Living in today’s fast-moving, modern world brings stress to nearly everyone. Whether it is juggling a career, marriage and children or simply just trying to keep up with a demanding school schedule, a person can become addicted to stress quite easily. While stress plays a role in keeping a person motivated, it takes a toll on the body in the form of various health problems. Three effective ways of dealing with stress are explained below.
Addicted to Stress: Time and Space
When a person is stressed, feelings can overrun common sense and lead to a knee-jerk response. Taking a timeout, whether for a few minutes or a few hours, will create an emotional space where the person can feel less pressured and more easily deal with angry emotions and being addicted to stress. A good rule of thumb is to not reply to provoking emails or baiting conversation for at least one hour.
Addicted to Stress: Laughter
The old saying “laughter is the best medicine” is also good advice for stress. When a person takes a mental step back and closely examines what is causing the upset and frustration, there may be humor in the situation.
Laughter relieves stress by increasing endorphins, the feel-good hormones, into the brain where they act as a natural release valve.
Framing a stressful situation in a humorous light may help to solve it more quickly as well and prevent the emotional short-circuit that leads to being addicted to stress.