The Dangers of Stress and How to Reduce it

Stress unfortunately has become a relatively normal staple in our modern-day lives. We live in such a busy society that finding people who are bogged down by stress is no harder than spotting an elephant in a bare field. The unfortunate thing though is that stress not only puts a damper on your mood, it is also extremely harmful to your health and well being. When stress is left unchecked, it can potentially cause damage to almost every important part of your body. – Especially your immune system and heart. So what can we do to help cut back on all the stress we experience?

First we need to understand stress. Stress is completely natural – when you become stressed, your brain releases hormones into your blood that cause your body to work overtime in case there is a dangerous situation that it needs to respond to. Unfortunately, we are supposed to remove ourselves from the stressful situation relatively soon. The problem is that sometimes we find ourselves continuing to live in stress, and our bodies are constantly pushing harder as a result, and suffer as a consequence.

A good way to protect yourself is to make sure that you get the occasional break, but the key to avoiding the dangers of stress comes from your ability to mentally leave behind a stressful situation once you no longer have control of it. Most of us face small situations of stress everyday, whether it be a traffic jam, a crying baby, or having to put up with an irritating history professor. These situations are unavoidable, and the only way to protect yourself is to not let them get to you. You need to take mental control of the situation. Remind yourself that this is only a minor problem, and that it isn’t serious. Think of other similar situations that actually ended up as a funny story. The bottom line is that the first step to preventing stress damage is to remain calm and relatively unaffected by the small quirks in life that we just don’t have any control of.

Unfortunately, we also have to deal with much larger issues in our lives. Sometimes we are relying on a promotion at work to pay our bills, or find ourselves working overtime at our studies and not making the grades we should be. Obviously these things need to be dealt with, but we also have to be able to walk away from them. The trick is to work hard at avoiding these problems, but once you pass that point where you can no longer do any more, you must be able to set it aside. Maybe you miss out on sleep because you are studying even when you already know the information, or maybe you are pushing your food around your plate in anxious thought about that promotion. These little things are keeping you stressed, and they aren’t helping you a bit. You need to be able to recognize when it’s time to shut the problem off, and let the card fall where they may. Ask yourself if there is anything else you can do to solve your problem. If the answer is no, rest knowing that you gave it your all.

Lastly, one great way to get rid of stress in your life is to keep yourself occupied with things that you enjoy. It can be difficult to shove aside your problems if you’re bored, but if you’re having fun, it isn’t that difficult now, is it? Identify the little things that bring pleasure into your life. Maybe it’s fishing, or building model cars, or playing sports, and helping your kids with their schoolwork. Whatever it is, try to schedule in more of it. Don’t forget to keep it simple as well – you don’t want to stress yourself out trying to plan for a time that will help you release your stress!

Stress is a natural phenomenon, but prolonged stress isn’t. It’s also not necessary. There’s no denying that many people have a lot on their plate, but there is also no reason not to cut out your stress whenever you can and enjoy your life. If you do, not only will your life be longer and happier, but you’ll find that you are able to handle your responsibilities more efficiently, cutting the stress caused by them and making your daily life much easier, more enjoyable, and more fulfilling