Stress Management Project

Stress management project

“Stress is normal psychological and physical reaction to the demand of life. A small amount of stress can be good, motivating to perform well. But multiple challenges daily, such as sitting in traffic, meeting deadlines and paying bills, can push the ability to cope”. (Mayo Clinic Staff 2017) Our brain is wired with an alarm system for our protection. When brain perceives a threat, body release hormones that increase heart rate and raise blood pressure. This called “fight or flight” is a response to deal with the threat. After threat is gone, body should return in a normal state. Unfortunately, modern life style has made some people to operate high alert, and never shut down or reset the alarm system. Over long run, this chronic stress can lead to health problems. So it is important not to let stress damages health, relationships, or quality of life. Don’t wait until stress ruin our life, start practice stress management techniques that can improve the mental health, and add quality in everyday life. According to Md. Diaz (2016) “we know that feeling stress is not a sign of personal weakness or something that may be wrong with any of us, we need to implement consistent changes that will help us better cope with potential stressful situations”.

The challenges of everyday life make stress management necessary for every one. Monitoring stress is process, when people identifying the triggers that make the person angry, tense, and irritable. Sometime people have health issues like, headaches or upset stomach. Once triggers are identified, we should think about the strategies to manage the stress. There are many way that a person with stress can manage and use strategies for disengagement from typical thinking or emotional responses, and modify the approach by doing breathing, use positive reframing, find time to turn electronics off, get a good night’s for sleep, meditate for 10 minutes a day, and make time to socialize.

If we find ourselves being angry, frustrated, or pessimistic, we must take a pause and reevaluate what triggers such a stress response. Continue in this path of emotions will carry us into negative spiral that will only increase stress levels. So take pause, and breathe taking simple but continuous breaths. Md. Diaz recommends starting counting backward from 100 by skipping in 5s. Example: 100-95-90-85-80-75, etc. We don’t have to reach zero, but should stop when we regain a sense of calm.

Use of positive reframing is powerful tool to change negative thoughts into positive ones. Sometimes, we find ourselves in spiral negativity when we picture a pessimistic future outcome. These negative emotions consume energy, and we find ourselves spreading it out to people around us. Hence, if we find ourselves heading into negativity, we must stop it, and reframe