How do you live with stress? First off, what is stress, and is it bad? Stress can mean a lot of things, it can be the amount of tension that you can put on a cable of a suspension bridge, or it can be a speaker emphasizing a certain point. Most of us think of this definition of stress though. Stress; is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. Stress can also be part of life triggering adrenaline and letting us know something may be wrong. But how much stress is too much? The answer to that, like most other questions dealing with mental health, is not so easy to define.
When we are thinking about stress, one of the greatest factors in determining how it affects the individual is the individual’s history, have they developed resilience to stress? Stress is just a part of life and can come from everything from a flat tire making us late for work to not having enough money to pay our rent. If a person, through no fault of their own, has never really had to work through adversity and they are late turning in an assignment, this could become a highly stressful situation for them. A person who has been through a high level of adversity in their life may find themselves at a much lower stress level in this situation, but if they had to do public speaking to a large group, they could be frozen in fear from the stress.
Stress has also been linked to many physical issues, from physical pain in the body, nausea, weight gain, and even erectile dysfunction in some cases. These bodily responses are not uncommon, but for some can be debilitating. It’s important to remember not to compare your level of stress in life to that of someone else, but if you are having difficulties working through stressful issues there are steps you can take. Some of the most common are deep breathing exercises or other tools that can help you to become grounded, or focused. This is important because if you are thinking clearly, you have a better chance of finding a solution, or a different way of looking at the stressful incident that works for you.
If you are having difficulty with stressful situations and need some tools reach out, I’ll work to help you find some skills that will work right for you and your life to help you move forward. Call me at (469) 315-6314, or email bill@milestonefamilycounseling.com. We will work on it together.