I think for many, stress and anxiety control a huge portion of ourselves and our days. I know for myself, overthinking is a big problem, which leads to me stressing. It's never fun having to worry about whether or not you did something right, or if you said something wrong, or if people are talking about you. There are so many things that can go wrong in your day to day life. But it's how you handle those situations that really matter. If you sit there and let what you're worrying about eat at you, then you won't be able to overcome it. Understanding what it is that is making you second guess yourself and making you stress is important, so that you may face it head on. It definitely is easier said than done, I know this to be true, but doing something for yourself to be mentally healthier is better than letting your stress control yourself. Overcoming stress and anxiety takes a combination of mental shifts, healthy habits, and practical strategies.
Identify the Source:
First, figure out what is causing your anxiety/stress. Could it be your relationship? Work? Health? Financial issues? Whatever it may be, it's easier to talk about it, or write it down to clarify deeper what about the problem is hurting you most. It's easy to think about the basis of a problem, and overthink the bad parts of the issue, which could cloud your correct judgement. According to the Mental Health Foundation, "46% reported that they ate too much or ate unhealthily due to stress." When we focus too harshly on what is negative in our lives, it can lead to unhealthy habits, which will only feed our stress and anxiety. If it helps, ask yourself, what about the problem(s) can you focus on working on, if any? If it's something that you can't control just take a deep breath, and focus on what you can. If we were to focus on every little thing that could go wrong in life, we wouldn't be able to do anything else.
Throughout your day, take into account moments when you feel most tense, or overwhelmed. Think about what happened to cause yourself to feel anxious, and maybe leave the room or area you were in and almost think of it as sort of removing yourself from the stress as well. Think about what you were doing before you felt overwhelmed, and give yourself a few minutes to take a breather. If you're stressed about a deadline, try to break the task into smaller steps. Instead of seeing it as one, major task, divide it into more manageable pieces. Focus on completing what you see as most important, then work on building it from smaller, less stressful components. If it's a report, maybe focus on the research first, then outlining, then writing and then, finally, the editing phase.
When I was still in school, I dreaded the take-home reports, or big projects. Especially if they were group projects. When the teacher would give us group assignments, most of the time they allowed for us to pick our own group. Though, most of the time I never had my friends in my classes, so I had to do those assignments alone. (I know how it sounds, okay? Don't laugh), but it always ended up okay, because I would try not to stress about it too much. I would break it into small pieces for me to, ultimately, procrastinate on, but it was easy for me to do; especially if it was last minute.
Set realistic expectations for yourself. This is super important for you to do. If you set high standards for yourself, you will end up feeling like you're letting yourself down and that you can't do what you believed to be a "simple" task. I was there, too. Trust me. I would try to make myself seem smarter, by believing I could do incredible things. You can do those things, but it takes time, and practice.
If what is making you stress is more of an intangible thing, like maybe a health problem, debt, self-doubt, fear of failure, whatever it may be, the first thing you need to understand is that your mindset about the problem will affect how it will end up. For example, if you're dealing with a health problem, your stress will only effect it negatively. Your stress will not help your debt. Your stress will only make your self-doubt, or fear of failure, worse. You'll only begin to think worse of yourself. Just as an artist is their own worst critic, you, too are your own worst critic. Think of your stress as a leech attached to your arm. It sucks away at you, feeding itself, and taking away from you. Your stress, your anxiety, your overthinking, it's taking away from you. Almost everything that you stress about, is in your head. Your mind works so fast, and almost faster at coming to it's own conclusions. I like to think that brains are delu-lu.
I have constantly struggled with overthinking, and stress. And I still almost always are overcome with it. There are days when I don't want to leave my bed, because I think the worst of myself for thinking about stuff that I do. But you have to understand that your brain is your worst enemy. There is so much evil in the world, that it gets to you without you even realizing it. And it hurts you. It's about what you do to overcome it. I love to pray, or think about what it is that lead me to my moment of weakness, and think about what it is that really brought me to that moment.
Separate yourself from what you can't control, and focus on what you can. You can control your mindset, and how you respond to the issue. You can't control how others feel, their opinions, past mistakes, the future. Focus on what you can change, and practice letting everything else go. Most of all, be kind to yourself. If you are constantly bringing yourself down, you won't be able to love yourself the way you deserve to. If you attack yourself, you leave room for stress, and overthinking; anxiety. Understand that you are in the present moment. Intangible stress can come from worrying about the future, or the past. It's as Master Oogway had told Po, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that's why they call it the present." Focus on being grounded in the moment. Do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. (Matt. 6:34)
Take Care of Your Body:
When you feel down, the last thing you want to do is get up and expose yourself to the light. But if you're feeling mentally ill, it will take a toll on your body and make you physically ill. And I don't know about you, but being sick, sucks. Which is why it's important to get up, and to exercise. Whether that be a short walk, or a stretch. Any sort of movement is important to keep your blood flow going.
Eat. Healthy. I cannot stress this enough. What you put inside your body will have a HUGE effect on your brain. When you really think about it. Your brain is always always working. It is constantly providing your body with instructions on how to keep you alive. But in order to do that, it needs fuel. That fuel, is the food you put in your body. Have you ever noticed that, when you're feeling mentally unwell, you want to eat unhealthy food, but when you eat unhealthy food, you feel physically unwell? Remember when I told you your brain is your worst enemy? It almost feels as though your brain is out to get you. According to.. many authors from the Frontiers for Young Minds (too many to list but I'll leave the links to all of my evidence below) they claim that, "Amazingly, the food you eat affects neurons, which are the major cells of the brain. In the brain, an unhealthy diet that is rich in fats and sugars causes inflammation of neurons and inhibits the formation of new neurons. This can affect the way the brain works and contribute to brain disorders like depression." And what comes from depression? Anxiety, stress, overthinking. Food is so important for our bodies, and too important for us to overlook without a second thought.
Another thing you can do for your body, is to get enough sleep. When you sleep, your body stops working as hard as it did when you were awake, because it can finally relax too. When you sleep, your body releases cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that releases to prepare you for the day, it increases when you wake up, and then declines throughout the day. When you don't sleep, the level of cortisol increases. But, Sarah, how do the levels increase when you're not asleep? Good question. When you pull an all-nighter, your body goes into it's own fight or flight mode. It thinks something is wrong, which is keeping you from getting sleep. Sleep deprivation causes the HPA(hypothalamic-pituitary-axis) to activate. This is mainly responsible for controlling your body's stress response. The HPA then tells the adrenal system to produce more cortisol. It, then, leads to higher cortisol levels throughout the day. Don't worry, I got your evidence right here, according to Sleep Centers, "Recent studies have shown that sleep deprivation or insomnia can cause the body to release more cortisol during the day, potentially to stimulate a more alert state...If you disrupt HPA functions, and the HPA axis is overly active, you also risk disrupting your sleep cycles. When the body is experiencing chronic or prolonged stress, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland are telling the adrenal system to produce more cortisol, creating an overly active HPA axis."
Accept That Things Are Out of Your Control:
Sometimes, things will be out of your control, and that's okay. I know that can be hard to be okay with, especially if you enjoy in being able to control everything, but sometimes, it just isn't for you to handle. And that's okay. It's okay to be the one who gets taken care of, and not you taking care of others. So ask for help if you need it, and you aren't a burden if you ask for someone to be an ear. Sometimes we focus too much about others, and less on ourselves. But take care of yourself. You are just as important. God bless.
Links⭐:
댓글