Dealing With Stress: 5 Healthy Ways to Overcome Stress

woman stressing over work

Every one of us has to deal with a lot of issues in our everyday life. There are things we can just let go of and tolerate, but when it’s too much to handle, it can lead us to feel all stressed out. The thing about stress is we consider it as normal, never realizing how dangerous it can be to our mental, emotional, and physical health. There are moments when we just put it aside, not thinking of ways on how to deal with it

We couldn’t avoid stressful situations, coz truthfully it’s part of our lives. Albeit the reality, we can still do something for us not to succumb to stress. We couldn’t allow ourselves to break, thus the only way to get through it is to bend. The only way we can do that is by dealing with stress firsthand.

Unhealthy Ways of Dealing With Stress

There are many ways on we can deal with stress. Our coping mechanisms differ from each other though. Things that work for me might not work for you and vice versa. It all depends on your preference and personality. However, we should be careful with our so-called stress relievers. Instead of helping us get over our problems, it may end up causing more damage to us.

Brainline listed some unhealthy ways we cope with stress:

• Smoking

• Drinking too much

• Overeating or undereating

• Zoning out for hours in front of the TV or computer

• Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities

• Using pills or drugs to relax

• Sleeping too much

• Procrastinating

• Filling up every minute of the day to avoid facing problems

• Taking out your stress on others (lashing out, angry outbursts, physical violence)

At one point in our lives, we have to admit we’ve done those things (not all, but most of it). We know it’s not healthy, yet those are the easiest things to do. Now, we should be more kind to ourselves and forget about those temporary stress relievers. We should now shift our focus on how to find healthier ways to cope with stress.

Healthy Ways of Dealing With Stress

1. Exercise Regularly

You don’t have to go to the gym every day for this one. All you need is to move your body to balance out the nervous system and increase blood circulation, which helps to cleanse your body from stress-inducing hormones.  You can go for a run, a walk, or even do some exercises at home. You don’t need much time to do it, 20 minutes will do.

2. Maintain a Healthy diet

There are two types of stressed-out people; one who eats too much and one who couldn’t eat at all. I’m more of the latter. I just don’t have the appetite to eat anything and just let myself be overwhelmed. So this is all a reminder to everyone like me, we should eat healthily or we won’t have the strength nor the ability to think of solutions to overcome any hurdles.

The same thing goes to the people who binge eat when stressed. Chocolates, ice cream, chips, who doesn’t love those? However, those are the food that can cause serious health problems as well (not to mention, weight gain).

3. Get enough sleep

Those moments when you close your eyes hoping you can get some sleep, then you end up remembering all the things that cause you stress which, in turn, only made you stay up the whole night. Yes, it’s hard to sleep when you have a lot of things in mind, that’s why, it is important to exercise. Release all your pent up energy. Getting a night of good sleep is important so we can concentrate and be productive at work.

4. Limit alcohol intake

The problem with us is when we think it’s too much, we always end up leaning in alcohol. It starts with a bottle, and if we’re not careful, we will just find ourselves depending on it. Alcohol is never a solution. It does make us feel numb, but it never solves the problem. In fact, it will just make everything worse and can affect the relationship you have with your loved ones. Aside from that, it can also cause serious health problems.

5. Work hard. Play Hard.

People these days have so many things to prove. They want to prove how good they are, how successful they are, etc. To be fair, society is also one of the reasons we end up this way. But, let’s not forget we only have one life to live. There is nothing more cliché than that, I know. In our pursuit of wanting to be at the top, we forget how to take a break and enjoy what we have. Do not live for work, learn to play also.

Dealing with stress differs from person to person. If you can’t find comfort in our list above, check out the top 18 techniques to defeat stress.