Symptoms of Poorly Managed
Chronic Stress and 6 Tips to Fix It!
By
David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm
And Flatten Your Abs
The
stress response is meant to divert all of our energies towards fighting or fleeing
a danger. However, our bodies will not distinguish between a real danger and psychological
distress. Even though something stressful is not actually a danger to you, such
as being stuck in traffic, you will still have the stress response. If this is
not managed, the heightened physical state can lead to a variety of problems.
On
the physical level, stress can cause these symptoms:
• hypertension
•
headaches
• stomach pain
• ulcers
• gingivitis
•
rashes
• hemorrhoids
• varicose veins
• lowered immune
system
• sleeping problems
On the psychological level, stress can
cause these symptoms:
• anger
• depression
• anxiety
•
mood swings
• poor concentration
• confusion
• lowered
libido
These are just some of the most common symptoms of stress.
However,
stress affects all parts of the body and can lead to many
serious conditions.
People with stress are also more likely to
abuse drugs and alcohol and be suicidal.
How
to Overcome Stress
Stress
is part of our everyday lives and can even be beneficial. However, when it starts
to become chronic and has physical and/or psychological effects, you need to find
a way to manage it for the sake of your health.
1.
Identify the Cause of Stress
The
first step in overcoming stress is to identify what is causing it. This may be
more complicated than it seems because usually several factors are contributing
to our feelings of being overstressed. In some cases, we become so accustomed
to living
under high stress situations that we don’t even realize how
the stress is affecting us until symptoms begin to show. Here are some of the
causes of stress:
Work-Related
Stress
• Meeting strict deadlines
• Demanding job
•
Lack of control over how staff are allowed to do their job
• Poor support
from colleagues and superiors
• Not understanding job responsibilities
•
Relationships with coworkers
• Workplace changes
Personal
Issues
• Death of a family member or friend
• Relationship
issues such as fighting with family members or feeling as though you have
no support
• Changes in family such as divorce or children leaving
•
Increased responsibilities such as taking care of a child or a
sick relative
•
Adjusting to a new environment such as moving or visiting
relatives
•
Internal conflicts over beliefs or values
• Health issues such as dealing
with chronic illnesses
Social Issues
• Your environment
such as living in a high-crime, polluted,
crowded, or noisy area
•
Financial issues, especially in regards to poverty
• Discrimination based
on gender, race, or sexual orientation
Post Traumatic Stress
• Trouble
dealing with a traumatic experience such as war, rape or
a near-death experience.
Other
Causes of Stress
• Electromagnetic waves from TVs, radios, cell phones,
etc.
• Thermal stress from a drastic change in temperature
•
Nutritional stressors such as caffeine intake or drug use
2.
Making a Livable Plan for Dealing with Stress
In
some cases, we may be able to eliminate the cause of stress
completely from
our lives. For example, you can quit your
stressful job. Even if you can’t
eliminate the stressor
completely, see if there isn’t some way you can
change the
situation. For example, you can start taking the subway to work
so
you won’t be stressed by traffic. However, in many cases this is
just
not an option and we must learn to deal with the stress. This
can be done with
stress management techniques:
Set
Realistic Goals: Many people become stressed because they
take on more responsibilities
than they can handle. Reduce the
amount of obligations and events in your life.
Take
Breaks: Find time to remove yourself from the stressful
situation. It may help
to change your environment completely so
you won’t think about the stress
factors.
Avoid
Overwhelming Yourself: If possible, break down stress factors
into smaller
parts, such as when handling a large work project.
You might even want to
make a daily schedule so you can focus on
each task separately like making
breakfast, putting baby down for a
nap, going shopping, etc.
Prioritize:
Focus only on what is really important and try not to
sweat the small things.
Get
support: Find help in any way that can lessen the stress. Hire
a babysitter
for a few hours a day, talk to friends or a support
group about your problems,
or seek an outside perspective for
advice about the situation.
Take
the Focus from Yourself: Doing something for others can often
help you to get
your mind off of yourself and, thus, off of your
stress-inducing problems.
3.
Fighting Stress with Exercise
If
you can’t eliminate or reduce the actual stress, then exercise
is the
best way to deal with it. There is certain logic to why
exercise fights against
the effects of stress. When we feel
stressed, it is because our bodies are
undergoing the fight or
flight response. The fast heart beat, quick breathing,
and jittery
nerves are because our body is preparing for the intense action
needed
to fight or flee. So, when you feel stressed, you should
literally run away
from it!
Unfortunately,
we usually feel stressed in situations that don’t
actually merit a “fight
or flight.” Instead of being stressed by
the attack of a hungry lion,
for example, we are stressed by
financial problems. These stressors cannot
be literally fought or
fled from. Instead, we should exercise to combat the
stress.
Studies
have also shown that exercise can lessen the production of
adrenaline and cortisol,
the hormones produced when stressed.
Thus, exercise can reduce the symptoms
that are associated with
stress. Also, exercise is shown to be effective at
combating
anxiety, depression and insomnia.
4.
Relaxation Techniques for Fighting Stress
For
centuries, many cultures have used relaxation techniques for
fighting stress.
Meditation is one of the oldest forms of
combating stress. There are two main
types of meditation:
transcendental and mindfulness. The first uses repetitive
chanting
and the second involve focusing on the body, your senses and
certain
thoughts.
Other
mental exercises to overcome stress include muscle relaxation
by focusing on
certain muscle groups, deep breathing, creative
visualization such as imagining
a peaceful place, or combinations
of these relaxation techniques.
5.
Avoid Drugs
When
stressed out, many people use alcohol, drugs or prescription
medicines in order
to get relief. However, many of these outlets
actually make the body more responsive
to the stress. That means
that even small stressors can produce major negative
effects. Drug
use also prevents the person from confronting and dealing with
problems
causing stress.
Even
though prescription drugs are often prescribed for dealing
with the effects
of stress, such as anxiety drugs, they may
actually be counteractive. These
drugs should only be taken after
a full attempt to deal with stress in other
manners has been done.
Then, any prescriptions should be made under the full
care of a
doctor.
6.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Many
of the stressors in our life are external, such as work
demands. However, there
are also many stressors coming from within
our own bodies. Disease and diet
are two prime examples of
internal stressors that can have negative effects
on us. We may
not be able to control disease but we can certainly control our
diet.
In fact, a poor diet may cause a stressful disease or bout
of sickness whereas
a good diet can fight illness.
A
good diet can help fight against stress in many different ways.
Proper nutrition
gives us the energy to deal with the stressful
factors in life. Also, there
are many foods which can alleviate
the symptoms of stress by lowering blood
pressure, decreasing
cortisol and adrenaline production, and releasing serotonin.
Coach
David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html
About the Author:
David
Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including
3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist,
Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the
ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has
been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent
trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes
in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional
golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm
And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop
“six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same
time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net
