Stress Management: Coping The Inevitable

Human is equipped with a fight or flight response when faced with any challenges, physical or mental.

An adult who tells you he or she had never felt stressful in his or her life is either a saint or a liar. Let's face it, stress in inevitable. In fact, stress is part of a normal psychological and physical reaction to the ever increasing demands of life. There will never be more hours in a day, there will always be bills to pay, and there will always be occupational and social responsibility for you to deal with. Even with great coping strategies, stress won't disappear entirely from your life.

The human body is equipped with a fight or flight response when faced with any challenges, be it physical or mental. When facing a threat, our brain reacts by telling the body to increase the production of hormones, charging it up so it will be ready to respond. Once the threat is gone, our body is meant to return to a normal relaxed state. Unfortunately, the nonstop stress of modern life places a demand so that our body has to be constantly on alerted state.

Overworking is an unhealthy coping strategy.

Realizing that you are not powerless against life's challenges is the foundation of stress management. Managing stress is all about taking control. It may be hard to change the conditions of your environment, but your thoughts, emotions, and choices are your own. With practice, you can increase your coping ability and switch from unhealthy strategies to healthier ones.

"Healthy coping strategies require change."

Unhealthy ways to cope with stress include smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse, overeating or undereating, social withdrawal, sleeping too much, procrastinating, overworking, and taking out your stress on others by lashing out or physical violence. 

Generally, healthy coping strategies require change. That's why they are more difficult to implement than the easier, unhealthy ones. The change can be applied either to the situation or to your reaction. When deciding which option to choose, it’s helpful to think of the four As: avoid, alter, adapt, or accept.

Since everyone has a unique response to stress, no single method works for everyone or in every situation. Experiment with different techniques and focus on the ones that makes you feel calm and in control.