Stress Awareness; Regain your own connection

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 Stress Awareness; Regain your own connection



The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on our lives. Many of us are facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Despite this, millions of us around the UK have always experiencing high levels of stress and it is damaging our health. Stress is one of the great public health challenges of our time, but it still isn’t being taken as seriously as physical health concerns. 


Stress is a significant factor in mental health problems including anxiety and depression. It is also linked to physical health problems like heart disease, problems with our immune system, insomnia and digestive problems... Imagine if those food intolerances were actually stress related & you didn't need to give up cheese?!

"It's overwhelming. Sometimes you can't see beyond the thick fog of stress"


April is "Stress Awareness Month" this has been in place Nationally since 1992. It was put in place to increase the awareness and offer coping strategies around stress; eliminating the mental health impact it can cause us all. 74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.

Stress can cause the following:

  • Feelings of fear, anger, sadness, worry, numbness, or frustration
  • Changes in appetite, energy, desires, and interests
  • Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
  • Personal emotional demons
  • Difficulty sleeping or nightmares
  • Physical reactions, such as headaches, body pains, stomach problems, and skin rashes
  • Worsening of chronic health problems
  • Worsening of mental health conditions
  • Increased use of drugs & alcohol

Individually we need to understand what is causing us personal stress and learn what steps we can take to reduce it for ourselves and those around us. There's no medical definition of stress & whether stress is the cause of problems or the result of them. This can make it difficult to work out what causes your feelings of stress, or how to overcome with them. Whatever your personal definition of stress is, it's likely that you can learn to manage your stress better by;

 1. Managing external pressures; Limiting the impact of stressful situations or how often they happen to you

2.  Developing your emotional resilience; Gaining the tools & ability to cope with tough situations when they do happen

"It feels like the world is closing in on me, I can't breathe and I'm running out of time."

Being under pressure is a normal part of life. It can help you take action, feel more energised and get results. But if you often become overwhelmed by stress, these feelings could start to be a problem for you. 

Stress isn't a psychiatric diagnosis, but it's closely linked to mental health. Stress can cause mental health problems and make existing problems worse. For example: if you often struggle to manage feelings of stress, you might develop a mental health problem like anxiety. Mental health problems can cause stress. You might find coping with the day-to-day symptoms of your mental health problem, as well as potentially needing to manage medication, heath care appointments or treatments, which can become extra sources of stress.

Taking steps to look after your wellbeing can help you deal with stress & the pressures of life; reducing the impact on your mindset. This is sometimes called developing 'Emotional resilience'. Resilience is not just your ability to bounce back, but also your capacity to adapt in the face of challenging circumstances, whilst maintaining a stable mental wellbeing. Resilience isn't a personality trait – it's something that we can all take steps to achieve and develop. 

These pieces of food for thought might help you think in a different way. They contain things you can personally do to try & understand your stress a little more; supporting you to target challenges in a different way... 

1. MAKE SOME LIFESTYLE CHANGES:
  • Practice being straightforward and assertive in communicating with others; If people are making unreasonable or unrealistic demands on you, be prepared to tell them how you feel and say no!
  • Find balance in your life; You may find that one part of your life, such as your job or taking care of young children, is taking up almost all of your time and energy. Try making a decision to focus some of your energy on other parts of your life, like family, friends or hobbies. 
  • Develop your interests and hobbies; Finding an activity that's completely different from the things causing you stress is a great way to get away from everyday pressures.

2. LOOK AFTER YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH:
  • You may already know what helps you relax, like having a bath, listening to music or taking your dog for a walk. If you know that a certain activity helps you feel more relaxed, make sure you set aside time to do it.
  • Get enough sleep; Stress can often make it difficult to sleep, and can cause sleep problems. Getting enough sleep can help you feel more able to deal with difficult situations.

3. GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK:
  • Learning to be kinder to yourself; in general that can help you control the amount of pressure you feel in different situations, which can help you feel less stressed. 
  • Forgive yourself; when you feel you have made a mistake, or don't achieve something you hoped for. Try to remember that nobody's perfect, and putting extra pressure on yourself doesn't help.
  • Resolve conflicts; if you can. Although this can sometimes be hard, speaking to a manager, colleague or family member about problems in your relationship with them can help you find ways to move forward.

"When I'm stressed, I take myself away from everyone, into another room or somewhere quiet – even just for five minutes – and sing to myself. Not full on belting out a tune, but just quietly or even humming to myself, really calms me down."

Feeling overwhelmed, stress or worried is not shameful; we are all experiencing it right now. We have lived in a world that has been so restricted and unknown, it has bought feelings & emotions to the surface that many of us thought were dealt with or maybe you have realised life is just too short & its time to make a change! 

If you would like some support with your mindset, stress or you want to discuss about the possibility in building new coping strategies, please get in contact to discuss how Beautiful Minds can help you πŸ’™ 


https://beautifulmindscoac.wixsite.com/website


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