Over the past year, I have taken on a little too much work and was taking way too much B.S. from a lot of different places in my life. This caused more stress than I ever had that even my physical health was becoming compromised. Once I saw that my body started to shut down, I decided it was time to start managing my stress.

There have been many studies that discuss some of the health risks that stress can cause on our body. First, short term and long term stress have different effects on the body. Short term stress will increase your adrenaline, heart rate, increased sensory, and other fight or flight symptoms which is why some people like myself tend to work better when procrastinating. The long-term implications are what we need to focus on.

1.       High stress is associated with a higher BMI and obesity which was also to be found more prevalent in women. No one wants to be overweight from stress which will probably stress you out more.

2.       Notice yourself getting colds and fighting off sickness when we are stressed (especially around exam time for my student readers)? This is because long time stress also effects your immune system by the stress hormones altering your immune cells and immune response.

3.       A study with medical students also showed there to be a high correlation between stress and impaired memory and depression.

4.       Another finding from this study also showed increased signs of aging from stress levels.

5.       The most difficult side effect which is the hardest to overcome is decreasing motivation. Stress hormones create bad cycles of stress hormones that increase the desire for less physical activity, increased TV, increased desire for unhealthy food, etc. This ultimately leads to decreased motivation which make it more difficult to overcome the stress in our lives.

Now that you know how horrible stress can be on your body, here are a couple easy changes you can make that have helped bring down my stress levels incredibly.

1.       The first thing that I have started doing is SAYING NO. I have always tried to make everyone else happy by making it all work, but there has to be a point where you say no. This past week, I made the choice to quit my job on the spot because it had drained the life out of me. It was a hard and risky decision, but my body could no longer physically and mentally handle the stress and the hostile environment, so I finally said no and I decided that I did not deserve this. Now I feel the best that I have in a long time. I simply realized that this is something that I am in control of and I needed to start saying no because that is a choice that I am allowed to make.

2.       This all leads in to focusing on the things that we can control. I have spent way too much time focusing on the aspects of my life that I can’t control which creates 10 times more stress. I have started to look at posts that describe the things that we can control and the things we need to let go of. I would start looking up some of these and start focusing on those aspects.

3.       One of the most important things I want to mention in managing stress is just simply taking care of our own health. Getting the right amount of sleep and nutrition plays an incredible amount on the stress hormone, cortisol, that our body creates. And making sure that we are taking time in a little self-care each day. So many people are posting about self-care these days so take the time to read their posts and do some of the little things that will be able to reduce our stress levels.

4.       My favorite and most helpful trick I have been using to manage not just my stress but also anxiety and thoughts of disappointment and negativity, I try to think of at least three things that I am grateful for. I had seen the tip on an Instagram video and it really has made a dramatic change in my mental health!

Sources: Link 1 , Link 2