Can Stress Be Positive
Research has shown that stress can sometimes be positive. It can make you more alert and help you perform better in certain situations.2 However, stress has only been found to be beneficial if it is short-lived.
Excessive or prolonged stress can contribute to illness such as heart disease3 and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.4
Quick Stress Relief On The Go
In traffic. Play music or listen to an audiobook. Take a different route to see something new. Do neck-rolls at stoplights. Sing in the car to stay awake and happy.
Public transportation. Take a break from reading, cell conversations, and music to tune into the sights and sounds around you. Try noticing something new, even if youre on the same old bus ride.
Running errands. Wear a special perfume or lotion so you can enjoy it while you rush from place to place. Carry a stress ball in your pocket. Take a mental snapshot or postcard at each destination.
Waiting in lines. Instead of worrying about time slipping away, focus on your breathing. People watch. Chat with the person ahead of you. Chew a stick of minty gum.
What Can Prolonged Stress Lead To
Stress is a natural reaction to many situations in life, such as work, family, relationships and money problems.
We mentioned earlier on that a moderate amount of stress can help us perform better in challenging situations,34 but too much or prolonged stress can lead to physical problems. This can include lower immunity levels,35 digestive and intestinal difficulties, e.g. irritable bowel syndrome ,36 or mental health problems such as depression.3 This means it is important to manage your stress and keep it at a healthy level to prevent long-term damage to your body and mind.
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Keep A Thought Diary And Challenge Any Negative Thinking
Writing down what youre worrying about can help you to clear your head and reduce stress and anxiety. You could keep a journal or have a notes file in your phone, and write down your thoughts whenever youre feeling anxious. Its almost like youre transferring them out of your head and into your journal.
Doing this can also help you to see what youre thinking about more clearly and to challenge negative thinking. If youre having trouble challenging your thinking, you could try asking someone you trust or a therapist to help you out.
Signs Of Fear In Dogs
Signs of a fearful dog may include cowering, leaning away with low head/tail and a tense, trembling body. The dog may avert its gaze and show the distinctive whale eye . Ears may be flat against the head and the brow furrowed . Yin emphasises the importance of personnel not interpreting fearful postures as submissive behaviour. If veterinary staff assume the dog is being subordinate, they may reach for the dog and the dog may become fearfully aggressive. More subtle signs of fear/anxiety include scanning the room for danger , yawning, panting, lip licking, refusing treats, salivating , looking/acting sleepy or distracted, sniffing, and possible escalation to urination and defecation. A list of non-specific signs of anxiety in dogs can be found in Overall ) or accessed on-line .
Frightened dog. Leaning away, ears back, whale eye, furrowed brow. Source: .
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Smoking Drinking And Drug Use And Stress
You might find that you smoke, drink alcohol or use recreational drugs to reduce stress. However, this often makes problems worse.28
Research shows that smoking may increase feelings of anxiety.29 Nicotine creates an immediate, temporary, sense of relaxation, which can then lead to withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
Similarly, you may use alcohol as a means to manage and cope with difficult feelings, and to temporarily reduce feelings of anxiety. However, alcohol may make existing mental health problems worse. It can make you feel more anxious and depressed in the long run.30 It is important to know the recommended limits31 and drink responsibly.
Prescription drugs, such as tranquillisers and sleeping tablets, which may have been prescribed for very good reasons, can also cause mental and physical health problems if used for long periods of time.32 Street drugs, such as cannabis or ecstasy, are usually taken for recreational purposes. For some people, problems start as their bodies get used to repeated use of the drug. This leads to the need for increased doses to maintain the same effect.33
Ways To Curb Coronavirus
As the U.S. ramps up its fight against coronavirus, its fair to say that our lives have changed dramatically in a very short amount of time. Change, especially when it involves social distancing, is hard for everyone, and its often very stressful. A certain amount of anxiety is normal, but how do you avoid spinning completely out of control?
Here are five ways to help manage the unique stress of the coronavirus outbreak.
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When To Seek Help
If stress is affecting your work, school, home life or relationships, and you feel you cant manage it alone or with support from a loved one, seek help from a doctor who may refer you to a psychologist.
The Australian Psychological Society has a Find a Psychologist service, which can be used to locate a psychologist in your local area call 1800 333 497.
Mindfulness And Mantra Meditation
Mindfulness is an ancient form of meditation that promotes awareness of whats happening in the moment.
It encourages you to focus on your body, your thoughts, and whats going on around you.
Mantra meditation, on the other hand, is the opposite of mindfulness. In this practice, you place all your attention on a single target, like a mantra, a candle flame, or a phrase.
In both types of meditations, whenever your mind wanders — and it will Smith says — you simply re-focus.
It’s a brain skill, he says. In that in the first 2 weeks you won’t be able to do it very well. Your mind will constantly chatter and distract, and that’s normal, that happens.
But as you practice, youll get better at it.
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Spend Time With Friends And Family
Social support from friends and family can help you get through stressful times.
Being part of a friend network gives you a sense of belonging and self-worth, which can help you in tough times.
One study found that for women in particular, spending time with friends and children helps release oxytocin, a natural stress reliever. This effect is called tend and befriend, and is the opposite of the fight-or-flight response .
Keep in mind that both men and women benefit from friendship.
Another study found that men and women with the fewest social connections were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety .
summary
Having strong social ties may help you get through stressful times and lower your risk of anxiety.
Its hard to feel anxious when youre laughing. Its good for your health, and there are a few ways it may help relieve stress:
- Relieving your stress response.
- Relieving tension by relaxing your muscles.
In the long term, laughter can also help improve your immune system and mood.
A study among people with cancer found that people in the laughter intervention group experienced more stress relief than those who were simply distracted (
Try watching a funny TV show or hanging out with friends who make you laugh.
summary
Find the humor in everyday life, spend time with funny friends or watch a comedy show to help relieve stress.
Not all stressors are within your control, but some are.
One way to do this may be to say no more often.
Greeting Behaviour Of The Veterinary Staff
Research shows that dogs are very good at reading and responding to signals of human intention and have large vocabularies of human words . However, although humans recognise extreme states of stress and distress in dogs, they tend to misread more subtle signs . In addition to learning what dogs and cats are trying to communicate to humans through movements of their eyes, ears and whiskers, their weight shifts, and body postures, veterinary personnel can also use their own body language to show pets that one is not a threat. Firstly, to minimise stress, care should be taken when initially greeting these animals. Avoid leaning over or reaching for an animal, as this can be construed as menacing . Similarly, avoid squatting down with ones face close to the animal rather, squat from further away and avoid facing head on. Squatting, sitting or standing sideways is less threatening than looming over an animal. Very fearful dogs can be approached by the person moving sideways before squatting down or sitting on a chair and turning obliquely. Direct eye contact should also be avoided . It is also important to allow the animal to gradually get used to personnel, even after a successful greeting. Slow, smooth movements, allowing the animal the opportunity to move away, and awareness of the animals body language will help to minimise stress.
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Whats The Difference Between Stress And Anxiety
Stress is a response to an external cause and subsides once the situation has been resolved.
Anxiety is a persons specific reaction to stress its origin is internal. People have an ongoing feeling of apprehension or dread even in non-threatening situations. Unlike stress, anxiety persists even after a concern has passed.
Healthy Diet And Lifestyle
Diet and lifestyle choices can have a significant impact on your mental well-being. Eating a balanced, healthy diet with fruits, vegetables, grains, and low-sugar options can promote overall health and reduce the risk of mental health issues.
Aside from eating right, taking care of yourself is vital too. Get enough sleep to reduce stress levels and prevent inflammatory processes in the body that lead to chronic stress. Also, learn to relax by practicing meditation or yoga.
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What Are The 3 Types Of Meditation
Make Time For Leisure Activities
Leisure activities can be a wonderful way to relieve stress. Yet, many people feel as though their lives are too busy for hobbies, games, or extra fun.
But building time for leisure into your schedule could be key to helping you feel your best. And when you feel better, you’ll perform better, which means leisure time may make your work time more efficient.
Whether you find joy in caring for a garden or you like making quilts, hobbies and leisure are key to living your best life.
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Put Relaxation And Self
A fully packed schedule would make a lot of people feel stressed. Make sure you take time out each day for at least one thing you enjoy doing whether its spending time on a hobby, watching a Netflix episode, or chatting with a friend. It can also help if you schedule the activity into your day, so that you dont feel guilty about not doing something else. Read our guide to relaxation for more ideas.
If youre feeling overwhelmed, dont be afraid to say no to things when you need to.
Emotional First Aid Kit
An emotional first aid kit can provide an immediate, although temporary, positive effect on the way we think and feel. Having an emotional first aid kit readily available can help people who are struggling with symptoms of depression, anxiety, low self esteem, or other mental and emotional issues.
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How Can We Handle Stress In Healthy Ways
Stress serves an important purposeit enables us to respond quickly to threats and avoid danger. However, lengthy exposure to stress may lead to mental health difficulties or increased physical health problems. A large body of research suggests that increased stress levels interfere with your ability to deal with physical illness. While no one can avoid all stress, you can work to handle it in healthy ways that increase your potential to recover.
There are several other methods you can use to relax or reduce stress, including:
How To Manage And Reduce Stress
Here, we would like to start, by giving you an introduction to what stress is, what the signs of stress are, what simple steps you can take when feeling stressed and provide practical advice for preventing it, to show why we are passionate about moving towards a less stressed nation.
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Tips To Relieve Stress And Anxiety
Being always anxious can be unhealthy, while until now, the stigma about mental health is still present. Yet, did you know that stress and anxiety are one of the mental disorders having the highest prevalence in the US?
As sighted by NIMH, around 19.1% of U.S. adults are suffering from an anxiety disorder, and most of them are females, which is 23.4% more than their opposite gender. Meanwhile, around 31.1% of US adults were reported to experience some symptoms of anxiety in their lives. As for the latest edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-V, anxiety disorders come with different types, but they share the same hallmark, which is the excessive fear and anxiety and related behavioral disturbances.
Anxiety and fear are different concepts. For instance, DSM-V differentiates fear as emotional response to a real or perceived imminent threat from anxiety, as the anticipation of future threat. Such disturbances can impact different areas of your functioning such as your school, work, and even your overall personal and social life. Thus, you may need some anxiety relief.
Anxiety Natural Remedies: 15 Ways To Relax & Find Calm
Anxiety can be a disabling condition thats accompanied by long-term stress and a decline in overall health. It contributes to many chronic diseases, even when treated with conventional medications. Thats why we need to use natural remedies for anxiety and other mood disorders that will address the root of the problem instead of putting a Band-Aid on your symptoms.
In fact, anxiety can affect people of all ages, with a lifetime prevalence between 4.3 and 5.9 percent. In addition, 4060 percent of people with anxiety experience signs of depression, which makes it an even more serious and difficult condition to treat properly. And research shows that people with anxiety cannot successfully achieve short or long term remission, with remission rates remaining as low as 38 percent after five years.
The good news is that there are many natural remedies for anxiety that are safe and dont cause adverse side effects like so many anti-anxiety medications. By eating a clean and well-balanced diet that contains important nutrients like B vitamins, magnesium and omega-3s, and using essential oils for anxiety, you will notice an immediate difference in your mood, energy levels and sleep patterns.
Plus, there are many supplements and lifestyle changes that serve as natural remedies for anxiety.
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