If your answer is YES, you are not alone. Everyone feels stressed from time to time. Some people, though, say that they feel very stressed most of the time. In fact, 21% of Canadians aged 12 and older rated their life stress as quite a bit or extremely stressful. While stress isn’t always bad and can even be helpful, too much stress can affect your well-being negatively. Top What causes stress?Stress comes up when you feel like the demands of a situation or event are too much to manage. It can come up with everyday situations, such as:
Stress can also come up in response to a specific event or situation. Both positive and negative life events can be stressful, especially those that involve major changes to your regular routines. Here are some examples:
As stress is based on the way you see and react to a situation or event, the events or situations that cause stress are different for different people. How you feel when issues come up can also affect the way you experience stress. If you feel well and confident in your ability to manage challenges, a problem may not seem very stressful. However, if you already feel stressed or overwhelmed, the same problem may add to your existing stress and feel very overwhelming. Are you experiencing signs of stress?Stress can affect your body, your behaviours, your feelings and your thoughts. Here are common signs of stress: Changes in your body
Top Why does stress make me feel so awful?Your body is designed to react to stress in ways that protect you from threats, such as predators. Although facing life-threatening predators is not common today, you do have many daily demands, such as paying bills, working, and taking care of family. Your body treats these demands as threats and the fight-flight-freeze response is activated in your body. At times, stress can have a negative effect on the basic dimensions of mental health (your thoughts, emotions, behaviours and body reactions). Stress may affect your health if you use unhealthy behaviours to cope. The negative effects of stress on your wellness can become a source of stress in and of themselves. Just talk to anyone who isn’t sleeping well due to stress! For more information about the dimensions of mental health that can be influenced by stress, see Wellness Module 1: Mental Health Matters at www.heretohelp.bc.ca. Top Can stress be a good thing?Sometimes, stress can have a positive effect on your thoughts, emotions, behaviours and body reactions. Stress is more likely to result in positive outcomes if you see it as a challenge or something you can strive to overcome. It can help motivate you to work hard. Stress can also lead to positive effects if you respond with healthy behaviours that improve your situation. You can experience the positive effects of stress even in the face of some negative effects. Top Stress and illnessYour stress levels and your coping skills can also influence your physical health. Higher levels of stress can increase the risk of illness and disease. For example, you're more likely to catch a cold or the flu when you're coping with high levels of stress. There is also evidence that stress can aggravate disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, insulin-dependent diabetes, multiple sclerosis and more. Chronic stress also has a negative impact on your physical health. Some of the connections between stress and illness are determined by the ways you cope with stress. Top Coping with stressThere is no right or wrong way to cope with stress. What works for one person may not work for another, and what works in one situation may not work in another situation. Below, you will find common ways to cope with stress and maintain wellness.
Top If you feel like you can't cope, try these options
Top Try these helpful numbers
Top Stress survey: What types of stress are you coping with?Problem solving the controllable aspects of a stressful situation is one of the most effective ways to lower our stress. Identifying the problem and breaking it down into manageable chunks is the first step in creating a plan of action. You can use this survey to help identify the different sources of stress in your life, and to track your progress in coping with them in a healthy way. Check the boxes beside the sentences you feel apply to you, then brainstorm strategies for coping with or solving each problem. See the Coping with Stress section of this wellness module for more information and tips on how to ensure your coping choices lead to reductions in stress and a healthier, more fulfilling life for you and your loved ones. Try taking the survey once a month to track patterns in your behaviour—and the positive and negative ways you manage stress. Adapted from: Holmes and Rahe, 1967; Wheaton, 1997. About the authorsCanadian Mental Health Association BC Division helps people access the community resources they need to maintain and improve mental health, build resilience, and support recovery from mental illness. CMHA BC has served BC for over 60 years. Anxiety Canada promotes awareness of anxiety disorders and increases access to proven resources. Visit www.anxietycanada.com. © 2016 | Back to top | Download PDF | Photocopy-friendly PDF | More Wellness Modules | More info sheetsWhat are the 4 types of stress management?Managing Time Stress.. Managing Anticipatory Stress.. Managing Situational Stress.. Managing Encounter Stress.. What are the top 5 ways to reduce stress?5 tips to manage stress. Use guided meditation. Guided meditation is a great way to distract yourself from the stress of day-to-day life. ... . Practice deep breathing. ... . Maintain physical exercise and good nutrition. ... . Manage social media time. ... . Connect with others.. What are the 3 types of stress?The 3 types of stress. Acute stress.. Episodic acute stress.. Chronic stress.. Which of the following help reduce stress?Breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, and yoga can help relieve stress.
|