From the dawn of time to today’s pandemic, stress has always been with us. Get to know the symptoms, health issues and some potential solutions.
The ‘flight or fight’ or stress response is a useful evolutionary development that helps increase our chances of survival in challenging situations. Although few of us live under constant threat of harm, external threats do still exist and can cause this automatic stress response and when this happens, your body releases adrenaline, giving an essential surge of energy.
You may be able to recall times in your life when this has led to beneficial outcomes, perhaps even motivating you to action. Stress can mean different things to different people, so it’s helpful to understand what we actually mean on a physiological and psychological level.
Recognise the symptoms
A good place to start is to identify the symptoms. For example, you might experience physical symptoms, such as tension in your muscles, or a headache. You may feel dizzy or sick and your heart might beat faster to the extent that you notice it. Psychologically, you might find that you have trouble making decisions and feel pressured and worried all the time. You might even feel overwhelmed by everyday life.
These feelings can spill over into your behaviour and habits, which might alter on account of your level of stress. So you might find that you can’t sleep, or your eating, drinking or smoking habits change to the extent you, your friends or your family begin to notice.
Stress factors and health issues
In some situations, stress may appear as a reaction to a specific event such as death of a loved one and whilst very intense at the time, it may resolve with time. However, if you're under a lot of pressure for a lot of the time, for example if your day-to-day life is challenging, you may start to experience chronic stress.
In such instances, sufferers can then experience any of a range of health problems, including skin conditions, gastrointestinal issues, hypertension and susceptibility to infections. So although stress itself isn’t a disease or an illness, it can certainly make you ill. If you find yourself in this situation, now’s the time to act and get back to a place where you feel at ease with yourself again. But where do you start?
Five ways to help to manage stress
Acting now can empower you to get on top of the situation, and there are plenty of remedies. The NHS recommends several different courses of action and we’ve highlighted five simple ways to help alleviate stress.
- More exercise. For reducing stress, any type of activity can be good for you. It doesn't need to be structured activites like exercise classes or following a gym routine - just getting outdoors for a walk in your local area could help you burn off nervous energy.
- Better time management. For many people, competing priorities can spell danger. Life might feel overwhelming with a To-Do list as long as your arm. By splitting up big tasks into smaller, more manageable ones, you might find you are more motivated. You can also plan ahead - making lists for the day can give you a set of priorities to tick-off as they are achieved, adding value and order to your day.
- Breathe easy. You’ve been breathing since you first came into this world. But can you turn your most natural activity into a stress-relieving solution? Here are some new ways of doing just that.
- Peer support. As well as trusted family, friends and colleagues, talking directly to other people in the same situation as you can help. You likely won’t need a referral from your GP to access some of the community services listed here.
- Getting help. If you're starting to feel overwhelmed or experiencing symptoms like headaches, your pulse racing, changes to sleeping and eating habits, mood changes or panic attacks, these are signs it might be time to book an appointment with your GP or a mental health professional.
