Life isn’t always filled with fairytale moments and perfect outcomes. There may be times where stressful situations and challenges arise and knock us down temporarily or for an extended period of time.
Someone recently said to me that life comes to you in waves. A wave will come, move you or even knock you down but then there is a period of calm and then eventually another wave hits again. I thought about this and how it shows that two events are sure in life- both challenges and wins. While we can't control when or how stress will hit, we can build resilience to navigate these waves more effectively. Resilience doesn't guarantee immunity to stress, but it helps us to adapt and recover. We can cultivate resilience by accepting change, maintaining a positive outlook, practicing mindfulness, and taking care of our bodies, especially when we are ‘in calm waters’.
When stressful times come, they can be acute or chronic. When we have deadlines to meet or find ourselves running extremely late for an important meeting, these can create short bursts of stress responses. In some cases stress may be beneficial, like when we push ourselves to finish a project just in time.
However, stress affects each person differently and includes feelings of anxiety, headaches, body pains, indigestion, nausea, loss of appetite, craving for specific foods and difficulty sleeping. With chronic stress, there can be long-term effects on our respiratory, cardiovascular, immune, muscular, digestive and central nervous systems.
What can we do when we are undergoing stressful situations?
Keep a routine
Having a schedule or at least some structure to your day can help with feeling in control and more organized. However, the schedule doesn’t need to be rigid as life happens and things change. Once you plan the day, make adjustments as needed. Keeping a routine will also help with the other two tips- getting enough sleep and re-establishing healthy eating habits.
Get adequate sleep
It’s widely known that getting enough sleep every night is essential. While the amount of sleep is definitely crucial, the quality, how well you sleep, is also equally important. Sleep allows the body to perform a number of processes which ensures that repair and restoration takes place. Chronic sleep insufficiency can have negative impacts on us, such as affecting energy levels, performance and alertness. When we are sleep-deprived, our reaction time to situations that may require us to act quickly can be terribly affected. If you’re driving and find yourself having to make an immediate stop due to a vehicle suddenly mashing brakes in front of you, if you’re not alert, situations like this can increase your risk for accidents.
As such, try to have a regular sleep schedule where the times you are awake and asleep are around the same every night. This helps the body to keep a consistent internal clock. If you’re having trouble sleeping, you can also try to make the environment suitable to help you fall asleep- dark, quiet and cool.
Get in some physical activity
Exercise releases the feel-good hormones, endorphins, whilst reducing the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. It can also help improve your mood and boost energy levels! If you’re not currently active, start off gradually and then increase the duration and intensity as you feel comfortable. Remember- any type of movement is good, and the more you move, the more easily you can rely on this outlet to manage stress!
Re-establish healthy eating habits
For some persons, stress can cause them to seek out comfort foods and snacks, whereas for others, their appetite can be reduced drastically. For chronic stress, keeping these eating patterns in the long-term can have adverse effects. Since the immune system is one of the various systems within our bodies that can be affected, it makes us more susceptible to viral illnesses. Therefore, it is important to gradually-if not immediately- adjust these habits to ensure that our bodies get a wide variety of nutrients.
Connect with family and friends
Oftentimes we try to be strong and work through situations by ourselves but it is important to recognize that you do not need to do it alone. Talk to persons who you trust to allow them to offer emotional support.
When we are going through stressful times, we are often expected to still continue to be high functioning but sometimes this is just not possible, especially when we are unable to control or manage our body’s biological and psychological responses. During these times, just remember to be kind to yourself and speak to persons around you that you trust. Sometimes, if it is affecting your performance at work or school, you may want to consider confiding in someone that you trust like a teacher or manager so you won’t be penalized for not maintaining the same standards. Additionally, you may want to consider taking some time off to regroup and work through it.
If you try various coping strategies on your own and still find that your quality of life is being affected and you’re unable to function in your regular day to day, you should reach out to a healthcare provider for professional guidance. While going to therapy may still be taboo in many Caribbean households, there is nothing wrong with seeking professional help and you should never feel ashamed for doing this.
If you’re looking for an evidence based guide to help you with practical coping strategies, please click on the link below for self-help techniques published by the World Health Organization.
Doing What Matters in Times of Stress
