What Are Some Strategies For Coping With Stress?

By Harriett Crosby


It natural for human beings to become stressed when faced with adversity or demoralising events. The same may occur when one is unable to deal with life challenges. Stress can be defined as anything that constitutes a challenge to the well being of an individual. Life that has no threats at all is akin to boredom and vanity. Nevertheless, both our physical and emotional well being becomes compromised when stress goes beyond limit. Hence the question, what are some strategies for coping with stress?

Knowledge of the negative effects of this feeling both mentally and physically empowers one to deal with the challenge upfront. Contrary to common beliefs, the effects are not just psychological. They include a world variety of other body systems and other symptoms include muscle spasms, high blood pressure, back and chest pain, obesity, just to mention a few. Mentally, affected persons may experience anger, anxiety, fatigue, restlessness, sadness, insecurity and forgetfulness.

The environment is a huge determinant of the causes of stress in different people. Individual ability to handle challenges is also very important. As a matter of fact the causes are different from one person to another; what would cause anxiety in one person may actually be harmless in another. In a few cases stress does not have any clearly identifiable cause.

Personal development is a very crucial tool in handling various pressures of life. Self-nurture raises self-esteem and makes it easier to be content in various aspects of our lives. A good number of people are carried away with pleasing other people to an extent that they forget their own individual needs. By learning to have fun and to relax frequently, it will be possible to deal with almost anything. Taking a good bath, an occasional nature walk or working out are just a few ways of relaxing.

Another crucial strategy is ensuring a healthy lifestyle. This does not only include good nourishment but also adequate sleep and keeping away from substances of abuse. As someone simply put it, going early to bed and rising early makes someone healthy, wealthy and wise. With regard to drugs, alcohol, caffeine and the so called hard drugs should be avoided at all costs as these are only temporary solutions and could be disastrous in the long run.

A different strategy should be adopted if the first one fails. Someone once said that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is insane. It is therefore sane and sensible to explore new possibilities towards overcoming life challenges. When it comes to emotions, it is important to express all your feelings instead of keeping them to yourself. Better time management and being more assertive are additional workable tips.

If you cannot change the cause of the stress, an alternative is to change oneself. In other words, develop a positive attitude towards the situation. Ensure your life goals are realistic. No human being can be perfect; one can only aim at doing their best instead of clinging to a perfectionist attitude which may prove to be a dead end.

Everything has a remedy, including stress that cannot be avoided such as loss of a loved one. With this kind of weight, it is crucial to involve trusted friends or a therapist in expressing your feelings. This to a large extent helps ease your burden. The question, what are some strategies for coping with stress? has hopefully been comprehensively answered.




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