Keep calm & move on

Stress is a common factor among people from various walks of life. We cannot say for sure, which strata of society will be targeted most by this culprit. There are different types of stress, the reactions to stress also vary from person to person. The body is more responsive to a perceived stress trigger rather than an actual one. 

Too stressed to notice stress

The reasons for people to be stressing in life are varied. They could be related to job, relationship, finance etc. These various kinds of challenges when handled individually seem okay, but slowly their effect starts spiralling into the psyche, creating a significant emotional, mental and physical impact.

A variety of these small seemingly insignificant instances put together can create a huge impact on our psyche and create a great deal of stress. These stressors may seem subtle and unnoticeable, but their pressure sends us catapulting into another stress zone. It is interesting to note that some people thrive on stress. They feel it as a natural state of being. It is difficult to discern the symptoms until most stress is alleviated. You could actually be too taken over by stress to even notice its subtle nuances when it is happening. We can say, “you could be too stressed to notice stress”.

Common symptoms

Although we can say stress is unique to us, yet there are many symptoms which are common to most people:

Headaches: Tension headaches are like a band around the head and are a very common symptom of stress.

Colds and flu: Due to lowering of the immune system, every time you are under stress you tend to manifest an illness. Common colds are an indication of it.

Sleep related issues: You seem to get less restorative time as sleep is deprived in a stressful state due to so many factors.

General anxiety: A feeling of anxiety pervading within most of the time means that you have too many stressors in life.

Fight or flight: While we are running in our unnatural pace, this mode gets triggered in various situations.

Feeling frustrated: A person could be feeling a sense of irritability due to difficult relationships. It actually shows less of personal happiness. Learning to calm down quickly is the key. You need a mental break for yourself. Guided imagery and visualisation usually helps in these cases.

Difficulty in decision making: Normally stress causes people to go into a state of confusion while taking decisions. The higher the stress level, the greater the confusion.

Remain aware of the stress you are experiencing and don’t let your stress level get too high. Do not allow yourself to feel tired or defeated. An optimistic attitude helps us to feel happier and more grateful and allows us to see opportunities.

Be happy and let stress fly away.

(Singh is a Chandigarh-based psychotherapist)

Here’s how...

• Reframe situation: Emotional stress is usually caused by pessimism and self sabotaging patterns. Change the way you look at things.
• Learn to say no: An overloaded schedule is one of the major reasons for stress. Sometimes we just cannot say no to people although we are aware of the limitation of our time and circumstance.
• Stop negativity: Recognising our choices, helps us feeling empowered. This helps us not to feel a victim of our circumstances.
• Address it: Pushing your stress under the carpet means that you have suppressed the issue and it will manifest in other forms.