might feel uncomfortable initially, but give it a go – it might just help.

Talk to someone you trust for support

Many of us have learned to bottle things up inside us and try to ignore painful feelings. It can take a lot of courage to tell someone else how we’re feeling or what we’re finding hard, especially if we don’t usually do that kind of thing. Just talking things through with a person we trust can help and feel like a relief. Use your own words. It’ll make you feel safer and less alone, and that will help protect your mental health and prevent problems. Talking may also change how you see and feel about the situation in ways you find helpful. 

Get more from your sleep

Anyone who has struggled with sleep will know what a difference it makes to our bodies, minds and ability to cope with life. We all have times when we sleep badly, and some of us live in situations that make a good night’s sleep impossible. For many people, sleep is often the first thing that suffers when we're struggling with our mental health. Adults need between 7 and 9 hours' sleep a night, including enough dreaming sleep and enough deeper sleep.

Keep moving

Our bodies and minds are connected, so looking after ourselves physically also helps us prevent problems with our mental health (it works the other way around, too).

Be curious and open-minded to new experiences

For example, we might say to ourselves: “Things never get better” or “I’m useless” as a response to what others have said to us. It can help to notice these thoughts and try out new ones, such as “I can change things for the better” and “there is so much I can do”. Life can feel more interesting, lively and rewarding when we are open to trying new experiences and experimenting with how we do things.

Plan things to look forward to

Making plans for things we enjoy can increase our sense of hope, which is important for our mental health. Our plan could be for anything from small pleasures, like a cup of tea or your favourite TV programme or dance class, to a trip with family or friends, or seeing your favourite film, sports team or singer. Whether it’s a small or a big one, the important thing is to plan it. Decide what you’ll do, when and with who and, if needed, book it. It’s important to follow your plan and repeat.

Ms. Mini. V. K, Assistant Professor of Commerce, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna