How to protect yourself and your psyche from the constantly irritating factors of the surrounding city!? Sometimes I just want to yell at someone who is cutely chatting on the phone. work time a saleswoman whose line is already ending on the street; at a citizen leaning on you on a bus during rush hour (he also brazenly tramples on your feet!); or upon returning from your hectic job - to your beloved child, who managed to scatter his favorite, very expensive powder all over his rug... the site learned how to overcome your indignation and benefit from the current situation for yourself.

To know how to properly deal with the “enemy” (stress), you need to know it in person. According to a survey by VTsIOM, main reason stress of Russians are :

rising prices and high cost of goods - 35%

24% What they fear most is unemployment. The same number of respondents are concerned about crime.

18% I'm very concerned about the housing problem

a 1 6% worried about their health.

According to the same survey, women experience stress twice as often as men. Here's how our compatriots relieve stress: The most common way to relieve stress for men (34%) is drinking, for women (24%) - knitting.

Equal number of men and women (by 13%) get rid of stress by playing with children. Women also read books, take a bath, talk on the phone, cook and eat, do flowers or take pills. For men, the second place after drinking is TV. And here A very small percentage of Russians relieve stress through sex: 13% of men and 6% of women.

In general, stress is the body’s reaction to irritation. During times of stress, excess energy appears. When any danger arises, the body's muscles tense and the heartbeat and pulse increase. The body needs to throw out the accumulated “charge”. To prevent energy from becoming destructive, you need to take control of yourself in time. hands and direct its potential in a positive direction.

You can find tips on how to relax, unwind and not harm yourself in this article.

1. So, let's start with the simplest thing. Treat yourself to a cup of tea. There are so many varieties of tea that everyone can choose a drink to suit their taste. Tea can both invigorate and calm your nerves. Green tea relieves tension, mate tea tones, and ginger tea called the "elixir of love."

2. Eat bananas. Substances contained in bananas promote the production of serotonin, the hormone of joy, they improve mood and cause a feeling of well-being and calm.

Some ladies begin to eat away bad mood and stress. Never do this! Can you imagine what will happen to your figure in a month!?

3. Try better workout. Go to Gym or sign up for a section of some team sport - volleyball, for example. After some time, you will not only become more balanced, but you will also see positive transformations in your figure. Well, what if it’s sporty? Lifestyle you can’t handle it, in moments of increased stress, do at least some household chores: washing, cleaning, go to the dacha and improve your favorite area.

4. For some, the saying of one wise man may be very useful: “You cannot think well, or love well, or sleep well if you have not eaten well.” After work, sit with your significant other in a restaurant or have a Romantic dinner at home. A pleasant conversation at a beautifully set table, delicious food and a glass of wine will help lift your spirits and forget about minor troubles.

5. If a queue at a supermarket or at a bank, or a kilometer-long traffic jam gets on your nerves, try to distract yourself. After all, irritation will still not speed up the cashier’s work, and you will have time, for example, to figure out what to cook for dinner. If from nervous tension you feel squeezed, try knead the soft rubber ball with your fingers – this will relax the muscles.

10 the right ways getting rid of stress

6. Calmness and confidence are guaranteed to those who kiss often. Sweet, a passionate kiss causes a feeling of joy and satisfaction. Another, no less pleasant, way to relieve stress is sex. In addition to the self-evident “hormone of joy”, sex It will also provide you with physical relaxation. After intense love, you will have no strength left for irritation and resentment. And your loved one simply cannot refuse you such a pleasant “treatment”!

Exercises to relieve stress

7. Do something nice for yourself, for example, buy yourself a bouquet of your favorite flowers, and your mood will definitely improve. A sure-fire way to relieve stress - aromatherapy. Create an aromatic paradise around yourself: a few drops of lavender, chamomile or valerian have a calming effect. Anise, orange and basil stabilize mood, eliminate depression, sadness and anxiety.

The light aroma of verbena will relieve headaches and nausea. The scents of floral, warm wood and bright citrus oils can also be enjoyed in the bath. Add a few drops of aromatic oil to the water and enjoy the miraculous powers of nature!

8. Stress can result from mental and physical fatigue. Try a little rest and relax: close your eyes and imagine yourself in the forest or on the seashore. Think about something especially pleasant.

9. Headache as a result of stress? Do head massage: Massage your scalp as you would when washing your hair. Pass strand by strand between your fingers and pull slowly hair up. You can do this either independently or with the help of a partner.

10. Yoga can also relax, unwind and harmonize body and mind. The assertion that people who are keen on yoga are always calm and balanced is not unfounded. When practicing yoga, resistance to stress increases, endurance increases and concentration improves. Here

4 exercises to do when nervous irritation and depression:

1. Lie on your back and lift legs up, throw them behind your head. Legs should be straight, keep your heels together, and point your toes toward the floor. Pull both hands to the toes. Hold this position for 5 minutes. Then slowly lower yourself to the floor, place your feet on the floor, and hands along the body.

2. Sit on your heels and grab them with your hands. Raise your pelvis up and forward, throw back your head, pull your pelvis forward. Fix the pose and stay in this position for 3 minutes. You need to breathe slowly and deeply. Then gently lower yourself onto your heels.

3. Lie on your stomach and grab your ankles with your hands. Arch up until your spine becomes like a bow. Raise your head and hips as high as possible. Hold the pose with deep, slow breathing.

4. From a supine position, lift your legs 90°, then lift your torso and support your lower back with your hands. Rely on your elbows while doing this. Keep your torso perpendicular to the floor. Place your chin on your chest and breathe slowly and deeply.

Sometimes stress can be good. It helps us take action when we might otherwise be paralyzed by circumstances, encouraging us to overcome obstacles. But chronic stress Everyday life can be harmful to your health and psyche. Good news is that stress can be controlled with the right tools. With the right ones physical exercise And mental attitude stress can go from being an elephant in the room to a monkey on your shoulder.

Steps

Understanding Stress

Understand something about stress. Stress is physical or emotional tension or discomfort caused by any perceived threat to our well-being. While some stress can be beneficial—wedding planning, for example—other types of stress can be harmful to your overall health. In this article, we'll look at ways to curb negative stress.

Recognize the symptoms of stress. Stress can manifest itself in several ways different ways. Be alert physically and emotional signs stress. Here's how stress typically affects people:

• Physical signs:
• Voltage
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss or gain
• Sleep problems
• Headaches, back pain, stomach problems
• Non-physical signs:
• Numbness to one's own feelings
• Feeling helpless
• Anger
• Dejection or tearfulness
• Inability to concentrate
• Anxiety

1. Understand some causes of short-term stress. Short-term stress is fleeting but powerful. But just because we know it's fleeting doesn't make the stress any less immediate. Short-term stress can be caused by:

   • Quarrels
   • Feeling overwhelmed by too much work in too short a time
   • An accumulation of minor problems, such as being late or receiving a parking ticket

2. Be aware of the causes of long-term stress. Long-term stress is more common. In some cases, it can be triggered by a positive life event, such as a promotion or the birth of a child. Long-term stress is perhaps more dangerous to health because it can fester and linger for a long time. Under prolonged stress, the sympathetic autonomic nervous system (ANS) produces an almost continuous fight or retreat response, without even allowing the parasympathetic ANS to relax the body and fully recover. Here are some of the common causes of long-term stress:

   • Death of a loved one or loved one
   • Experiencing a long-term illness or caring for someone with a long-term illness
   • Financial difficulties
   • Chronic problems at work or at home

3. Don't use drugs or alcohol to cope with stress. Dealing with stress is difficult. Unfortunately, using drugs and alcohol to cope with stress does not does not affect to combat stress. In the long run, using drugs and alcohol as a means of support actually creates more problems than it solves.

   Know that stress is ultimately preventable. It may seem like there is constant stress in your life, but there are ways to keep stress from interfering with your happiness in the first place. It's more than just stress management or what you'll find below, it's stress prevention. How to do it?

   • Plan ahead. If you have bouts of short-term stress before each session, for example, then it's worth planning ahead. Start studying a couple of days earlier than usual, study when your concentration is at its peak. Plan your social commitments so that you have breaks from time to time. Planning ahead will sometimes prevent stress altogether.
   • Create a sequence of actions. Assign priorities to certain tasks and complete the high priority tasks first and complete the low priority tasks later. Subscribe to health insurance and subscription to the latest football tournament should not have equal priority. Prioritize accordingly.
   • Prepare for potentially stressful events. If you know a stressful event is on the horizon, prepare for it ruthlessly. This way, when it comes time to give a presentation, for example, you can be confident that you have everything you need to present the material effectively.

   Finding quick solutions

   1. Ask yourself: Is there really anything I can do to change the situation? Take a step back. Look from a different point of view. Sometimes we feel stressed because of situations over which we have absolutely no control, such as traffic jams. Allowing your mind to understand that it is okay to relinquish control may be all you need to overcome stress. So if you find that you can't do anything about your unexpected stressful situation, try not to worry about it.

      Learn not to worry about little things. Related to this issue, but different from it, this method is to use perspective to reduce stress. Life is full of problems - some of them big, some of them small. People who successfully ward off stress are often good at letting go of small problems and focusing on the things that really matter.

      • Remind yourself of all the good things in your life. Even in a catastrophic situation where you lose your job, there is still something to save. Remind yourself of everything you have, be it loving husband or a wife, grateful children or an attentive family, good health and security, a roof over your head and a floor under your feet, or enough money to be sure that there is enough for all your needs. Reminding yourself of all the things you have There is, will make you not worry about little things that are much simpler.
      • Remind yourself of the times when you were happiest, memories that calm you down. These memories can have a powerful relaxing effect.

   2. Combat stress with physical activity. Feeling stressed? Get on your bike and pedal away that anxiety. Put on your running shoes and run along the path. Change into your swimming trunks and take a couple of laps around the pool. Controlling stress is sometimes as easy as getting up and moving.

      Try meditation and breathing exercises. When stress occurs, the sympathetic ANS releases adrenaline and other hormones into the body to prepare it for action. Typically, the parasympathetic ANS eventually takes over and calms the body. You can help the parasympathetic ANS get to work by practicing meditation and breathing exercises.

      • Combine meditation and breathing in one exercise by doing the following actions: Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Start breathing slowly and steadily. Notice where your breath begins in your body. After a while, allow your body to breathe completely on its own, while focusing on your breathing. Notice what parts of your body your breath moves, from your arms and legs to the top of your head. If you start thinking about something other than breathing, bring your attention back to the breath and how it affects your body.

   3. Communicate. After experiencing stress, it can be tempting to try to isolate yourself from people. But practice shows that spending time in the company of loyal and friendly people can help relieve stress. These don't have to be your friends or family, although they will be wonderful motivators of communication, they can be acquaintances or just people around, say, in a cafe. Staying in company the right people can work wonders in stress management.

      Distract yourself. If your goal is to improve your concentration, then distracting yourself is probably not a good idea. good idea. But that's not your goal, is it? Distraction may be effective way Ignore stress temporarily if you end up using another way to manage it (instead of just ignoring it).

      • Distract yourself by helping someone else. Help a stranger change his tires. Help someone with some change. Help an older man cross the street. Simple good deeds can come back to you if you allow them.
      • Distract yourself with art. Beautiful images, videos, music, games - all of these can be used to distract you from a stressful event.
      • Distract yourself with a hobby. Choose what you love to do more than anything else in the world and do it. Chances are it's cool and fun and you're pretty good at it.

   4. Focus on the positive. This may sound a little childish, but it really helps some people. There is almost always a bright side to a stressful situation. On a sheet of paper, divide the situation into possible positive and negative consequences. Then do something symbolic with negative consequences, such as tearing them up or burning them. Take the positive consequences and let them reach your thinking rather than the negative ones.

      Keep it simple. Modern life can be quite complex and demanding. It's easier to feel like the world is leading us, rather than the other way around. To feel like you have more control over own decisions, try to simplify aspects of your life. Take that vacation you've been putting off for five years. Take time to relax with a warm cup of tea. Go out with your family. Try to fill your life with simple things. It's those simple things that often have the most powerful effects.

      Try managing stress with music therapy. Music therapy is a breakthrough idea with a simple concept. Combine relaxation with music to overcome stress, insanity, loss of speech, increased arterial pressure and much more. Scientists have found that music therapy helps people calm their minds and bodies with order, rhythm and predictability. Find a good place To relax, turn on relaxing music and help yourself control stress.

   Investing in long-term solutions

   Keep a stress diary. It may seem like writing down the details of your stress in a journal will be counterproductive, but it's actually great for learning how to deal with stress. Keep a journal with you at all times and write in it whenever you feel stressed. Write in your diary:

   • What caused the stress (if you're not sure, take an educated guess).
   • How you felt/are feeling both physically and emotionally.
   • How did you immediately react to stress?
   • What did you do to relieve stress?

   1. Start sharing your thoughts. Being in a stressful situation can make you feel like you are alone on an island. Fortunately, this is not the case. Sharing your thoughts and feelings with other people, be they friends, family, colleagues or acquaintances, can make you feel as if a burden has been lifted from your shoulders.

      Maintain a healthy diet. When your body is running low on fuel, or when it's running on only the wrong kind of fuel, it's hard to muster the energy to deal with stress. During this time, stress can seem especially scary and be especially draining. Therefore, it is important to eat a healthy diet consisting of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fiber and healthy fats. Here are the foods you should avoid to reduce the effects of stress:

      • High fat foods. Foods high in trans and saturated fats, such as butter, some cheeses and fast foods can drain our energy, increasing the risk of a heart attack. Not good good way combat stress.
      • Simple carbohydrates. Carbohydrates such as White bread, White rice and baked goods (cakes, muffins, etc.) are quickly processed by the body and stored as fat. Instead, stick to complex carbohydrates—foods like whole grain bread and pasta and brown rice.
      • Sugar. Sugars are simple carbohydrates that move in and out of the body quickly, meaning they give us a quick jolt and then cause a crash in energy. These interruptions can contribute to feelings of anxiety or stress.
      • Caffeine. We supplement most of our diets with caffeine from coffee, tea, soda and energy drinks. Like sugar, caffeine can cause crashes when the body experiences a sudden slump. Consumption too large quantity caffeine can also impair the body's natural sleep cycle.

   2. Set aside enough time in the day to sleep. Stress and lack of sleep can create a vicious cycle. On the one hand, the survey showed that 2/3 of respondents attribute their sleep problems to stress. On the other hand, another survey found that for every hour of sleep lost at night, you risk increasing stress by 14%. In other words, stress causes insomnia, and lack of sleep causes stress.

   3. It may also help if you share your stress-related situation with a friend who can offer an unbiased perspective.
   4. It will help if you include activities that you enjoy doing with friends.

Every person faces various problems, experiences and stress from time to time. And this is completely normal, because our life is never one hundred percent cloudless. However, if worries and stress haunt you constantly, this has a negative impact on your health and can cause the development of quite serious illnesses. Therefore, you need to learn to competently cope with such troubles and their consequences. Let's find out what to do if you are bothered by constant worries and stress, how to get rid of them and what they lead to.

By lowering the level of stress and anxiety, we can reduce the likelihood of developing many ailments, including cardiovascular diseases, damage to the nervous system, and even cancer. Stress hormones cause blood vessels to constrict and also interfere with the normal synthesis of endorphins, which are natural painkillers. In addition, such particles significantly reduce immunity.

Accordingly, reducing the level of experiences helps to normalize the state of many body systems. Thus, proper correction of stress ensures a decrease in heart rate, normalization of blood pressure and improved blood circulation. Taking certain measures can also help reduce muscle tension, eliminate joint and muscle aches, and improve sleep. Having coped with your worries, you will feel that it has become easier for you to breathe, you can concentrate normally and have stopped reacting irritably to what is happening around you. Your thoughts will become more positive, and your life, accordingly, will be more comfortable.

How to get rid of constant worries and stress?

The most important condition for successful correction of stress and anxiety is change general style life. This concerns healthy eating, rational rest and proper personal life. Try to make your diet as healthy as possible, give up fast carbohydrates, eat more fruits and vegetables. Try not to drink alcohol or snack on the go. Active consumption of ordinary water will be beneficial - one and a half to two liters per day.

It is also extremely important to get enough sleep - you need to sleep at least eight hours a day, and a couple of them - until twelve at night, so your body will really rest. Don’t overwork yourself at work, because overwork only contributes to stress and anxiety. And don’t even think about taking work home.

Experts say that emotional release often helps to cope with stress factors. For her it is worth visiting the theater, cinema or some other sport's event. You can also spend your holidays in style and arrange for yourself leisure.

Try to look at the uncomfortable stressful situations from the outside and understand once and for all that there are no hopeless situations, and any problems can be solved. Try to forget about the conflict for a while, relax, do breathing exercises, learn autogenic training.

Give yourself more free time. So for some evening you can retire from everyone, fill a warm bath and add a little essential oil and bubble bath. Light some beautiful candles and play some nice relaxing music. Find an activity that you enjoy. Go for a massage or spa treatment.

Try to shift the emphasis in your own head. Instead of chewing and thinking about the problem for a long time, switch to something else. Tell yourself that there are things in life that work out very well. And remember them often. Switch from work to family and, if necessary, vice versa.

Try to communicate with others, with some of your relatives and friends. One day or even an evening spent in a pleasant, well-known company will help you cope with worries and stress.

Another great option for dealing with such emotional troubles is going to the gym. Now you can easily find the sport that is right for you in this particular situation. Perhaps today it will be a run, maybe a trip to a boxing class, or maybe a calm swim in the pool.

What do constant worries lead to, how can they harm you?

Stress and anxiety harm the entire body. They weaken the immune system and can provoke the development of viral and bacterial diseases. Constant emotional stress cannot but affect relationships within the family, since in an irritated and bad mood we can easily offend loved ones, often without even noticing it.
Stress lowers self-esteem, as a result of which people can no longer adequately evaluate themselves and the reactions of others.

Constant worries also have a negative impact on appearance: pimples appear, bags under the eyes, etc. Due to stress, performance decreases, hair falls out, and early gray hair appears. Many people, under conditions of emotional stress, suffer from insomnia, become addicted to alcohol, or overeat.

Experiences impair memory and can provoke hormonal imbalances, infertility, impotence, heart and gastrointestinal diseases. During pregnancy, severe stress can cause miscarriage or premature birth, and during breastfeeding it can cause cessation of lactation.

Thus, it is imperative to deal with stress and anxiety, on your own or with the help of a specialist.

Women react to stress differently than men. Although the sex hormones and neurochemical processes of the fairer sex protect to some extent from stress, women are more susceptible to its physical and emotional effects. Women do not run away from stress and do not, but experience it for a long time.

How stress affects women

The natural anti-stress hormone oxytocin is produced in women during childbirth. breastfeeding and in representatives of both sexes during orgasm. So in this regard, the fair half of humanity wins. However, women need much more oxytocin than men to maintain their emotional health.

According to Dr. Paul Rosch, Vice President Emeritus International Association stress management, women are less likely to be affected by abstinence and experience more stress than men.

According to experts from the American Academy of Family Physicians, stress is an expression of the natural instinct of self-preservation. And while it may alert a woman to immediate danger, such as a fast-approaching car, long-term stress has negative effects on physical and emotional health.

Our response to stress has been carefully honed over millions of years as a defense mechanism. And this was wonderful for our ancestors, who had to run away from saber-toothed tigers. The tragedy is that today there are no tigers, but there are a lot of annoying things like traffic jams, to which our unfortunate body reacts like in the old days, earning hypertension, stroke and ulcers.

What diseases can you get due to stress?

According to the American Institute of Stress, 75–90% of initial visits to the doctor are complaints of stress-related health problems. The effects of stress can manifest in a variety of ways, from headaches to irritable bowel syndrome.

Stress comes in many forms, but if you're stressed about work, kids, neighbors, and your marriage all at the same time, it's no joke. In women, severe stress can lead to disorders menstrual cycle or, for example, to the unexpected.

Lori Heim

Here are some other body reactions to stress:

1. Eating disorders. Anorexia and bulimia are 10 times more common in women than men, and this is most likely related to stress levels. Like depression, these disorders occur due to a lack of serotonin and are often treated by increasing the production of the happy hormone.
2. Stomach ache. Stress makes you reach for unhealthy and “comfort” foods that are high in calories and easy to prepare. Another case: due to stress, you cannot eat anything at all. The main stress-related disorders are cramps, bloating, heartburn, and irritable bowel syndrome. Depending on whether you stress eat or, on the contrary, starve, you gain or lose weight.
3. Skin reactions. Stress can aggravate existing conditions and cause itchy rashes or spots.
4. Emotional disorders. Stress can lead to constant bad mood, irritability, or more serious mental problems such as depression. Women are better at hiding anger than men because they have a larger area of ​​the brain responsible for such emotions, but women are twice as likely to be affected by depression. Impact of stress on emotional condition in women can range from postpartum depression to depression during menopause.
5. Sleep problems. Women who are stressed often have trouble falling asleep or sleep too lightly. And this is especially bad because strong helps reduce Negative influence stress.
6. Difficulty concentrating. Stress makes it difficult to concentrate and cope effectively with work and home affairs. If stress is caused by problems at work, and then it interferes with work, then it becomes a vicious circle.
7. Heart diseases. Stress negatively affects the cardiovascular system, increases blood pressure, and leads to heart attacks and strokes.
8. Decreased immunity. One of the most complex physical responses to stress is a decrease in the body's ability to cope, whether from a cold or chronic illness.
9. Cancer. Some scientists believe there is a link between stress and breast and ovarian cancer. Thus, it was found that the risk of developing breast cancer was 62% higher in women who experienced more than one difficult event, such as divorce or the death of a spouse.

How to Reduce Stress Levels

A study presented at a recent meeting of the Western Psychological Association found that 25% of your happiness comes from how well you manage stress. And the most important strategy for managing stress was planning or anticipating what might upset you and using stress-reducing techniques. And these techniques are as old as time.

Start eating right

Avoid junk food and eat balanced meals. This way you will improve your physical condition, and then your emotional one. Here are some of our articles to help you:

Find time to exercise

Exercise is a phenomenal way to combat stress and depression. Research shows that exercise improves your mood and releases endorphins, natural chemicals that improve your emotional state.