Having a pet may help reduce stress and improve your mood. Human touch may have a calming effect and help you better cope with stress. Another way to take control of your stress is to stay on top of your priorities and avoid procrastinating when you aren’t feeling stressed. Not all stressors are within your control, but some are. Putting too much on your plate may increase your stress load and limit the amount of time you can spend on self-care. Consuming too much may worsen anxiety, according to a 2021 review of literature on the subject.
Ways to Cope with Chronic Stress
- It’s also true that you may be more likely to procrastinate in times of stress as a coping mechanism.
- For example, if stress keeps you up at night, the solution may be as easy as removing the TV and computer from your bedroom and letting your mind wind down before bed.
- Aerobic exercise has been shown to release endorphins — natural substances that help you feel better and maintain a positive attitude.
- And that could help you to feel better equipped to face the challenges ahead.
Between everyday work stress to maintaining relationships, navigating social engagements and wrangling the kids stress, there’s more than enough stress to go around. Luckily, there are ways to ease your stress levels if you set your mind to it. Ultimately, we hope these strategies will benefit both you and your clients and lead to better stress management, healthy ways to cope with stress as improved stress management will lead to happier, healthier lifestyles. Contrary to unhealthy coping, healthy coping mechanisms may effectively mitigate the nature and impact of these psychological responses (Gurvich et al., 2021). Conversely, adaptive coping strategies are aligned with the stressor and aim to reduce emotional stress.
State–Trait Anxiety Inventory
For example, some people tend to have higher anxiety in general that is not limited to a specific event. If new stressors are making it hard for you to cope or if self-care measures aren’t relieving your stress, you may want to think about therapy or counseling. Therapy also may be a good idea if you feel overwhelmed or trapped.
Practice Yoga
- Long-term stress can raise your blood pressure and your blood glucose and lead to depression.
- If you experience chronic stress, your autonomic nervous system will be overactive, which is likely to damage your body.
- This theory developed from the starting point that people feel stressed when they do not think they have the necessary resources to combat stress.
If it’s tied to a more long-term problem you can’t immediately solve, try another one of the quick relaxer tips below. It’s OK to say “no” to demands on your time and energy that’ll place too much stress on you. You don’t always have to meet the expectations of others.
Meet your blood glucose goal if you have diabetes
Certain habits can promote resilience to stress and increase overall wellness. For example, those who exercise or meditate regularly tend to become less stressed in the face of a difficult challenge. Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change. Finding a coping solution that works for you, especially one that can be incorporated into the work environment, is a great way to improve your mental health. This section lists several stress-management activities that can be used to cope with stress. Stress can have a significant impact on both our physical and mental wellbeing.
Healthy Problem-Focused Coping Skills
It can curl up inside you and grow like a Chia Pet until all the sprouts have grown out of control. Sometimes stress can manifest into physical symptoms, like temporary hives, one-day headaches, or long-term weight gain. If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others overcome adversity, this collection contains 17 validated resilience and coping exercises.
Dietitians can help you by creating an eating plan based on how your kidneys are doing. “Renal dietitians” often work in dialysis centers and are specially trained to work with people with kidney failure. The A1C goal for many people with diabetes is below 7 percent.
