Repetitive stress can be a burden that pulls you down from reaching your fullest potential but can also be dealt with in a variety of ways. Stress is inevitable, and everyone must find ways to cope with it, but there are ways to combat it. Recognizing stress is the first step in the battle over stress, but learning how this function impacts the body is equally important.
Stress is a natural human response that allows us to go up against challenging activities. There are also two types of stress. Eustress is a good type of stress. It gives you a short-term, exciting feeling that motivates you. For example, going on a roller coaster or a first date would cause you to feel eustress. The second type of stress is distress. Distress is what you would call ‘bad stress.’ It wears you out and is classified into acute or chronic conditions. Acute being short-term stress, and chronic being long-term stress, both having their own set of symptoms.
Minor daily situations like a traffic jam on your way to work or running late for something can cause acute distress. This type of stress can provoke anxiety, irritability, mood swings, lack of focus, and insomnia, but once the individual resolves the stressor, these symptoms usually subside. An unresolved conflict within someone’s personal life usually causes chronic stress. There are four categories of chronic stress: relationship stress, traumatic stress or PTSD, location-related stress, and work-related stress. Relationship stress is any long-lasting stress within an unhealthy relationship. Unresolved trauma causes traumatic stress, and living in an environment that is hard on the body or mind causes location-related stress. Finally, difficulties regarding economic instability or high-pressure jobs cause work-related stress. Each category of chronic stress has generalized symptoms, so each category has the same symptoms. Overall, the symptoms of chronic stress are similar to those of acute distress. Still, some unique symptoms of chronic stress are body aches, high blood pressure, overall decrease in energy, and being frequently ill. Chronic stress is challenging to get rid of because you are more than likely bound to it not by choice but by circumstance.
The first step to getting rid of distress is identifying it within your life. Introspect and keep note of your behaviors throughout the day. Introspection will help you realize when you are stressed so you can take the necessary steps to combat it. If you are irritable, anxious, have lost your sense of humor, or are restless, it might be time to take a step back. Also, some may use a noticeable decline in mental health or racing thoughts that cause an inability to focus as symptoms for self-diagnosis of chronic distress.
Repeated distress causes many distinct behaviors. For example, one might bite their nails or resort to their favorite method of coping, whether that be eating, using recreational drugs, or working out more often. Being distressed might tempt you to isolate from others to relieve your inability to concentrate. When you realize these behaviors, look for the source of the behavior within yourself to pinpoint the stress.
Now that you have realized you are stressed, you need to take action against it, which is easier said than done. Taking action against stress can be done in various ways and requires you to adapt your schedule to reduce stress. This means opening yourself to others to spend time with them, exercising and sleeping well, and spending time in meditation or religious activities. Owner of GetReal Training and personal trainer Corbin Williams explains, “The biggest cause of stress is high cortisol levels.” Cortisol regulates your body’s stress response and blood pressure. When asked how he combats high cortisol, Williams said, “Eating right, exercising, and balancing hormones.” He then explained that he gets at least one workout daily and goes on 3-mile walks regularly. “Honestly, stress doesn’t bother me very much. It takes a lot to stress me out when you balance exercise,” he defends, reinforcing the effectiveness of exercise on stress.
During an interview with AP Calculus BC and AP Biology student Owen Gruver, he explained how he gets rid of stress. “I try to think overall that the situation really isn’t that stressful,” he said. This strategy of dealing with stress is effective only if you can find acceptance of your circumstances. To do this, you focus on how you can react to the inevitable instead of trying to control it. For example, if you have an overwhelming workload for the next few months, you must be able to adapt your thinking instead of trying to control how much work you must do.
But to cope with stress, you don’t only have to come to acceptance but also allow yourself to work efficiently. A statistic from The American Institute of Stress shows that 83 percent of workers in the United States suffer from work-related stress. Williams says, “If I’m not here [at the gym], I’m doing app coaching. Sixteen or more hours a day, we’re coaching somebody.” His high work ethic derives from the need for financial security to support his family, which causes work-related stress. He says, “…[stress] is bad for my family more than anything.” He said he manages stress by taking action and doing whatever it takes to improve business performance and get clients on his program.
Stress has a wide variety of effects on how the body functions, but too much stress can cause adverse effects. Combatting stress first comes with the realization of the source and your condition. If the source of stress is unavoidable, then you must accept it by changing the way you think about your stress. If the source of stress is avoidable, you must work to avoid it. This could be organizing your schedule differently to spend time with family, eating better to increase cognitive clarity, or creating to-do lists to keep yourself on track. You must have some discipline and hope in the work that you do to produce your desired result.
