We live in such a fast-paced world; everything is instant, whether it’s social media or the ever-changing world of technology. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, like everything is added pressure and there is no release. Stress does that to you, it corners you into this place of anxiousness, as if you are never going to be able to get out. Which is why it is so important to understand your mental, spiritual and physical health because they also play a big role in creating stress and de-stressing.

There are three types of stresses which according to Healthline:

• Acute stress – which happens to everyone. Heathline describes it as the body’s immediate reaction to a new and challenging situation.

• Episodic acute stress – episodic acute stress is when you have constant episodes of acute stress. Episodic acute stress can affect your physical health and mental well-being.

• Chronic stress – if you are dealing with this type of stress, you need to be worried about how stressed you get. When you have high stress levels for an extended period of time, you have chronic stress. It can cause you to have anxiety, depression, high blood pressure and a weak immune system. Healthline says that it can even cause you to have constant headaches, stomachache and issues with sleeping.

There are many causes of stress and it depends how each individual deals with it. Lockdown and dealing with Covid-19 has put many people under a tremendous amount of stress, many are either dealing with anxiety or depression. However, in order to get to the de-stressing phase, you need to figure out your triggers.

Examples of causes of stress

• Work – deadlines and meetings can be stressful because everyone wants to put their best foot forward.

• Overthinking – there are many things that trigger overthinking but it’s the unhealthiest habit as it doesn’t help you calm down at all.

• Toxic environment/relationships – it doesn’t need to be a romantic relationship, it can be a family member or a friendship. Try to surround yourself with healthy, positive people.

Why is it important to de-stress you may ask? Stress can really change both your attitude and personality. You may be the nicest and most talkative person normally but when you are stressed you may become very moody and easy to anger and irritation. That shift affects not only you but also the people around you; they may start to notice that you are not the same and distance themselves from you. Losing the people you love is painful and it will just add more to your stress rather than decrease it.

How to de-stress

• Exercise – it does not need to be a hard workout but maybe a 5 to 10 minute one, where you can focus your mind on the exercise rather than your stress. Meditation is a good one to try.

• Self-care – find ways to take care of yourself, emotionally and physically. It can be through listening to music or reading but anything that is just about taking care of you. Be a little selfish sometimes, it’s allowed.

• Stay positive – according to Health Havard laughter lowers levels of stress hormones. That doesn’t mean you have to constantly be positive, just try to be whenever you can be.

• Disconnect – this one is working for me personally. Social media and being social has become my worst nightmare. So I decided to just create more time to spend with myself offline, without any distractions from social media. Getting off your phone is half the battle, staying off is another one, so just keep working at it.

• Stream/watching a series – try to watch dramas that are not going to add more stress, with heavy topics. Most people usually choose dramas/series that they say are boring to help them calm down or be lost in a different world for a few hours.

• Breathing exercises – this may sound like nothing but it’s the one that works best and more quickly. Especially when dealing with anxiety. A panic attack can happen at any time and the only thing you can do is to breath.

• Visualise – according to Huffpost, visualing a place to escape to can help create a safe space to go to in your mind. Some people call it a ‘happy place’.

Life is hard, it’s full of punches and blows and it’s sometimes hard to keep up. It’s easy to feel like you are drowning and there is no way out. The hope is that this article helps you cope with the stress better. This doesn’t mean you will suddenly feel better, it just means when you feel your lowest you have tools to help you out.

***

Have you been feeling a bit low lately? Read here to find out the signs of depression.

Tell us: What do you do to de-stress?