Friday 8 January 2016

5 EVIDENCE-BASED WAYS TO TAME MENTAL STRESS

By Sam Maondu

Introduction.

Whether you like it or not the truth of the matter is that no one immune to stress. The question is, what kind of stress are you battling with? We live in an environment with diverse culture and with so many people moving from and into different direction with main intend of making their dream come true. There are those who have attained their dreams without much effort as the environment was more favorable than challenging and have become real paragon of success. Others are either battling to make it work, rehearsing on how to do it better or may be lacking focus, doing nothing and living in semblance of normality. 

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Our daily engagement endeavoring to make our lives better can be real stressing especially when our effort seems faulty bringing forth no tangible success. This is a reality and learning how to deal with negatives in our lives may be as good as learning how to handle good things. Here are some healthier ways to deal with stress;-


PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Many people resolve in to being physically active when under stress. Physical activity has been linked with release of endorphins in the body which brings a feelings of calmness, improves the ability of one to sleep and helps to alleviate mental stress. Doing aerobics for 5- 30 minutes daily can prove to be of much help in managing tensions, improve ones mood and better sleep. Taking a deep breath can also be as relieving as going jogging. Deep breath helps to release endorphins in to the system and may be as good as doing some aerobics. 


HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

According to HelpGuide.org, healthier lifestyle is essential i dealing with and being able to resist stress. Ensure adequate sleep, eat balanced diet, drink adequate amount of water, keep off from drugs like alcohol and stimulants. This can be a good tool in abating stress.

DEAL WITH THE STRESSOR

Every stress that we face in life can always be traced back from its source. When the stressor is know, one can come up with rationalized strategies to  deal with the cause of stress. View the stressor in a more positive way and learn to gain control over it. 
Sleep- 6 to 8 hour of sleep is recommended to ensure calm and reduce emotional, mental and physical fatigue. Sleep deprivation either total or partial is detrimental to ones health and leads to sleep debt. Sleep debt reduces reduces efficiency in cognitive functions like irritability, memory lapses, obscured judgement. Other effects may include increased heart variability, impaired fine motor functions, accentuates fatigue, lack of energy and lowered immune status.

SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP

Sometimes dealing with stress could be a foreign thing to some people or the level of stress one is going through could be too much for one to handle. Seeking professional help may serve as a good deal to come up with a guided strategy to combat stress. 

Rationalization- sometimes we may not have a complete control over a situation and things may slip through our fingers to uncontrollable state. In rationalization, one tries to come up with logical reason to justify results. It is a defense mechanism and a safe way to escape self-blame and guilt by adopting behavior which may be rational or irrational. 

 SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

Close friends may prove to of much help during distressing moments. Call on close friends who can offer a shoulder to lean on, share the stress by speaking it out. This helps to release tensions held inside, ease fatigue and be more productive.

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references:-
Stress management- HelpGuide.org. Address: http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-management.htm.
Sleep debt- Wikiedia. Address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_debt
Healthy ways to handle stress- University Health Services. Address: http://www.uhs.wisc.edu/health-topics/mental-health/healthy-way-to-handle-stress.shtml.