Stress and Anxiety, both are at the fundamental level just Emotions. Now, what are emotions you’d ask? Emotions are basically biochemical signals generated by our brain and nervous system at the time of an emergency. Now, the definition of emergency may vary from person to person but ultimately the state at which your mind and soul don’t feel aligned is precisely what triggers this emotional channel.
Everybody has a different coping mechanism, some deal with it by avoiding it, some deal with it by concentrating on something else and some people just can’t cope with their emotions and let their emotions drive them in whatever direction. Often time autopilot leads to disaster in the form of worst mental breakdowns.
Before understanding the science of dealing with emotions, it is important to understand What they are exactly? How to identify them in times of actual crisis? How to control them and what not to do if you actually want to control them. This blog will help you with all these questions on your own, Just keep reading.
What is Stress?
Stress is defined as the emotional imbalance between the internal and external environment.
What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is the feeling of nervousness in anticipation of a future event.
Before diving deep into the mechanism of Stress and Anxiety, it is my utmost responsibility to debunk the most common myths associated with it.
It Impairs the immune system No it doesn’t.
Stress both mental and physical (often done in the form of exercise) is good for your overall health. In fact, there are a number of research done on the subject and one thing that most of the studies had in common was that both short-term and medium-term stress leads to improved brain function and life longevity.
In simpler terms, it means that stress not only improves the capacity of your brain, but you will live longer too if you go through some form of stress in your day-to-day life. It was never wrong when our ancestors said difficult time makes you stronger. It’s only the long-term continuous stress that takes a toll on your health. Our Nervous system is connected with our body, whatever happens on the outside reflects on the inside environment.
Types of Stress, Good or bad stress. Stress can be physiological and psychological.
The system for stress is very simple and generic, it gives us the advantage of controlling it.
Our brain treats all sorts of stress through the mechanism called the Stress response.
Cold weather or an exam schedule with a tight sleep cycle will trigger the stress response.
Stress activates a part of our nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system.
Stress response Increases blood flow to the whole body, causing muscle tension. You will often feel your grip tightening, your jaw clenching and your facial muscles contracting.
It Causes a response in the body, triggers the feeling to do something, or oftentimes to say something.
Although the urge is automatic, how we react is pretty much in our control. We can choose the way we respond to the signals of our brain. One great tip I learned from Jocko Willink is that You need to learn to work with that agitation, not everything is going to work out the way you want.
The Best tool to reduce stress quickly by alerting the autonomous nervous system.
The worst tool to reduce stress, telling someone to CALM DOWN, or telling yourself to calm down. It will trigger the stress response even more.
Tip #1 - Whole Body relaxation & Breathing
Correct breathing calms us down, the connection between the brain and the breathing machine which is the lungs and heart is the diaphragm which is used by the parasympathetic nervous system.
Deep Breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system tricking the brain into thinking that it is time for rest. The two most common breathing practices supported by research studies are Physiological sigh and Vim Hoff breathing.
The breathing pattern may be slightly different, however, the processes mentioned below would be an ideal representation of both.
You start off with a deep inhale, followed by an even deeper inhale from your nose and a fast exhale through your mouth.
Repeat the process until you feel better, ideally for 2-3 minutes while seated comfortably.
Tip #2 - Exercise therapy
Exercise is known to have physical benefits but the mental benefits are hardly ever talked about. Exercise improves both physical and mental health in patients with depression, it gives a sense of accomplishment and improves body image issues which have their own effect on mental health(1).
Research suggests that exercise in the form of therapy may have a potential impact on mood fluctuations and stress management in patients with depression and anxiety.
The form of exercise is totally subjective, do something you love and prefer or used to do as a child. The goal is to make it a part of your routine again, not forcing it.
Exercise also reduces our sensitivity toward stress and makes our minds more resilient in the longer run(2).
Tip #3 - Music therapy
Music has a calming effect whether we admit it or not, the sort of music we listen to on day to day basis really has a long-term impact on our mood and personality (3), and there are a ton of research studies to prove that. Soft music induces relaxation, decreases stress and anxiety, and helps lift up our overall mood (4).
The type of music you choose is again up to you, it is, however, worth mentioning that rock music or any other sort of loud music won’t be ideal in this case. Your goal is to reduce stress, those rock-hard metal soundtracks have the exact opposite effect. So, try and avoid that, anything soothing while unwinding late at night or while commuting to or from work would be great.
Tip #4 - Eye therapy/ Zooming out
Changing the perspective by simply changing the eye’s focal point is the easiest way to deal with stress. The practice of zooming out and expanding your attention in order to work backward toward your problem is seen in history books by various religions(5). When you become this tiny little creature in this huge magnanimous universe the worries you feel seem even smaller.
Go out, take a walk outside, or visit a rooftop and look at your surroundings the sky, the trees and the sun, the moon, whatever it is and try and look beyond that. This one practice will help you tremendously.
Tip #5 - Social connections
It is no surprise that social connection with friends and family help mitigate the negative effects of stress, no matter how hard life gets if you have that social support, someone you can talk to and pour your heart out, the amount of stress and anxiety will reduce. Social connections especially meaningful social connections can help reduce the symptoms of depression and PTSD.
Conclusion
So, go do some Yoga, listen to Chopin, zoom out, grab your go-to person and pour your heart out, call that old friend you haven’t been in touch with, or go see a relative you haven’t seen in a while. Make it a habit to talk to one close person each day your stress and anxiety will significantly diminish over time.
References 1. Knapen J, Vancampfort D, Moriën Y, Marchal Y. Exercise therapy improves both mental and physical health in patients with major depression. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2014 Oct 24;37(16):1490–5. 2. Salmon P. Effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to stress. Clinical Psychology Review [Internet]. 2001 Feb;21(1):33–61. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027273589900032X 3. Umbrello M, Sorrenti T, Mistraletti G, Formenti P, Chiumello D, Terzoni S. Music therapy reduces stress and anxiety in critically ill patients: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Minerva Anestesiologica. 2019 Jul;85(8) 4. Chang M-Y, Chen C-H, Huang K-F. Effects of music therapy on psychological health of women during pregnancy. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2008 Oct;17(19):2580–7. 5. Oded Y. Integrating Mindfulness and Biofeedback in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Biofeedback. 2018 Jun 1;46(2):37–47.
Comments