The impact of stress on your Health and Wellbeing
In 2019 stress is a part and parcel of our daily lives, whether it’s a demanding full-time job, juggling work and social commitments, managing health issues and injuries or just generally feeling burnt out, it can become increasingly difficult to manage. While stress can make us want to pull our hair out, it’s important to know that you’re not alone and there are various strategies you can implement to improve your ability to handle stress.
Is all Stress Bad for our Health?
It’s important to acknowledge that not all stress is inherently negative, with the right amount of stress being helpful in boosting our energy levels, living a meaningful life and facilitating long term happiness. It’s only when stress becomes unmanageable that it can negatively impact our health and impair our ability to function normally.
Factors that Indicate you are not handling Stress
Factors that may indicate you are not handling stress are:
- When it socially isolates you from others
- When you feel inadequate
- When you feel meaningless
How can you Manage Daily Stress?
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Shift the focus
By shifting your perspective during stressful situations by viewing it as a normal part of life and viewing as a challenge or opportunity for personal growth – we are far more adaptable to stress and our ability to cope is enhanced.
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Connect with people
By connecting with friends and family and being open with others during periods of elevated stress, it provides us with necessary reassurance and helps us reframe our situation. We are also inherently social creatures and socialising is proven to improve our mood, happiness and long-term wellbeing.
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Prioritise Sleep
Sleep is a foundational pillar of optimal health and functioning – both physical and mental. Sleeping a minimum of 7 hours per night improves hormone functioning, general recovery and also improves mood and mental health. A recent study compared one group of individuals who were instructed to sleep a normal 7-8 hours with a sleep deprived group (3-4 hours) over a period of two weeks. The sleep deprived group were far more sensitive to stress, negative emotion and were also more sensitive to pain than the sleepy heads – highlighting the importance of a good nights sleep on managing stress.
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Regular Exercise
Another pillar of health and functioning, routine physical activity has been shown to reduce stress, improve mental health, reduce risk of chronic health conditions and improve sense of body image amongst numerous additional positive effects. Simply engaging in routine physical activity three to four days per week can have a significant effect on improving mental and physical health and reducing stress.
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Mindfulness and meditation
Mindfulness and meditation has been a practice by numerous cultures for thousands of years and has recently hit the western world by storm – and for good reason. Just 10 minutes of meditation a day can have a positive influence on mood and can reduce stress. The relaxed breathing aspect of meditation helps to calm the nervous system and bring the body back into a more relaxed “rest and digest” state as opposed to fight or flight. Meditation is also thought to improve peoples perspective to stress and its causes, which may be helpful in reducing and better managing stress.
AT TPM a passion of ours is whole body health and we believe that our multidiscipline clinic can assist reduce stress through several avenues.
- Exercise Programs with our Exercise Physiologist
- Massage for stressed muscles and relaxation
- Pilates for combining mindfulness with Exercise
- Physiotherapy to assist with Pain and Injury management
- Chiropractic to address headaches, neck pain and back pain associated with excess stress
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If you are feeling overwhelmed or struggling with an aspect in your life, there are an abundance of helplines available.
