Stress is a common physiological and psychological response to the challenges and demands that life throws our way. It can affect us both physically and mentally, often leaving us feeling overwhelmed or exhausted.
From an evolutionary perspective, stress played a key role in helping humans survive. It triggered a ‘fight-or-flight’ response that made our ancestors more alert and ready to escape life-threatening dangers like being chased by a tiger. This survival mechanism still exists within us today. While it can be useful in urgent or high-pressure situations, if left unchecked, stress can become unhelpful or even harmful to our health and wellbeing.
Nowadays, we may not face wild animals, but our bodies can still respond as if we’re in danger when we experience modern stressors like traffic jams, tight deadlines, or a looming assignment. These repeated triggers can take a toll on our mental and physical health, especially when stress is ongoing or poorly managed.
That’s why building the skills to manage stress effectively is essential for maintaining a healthy and balanced life. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, here are some helpful tips to guide you in managing everyday stress and protecting your overall well being:
1. Identifying Sources of the stress
A stressor is a challenge in our social or physical environment that tests our ability to cope and adapt. The challenge(s) can come from many different situations, each with unique and common effects on our minds and bodies. People respond to stressors differently, and those individual differences can change how much stress affects them. Identifying where your stress is coming from is an important first step to managing it. While major stressors (like changing jobs, moving or experiencing a parental divorce, etc.) can be easy to identify, chronic and everyday sources of stress can be more tricky to identify. It may seem like your school assignments are causing you stress, but maybe it is actually procrastination that is the cause of that stress.
Keeping a stress journal can help you identify frequent stressors in your life and understand patterns in how you respond to them . This could help you uncover common themes among your stressful experiences that you may have otherwise overlooked. In each stress journal entry, you could answer the following prompts:
- What may the stressor (cause of stress) be? (make a guess if unsure)
- How do I feel: physically and emotionally?
- How have I responded to the stressor? Did it reduce the stress?
- How can I prepare myself or respond better to similar stressors in the future?
2. Understanding How Stress Affects Your Body, Mood, and Behaviour
Stress can impact different aspects of your wellbeing — showing up in ways that influence your body, mood, and behaviour. The following table highlights the common ways stress manifests. Learning about these signs can help you take proactive steps to manage stress effectively before it causes irreversible harm.
3. Put on your problem-solving hat
If the situation can be altered in some way to reduce your stress, it would be worth trying to do so with some problem-solving.
- Is your stress coming from the environment (e.g., news, traffic)? → Try to change your environment to reduce the stress (e.g., turning off the TV, disabling automatic news notifications, taking a longer but less-travelled route)
- Is your stress related to what you have to do for the day? → Write down a to-do list, prioritise three tasks, and break down big tasks down into manageable steps. You also don’t have to do it all by yourself; are there any tasks that you could delegate to others or have others help you deal with?
- Is your stress related to feeling like you’re constantly working/studying/focused on one thing? → Implement energy and time management techniques to create a more balanced lifestyle. Focusing all your energy and time on study or work is a recipe for burnout. Creating a schedule that includes not only time for study or work, but also time for family life, social activities, solitary pursuits/hobbies, daily duties, and off-time is crucial for wellbeing.
- Don’t know what to do? → Ask a friend, family or people you trust for their perspective on the situation. Research online to gather information. List the pros and cons to each possible solution for the situation and evaluate which solution may result in the most positive outcome.
Quick tip: When you can’t control the situation, Control how you can respond
Sometimes, there is simply not much we can do to change the stressor. In these situations, instead of dwelling on the losses of the situation, you can turn the focus onto how you respond to the stressor.
Improving how you respond to the stressor could include:
- Changing your perspective → Could the stressor be seen as an opportunity for something positive?
Maybe being stuck in traffic could be an opportunity for you to pause, reflect, or listen to an interesting podcast or audiobook. Maybe someone’s response to your situation could tell you something important about your relationship with that individual. - Relieving stress in the moment → One way to do this could be through deep breathing and diverting your attention to your senses (What are 5 things you can see, hear and feel/touch?)
- Engaging in enjoyable activities
This can not only stop you from dwelling on stressors for some time, it can also help you see opportunities in stressful situations. If you enjoy reading, watching movies or pursuing creative projects.
4. Maintain a healthy lifestyle
- Get moving → Being active can be a big stress reliever, even if it can feel like the last thing you want to do in stressful situations. This is because physical activity helps to release endorphins, also known as the “feel-good” hormones, and can help to take your mind away from the stressor.
- Consume nutritious food → Nutrition is related to our stress and emotional experiences.. This is why being conscious of what we consume can make a huge impact on how we feel and manage stress. Did you know that consuming fatty fish can not only strengthen your heart health, but also boost your mood by reducing your risk of depression and possibly anxiety too?
- Reducing caffeine and sugar → The short-lived “highs” of caffeine and sugar often leads to a crash in mood and energy, making you prone to feeling more stressed than you would be without as much of those substances. Try switching to decaf coffee or sugar-free treats to help keep your mood and energy levels more stable throughout the day.
- Avoid alcohol, cigarettes and drugs → The temporary relief from stress that alcohol and drugs can induce actually makes dealing with the stress harder in the long-term and also puts you at a high risk of developing harmful addictions or other chronic illnesses.
- Getting enough sleep → Tiredness caused by a lack of sleep can lead to irrational thinking, which would likely increase your stress levels.
5. Connect with others
Building and maintaining a supportive social network plays a vital role in managing stress. Surrounding yourself with people who make you feel safe, understood, and valued can increase your resilience and reduce your risk of developing anxiety and depression. While talking to someone won’t always solve the problem, being heard and supported can make a huge difference in how you feel.
