How Stress Management Can Improve Women’s Health
What happens when you get really stressed? If you’re like most of us, you start feeling sick. You get knots in your stomach and you have trouble concentrating. Your palms get sweaty and you don’t quite feel like yourself. Acute stress has obvious symptoms that occur suddenly. Chronic stress is a different story. It also has symptoms, but they develop over time, and it can be difficult to link stress as their source.
Symptoms of chronic stress
Chronic stress is associated with a myriad of symptoms. You may not even realize that your symptoms are due to stress, but if you’re suffering from any of the following, chronic stress is a potential culprit.
- Acne
- Headaches
- Chronic pain
- Frequent illness
- Fatigue and insomnia
- Sexual dysfunction
- Digestive issues
- Appetite changes
- Depression
- Sweating
- Rapid heartbeat
As you can see, stress can have a serious impact on your mental and physical health. This is why it’s crucial to find healthy ways to manage and relieve stress.
Unfortunately, many women have unhealthy stress management techniques that can worsen the health implications and cause even bigger issues.
Unhealthy stress management
If you “need” a glass of wine or a piece of chocolate cake after a particularly stressful day, you could probably benefit from learning healthier coping mechanisms. That glass of wine or Xanax can quickly lead to drug and alcohol abuse. And that piece of chocolate cake can lead to diabetes and obesity.
All of these conditions come with their own set of issues, but they will inevitably exacerbate any anxiety issues you may be having.
Healthy stress management techniques
Most of us grow up to mimic our parent’s stress management techniques, but it’s time to break the unhealthy cycle. Instead of turning to drugs, alcohol or food, consider adopting any of the following stress management techniques.
- Exercise – If this sounds easy, that’s because it is. All you really need is 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily to help combat stress and see cardiovascular benefits. It gets better: That 30 minutes of exercise can be as simple as walking.
- Meditation – Meditation has been proven to have powerful stress-relieving properties. And meditation is probably easier to adopt than you think. Start by sitting for 5 minutes in a quiet room. Concentrate on your breaths, but don’t try to control them. As thoughts enter your mind, let them go. Don’t follow them. It may feel unnatural at first, but it gets much easier with practice. Once you feel good about your 5-minute meditations, you can increase it by 5-minute increments until you reach 30 minutes.
- Counseling – If you are feeling especially stressed, you may find it helpful to talk to someone regularly. This person can be a friend or a professional counselor, whatever you’re most comfortable with. Sometimes, talking about your problems can help alleviate them.
- Laughter – As they say, laughter is the best medicine. Laughter releases two feel-good brain chemicals that can help combat stress: Endorphins and dopamine. It’s impossible to feel stressed while you’re laughing. Try to gift yourself with a good belly laugh a few times a week. You may get this by watching a comedian, hanging out with a best friend or getting out there and doing something silly. If you’re really struggling to laugh, try out one of those trampoline parks. Even in your grumpiest of times, the child in you will help you overcome the stress.
- Get out into nature – Most of our stresses are linked to work and the modern world. Getting out into nature can help ground you and help you realize what’s important in life. What if the worst case scenario comes true? In most cases, that tree will still be standing and so will you. Take a deep breath in the great outdoors and you’re likely to start feeling better right away.
If you want to avoid the negative impacts that stress can have on your life, try to find healthy outlets for the stress in your life. We all have stress, and most of it can’t be avoided. Our reactions are the only thing we can control.
