A quick search on the internet will tell us how big a topic stress is. With the world undergoing a transition and people experiencing unemployment and loss of income, stress has become a fact of life. More and more people are reporting chronic headaches and migraines. Heart disease and high blood pressure are just two of the most common ailments affecting people today.
The cry for a stress-less life has become so loud that even medical professionals cannot ignore it. With all the solutions prescribed by different websites, finding an effective strategy to minimize (if not eliminate) stress can become difficult. But according to many professionals, the best way to fight stress is to understand it.
The first step in monitoring and managing stress is recognizing its symptoms. The easiest way to do this is by knowing our physical responses to stressors. During stressful situations, our body usually activates the “flight or fight response” – heart rate and blood pressure goes up, your palms might become sweaty as hormones (such as adrenaline and cortisol) are released into the blood stream.
In the short term, these hormones help us improve our focus, memory and creativity. Unfortunately, if the stress level exceeds a certain point, the benefits start to disappear and mental flexibility, concentration and mood all take a hit. When we fail to realize the first signs of stress, it becomes even more difficult to control it, it continues to build up making it even more difficult for us to control. We all know what happens after this. Chronic stress can even lead to serious ailments such as heart disease, hypertension and behavioral changes.
This is the reason why we need to monitor stress. Here are some of the ways to do that:
1. Pay attention to your attention. If you are having trouble maintaining and focusing your energy to do the work you found so interesting an hour ago, then you are probably on the point of negative stress. Perhaps you should take a few minutes break – walk outside to get a breath of fresh air or you can lie down to rest a while.
2. Take note of your mood. Are less optimistic about finishing the task you thought easy an hour ago? Are you getting impatient? Perhaps it’s time to do divert your attention for a few minutes so you can look at your situation with new eyes.
3. Assess your stamina. If you feel like you’re running out of steam and that your output does not show improvement then maybe it’s time to use the calming technique you learned.
4. Listen to your body. Are you having a headache? Are you starting to feel muscle pains? These are indicators of stress and perhaps you should stop what you’re doing even for just a few minutes.
For some people, the symptoms of stress are very subtle that it becomes difficult to identify them. It becomes even more difficult if you have become used to stress besting you. When this happens, one of the most powerful tools you can have is the Stress Monitor. Many stress monitors being sold today have indicators which tells you what state you are in. Through these stress monitors, you will be able to catch the early effects of stress, thereby allowing you to control it.
