Stress can be Funny
Stress is funny. Not ha-ha funny, but odd funny. It can motivate you to improve your life. But, it can also ruin your health and your life.
How stress affects you Depends on your quantity of stress and what kinds of stress you have. It can also depend on what kinds of stress you’ve had in your past and how you learned to deal with it.
The biological signs of stress are meant to help you physically survive. In your world, this is rarely helpful, since most stress today is psychological.
Psychological stress will stem from problems such as worry about money, family, and your health. Your body’s physical reaction to stress does not do anything for these situations. Because these kinds of situations are quite common and long-term, your body can be experiencing a constant state of stress.
This is what causes stress related health problems as varied as headaches, insomnia, trouble thinking clearly, depression and digestion problems. Health problems from stress eventually just increases the stress you already have.
It is obvious that managing and reducing your stress is a priority. There are thousands of people offering you advice on how to do this. You will need to find what works for you. What advice is most helpful for your situation and your way of doing things?
Finding the right choice for yourself is easier when you are more aware of what causes your stress and how you experience it.
It can be helpful to decide of your stress is situational or behavioral - Is your stress reaction appropriate for the current situation or does it feel blown out of proportion? Figuring this out can require some brutal honesty on your part.
If your stress is situational, what are the situations and can they dealt with in a practical way? Do you have the time and energy to get some form of exercise and a proper diet? (I know from personal experience, if I have high stress, it is when my life is too busy to work-out or get to the grocery store for planned meals. That’s when I need to slow down.)
If your stress if from behaviors, spend some time reviewing the situation. Separate what is about now and what is about the past, such as memories of past emotional events. (the stronger the emotion, the more vivid the memory. The more vivid the memory, the stronger the stress you will continue to feel from it.)
After becoming more aware of your stress, you will have a better idea of how to take care of it.
Stress from current situations is easier to manage, once you find what works for you. Stress from behaviors or past experience may need outside help to get through and may take a little longer to deal with. But, it IS possible, and IS worth doing.
If you have a behavioral stress controlling your life, seek professional help. Medication is sometimes an answer, though many people that have used medication for stress, experience side effects that are a trade-off. They sometimes say they would rather feel stressed than live in a daily fog of medication.
Explore and educate yourself about your options. Then, make use of them. When it comes to improving your life, the only poor choice is to not try.
