Stress Symptoms and Stress Management

6th February 2021By DZ TeamSelf-Improvement
Stress Symptoms and Stress Management

Stress Symptoms and Stress Management

How to Recognize, Manage and Reduce Stress

In this article, we will be discussing stress symptoms and stress management. Hopefully, you will learn how you can recognize stress and manage it effectively! 🙂

Stress is a natural response of your body to danger; it helps you deal with emergencies. It helps in day to day challenges, provides you with the strength to prevent undesirable events, and keeps you on your toes to get stuff done.

So, stress isn’t bad. It’s just the excess of stress that causes problems.

Stress can manifest in a variety of forms. It isn’t always easy to recognize; most of the time, people don’t even know they are going through chronic stress.

The aim here is to recognize stress symptoms and address them so that they don’t turn into long-term issues.
While it may not seem like an easy task, you can manage your stress by doing a few simple things.

Let’ get started.

Recognizing, Managing and Reducing Stress

The modern lifestyle is a major source of stress. While some people manage it well (some even thrive under stressful situations), others may feel overwhelmed by it.

Long and frequent stress symptoms may be a sign that you are suffering from chronic stress. Chronic stress can lead to many complications if it not addressed in a timely fashion.

Recognizing Stress

Stress symptoms aren’t always obvious; stress can creep up on you without you even knowing about it. It starts to feel normal. This makes it quite dangerous for your mental and physical health.

So, recognizing stress symptoms is as important as diagnosing any other illness. You can only address the issue once it’s identified.

Stress overload can show its effects in various forms. Stress symptoms can be cognitive, emotional, physical, or behavioral.

Cognitive symptoms include:

  • Inability to concentrate
  • Memory issues
  • Poor judgment
  • Racing thoughts
  • Persistent negative thoughts

Behavioral symptoms include:

  • Eating excessively (or less than normal)
  • Oversleeping or sleeplessness
  • Avoiding responsibilities
  • Going in isolation
  • Using drugs for temporary relaxation
  • Nail-biting

As strange as this may sound, chronic stress can affect you physically as well. The physical stress symptoms include:

  • Body pains or aches
  • Dizziness
  • Loss of libido
  • Increased heart rate
  • Constipation (or diarrhea)

Emotional symptoms of stress, for most people, are the most difficult to deal with. While experiencing stress overload, you may encounter:

  • Depression
  • Sadness
  • Agitation (Anxiety)
  • Anger
  • Irritability
  • Loneliness

What Stresses You Out?

Stressors or the events that trigger stress vary from person to person. A stressor for some people may not be a cause of worry for others at all.

Sometimes, big events like job loss, financial issues, a loss of someone, divorce, injury, or retirement can linger on and make you distressed.

Or, if you have a sensitive personality, little things can also trigger a stress response.

Whatever the trigger may be, you can achieve effective stress management by doing a few things.

 

Stress Symptoms and Stress Management- Diet Zest Article

Manage and Reduce Stress

So, let’s discuss the ways you can achieve effective stress management.

Eat Healthy

Healthy foods don’t only keep your waistline slim, but they are also good for your mental health. A healthy diet helps in stress alleviation, keeps a good mood, and strengthens your immune system.

On the other hand, junk food can worsen your mental health.

Avoid junk food and excessive sugar even though they may appear more desirable in a stressful state.

Connect with Loved Ones and Friends

Share your feelings with the loved ones and your mates. Having a supportive social circle makes stress management so much easier.

Additionally, join a support group or an online community to connect with others. If you aren’t comfortable sharing with others, get professional help; it almost always helps.

Exercise

Exercise helps with sleep and improves mood. Getting a deep full night’s sleep is necessary to rewire your brain. You can manage stress better when you are well-rested.

Additionally, exercise releases the happy hormone, endorphin. So, working out can actually make you feel good. Do exercise regularly because it also improves cognitive function and alleviates stress symptoms.

Relax

While you can’t eliminate stress from your life, techniques like Yoga, breathing, and meditation can help reduce stress symptoms significantly.

Learn to relax now and then. You’ll be able to stay calm even under stressful situations if you practice relaxation techniques effectively.

Don’t Leave Your Hobbies

Hobbies and leisure activities are a great way to reduce stress. Time spent on the activities that you love is good for your mental health.

Studies suggest that people who have hobbies are less prone to stress.

It may not seem like such a productive thing to do but taking out time for leisure can actually boost your productivity, as you will feel and perform better.

Practice Self-Talk

What you focus on grows. When you think positive, positive things are bound to happen!

Positive self-talk pulls your attention from potential negative thoughts, helping you reduce stress and feel good.

Say positive things to yourself anytime you feel negativity looming around, and you’ll feel the difference.

Practice Gratitude

According to studies, gratitude can improve your mental health. Keeping a gratitude journal reminds you of the good things that you have in your life, pulling you away from negativity.

So, start a gratitude journal and write at least 1 thing you are grateful for every day.

Identify and Cut Out Stressors

Think about what stresses you out. It could be news, getting into an argument, excessive use of gadgets, and even coffee.

Eliminate those things and replace them with the things that relax you.

Negative thoughts can also contribute to stress; be mindful of what you think when you feel stressed. Replace your negative thoughts with positive ones.

Final Thoughts

Chronic stress can affect your mental and physical health. Knowing that you are going through chronic stress isn’t straightforward. However, it’s not that difficult either!

Recognize stress symptoms and address them before they develop into long-term issues.

Stress symptoms can be cognitive, emotional, behavioral, or physical. Remember, you can achieve stress management and alleviate these symptoms easily. Just incorporate some of the methods we have described in this article!

Make some lifestyle changes like exercising, socializing, eating healthy, taking time off, removing stressors, and practicing gratitude. You’ll see your stress levels reduced in no time!

To get you on the right track, why not join our community  - “Healing through food” movement. We'd love to have you on board! 🙂

Self-Isolation and Taking Care of Yourself

1st February 2021By DZ TeamSelf-Improvement
Self-Isolation and Taking Care of Yourself

Self-Isolation and Taking Care of Yourself

Taking Care of Yourself During Self-Isolation

Self-isolation can be daunting, particularly when no one can certainly say things will go back to normal soon.

Taking care of yourself is something that can get you through this tough time. Want to know how to do that? Continue reading.

Self-care includes practices where you take care of your mental, physical, and emotional health.

Plus, by taking care of yourself, you will not only get through this tough phase, but you will also come out on the other side an improved person.

Let’s see how taking care of yourself can make the self-isolation period easier to manage, productive, and even enjoyable.

Eat Healthy Foods

Keeping a healthy diet is crucial whether you are living in a pandemic or not. However, the current scenario calls for a little extra care.

Eat foods that are good for your mental and physical health. Foods that are rich in healthy fat, proteins, and important minerals will keep you active.

Stay Active

As much as it’s tempting to remain in bed, it’s not good for your health. Try to move as much as you can. Go for a walk, play with your pet, have a little exercise in your room.

Anything that keeps you on your feet will help you maintain a good mood by releasing happy hormones called endorphins. It’s great for stress-relief.

Go out for a walk or exercise regularly to keep your immune system strong. Also, don’t sit for long hours even if you are doing something productive; it could be dangerous for your back.

Practice Meditation

Our thoughts tend to speed up when we are anxious; it’s normal when you’re going through a self-isolation period. However, you can calm your mind through proven techniques.

Mindfulness meditation is an effective way to do that. All you need to do is “focus on your breathing”. As simple as that sounds, it may be difficult in the beginning, as your mind will try to drift off.

This is normal though. Just bring the focus back and keep doing it for 10 minutes. Doing this for 10 minutes can have a positive impact on your mental health.

Many apps can help you with it. Insight Timer is a great option if you need a recommendation. Or, you can read about mindful breathing tips here.

Not a fan of meditation? Don’t worry! There is an alternative: Just practice the art of focus in everyday life. Focus on one thing at a time.

For instance, don’t think about the future or the past while you are having a nice cup of relaxing herbal tea. Give your full attention to your lovely beverage; the sense of warmth, the taste, the rising steam. In short, always focus on the present moment.

Connect Yourself Socially

Self-isolation doesn’t mean you socially isolate yourself too. While you can’t meet your mates in person, you can always arrange virtual meetups.

Keep in touch with your family and friends through text, video chat, or the good old phone call. We are all stuck in this calamity; share your feelings with them and ask them about theirs.

Plus, there are many forums where you can find like-minded people to talk to. Explore social media groups to get yourself involved in the communities of your interest.

Limit News Intake

While keeping yourself up to date is important, over-consuming the news can be detrimental to your mental health. This is especially so when it’s about sensitive topics like the coronavirus.

Limit your news intake. Don’t consume more than you need. Social media is awash with coronavirus talk as well; limit social media scrolling in this time of self-isolation and keep yourself busy in productive and fun activities.

Keep Learning

If you have been thinking about learning something new, now is the time. It could be anything; you can learn a new language, stitching, drawing, painting, or a digital skill that you can sell online.

Sometimes, our own goals can be overwhelming. Just make sure you set achievable goals. A sense of achievement is a great way to keep yourself motivated and on track for progress.

Practice Gratitude

According to clinical studies, people who write regularly about the things they are grateful for (gratitude journal) report better overall well-being.

What you focus on grows. So, keep a gratitude journal and write in it every day about the things you are grateful for.

Gratitude will not only improve your mental health, but it’s also great for fighting physical ailments.

Read Your Favorite Book

Have a book on your desk that you’ve been wanting to read but couldn’t? Self-isolation is an ideal time for reading enthusiasts.

Sometimes, distraction can be good for you. It takes your mind off the stuff going on around you for a while.

Watch Your Favorite Movie/TV Show

If you are not into reading, there is a lot of exciting content online. Self-isolation shouldn’t be boring; turn on the TV and stream your favorite movie or TV show.

If you like jokes, you’ll get a long list of comedy TV shows that you can watch with your loved ones and share a laugh.

Play With Your Pet (Or Get One)

Pets are innocent, cute, loving, and playful. While taking care of yourself, let your pet take care of you as well. They can be a great asset in this stressful time.

It’s normal to get anxious, stressed-out, and even depressed during self-isolation. Pets are a great way to alleviate those feelings. So, spend time with your pet or get one if you can.

Final Thoughts

Self-isolation can be tough, but thankfully, small steps in the right direction can make it easier. In fact, you can take it as an opportunity to better yourself.

You don’t have to be socially isolated either. Fortunately, in this digital age, you have everything you need to keep in touch with your loved ones all the time.

Stay active, read your favorite books, watch your favorite content, play with your pet, learn something new, practice meditation and gratitude, and limit your news intake. You’ll see positive changes in your life in no time.

Why not join our community  - “Healing through food” movement. We'd be delighted to have you! 🙂