How to Handle Stress
By: Brian Murray, LMHC, NCC
Stress is the result of a demand that is placed on you. As an example of stress, think of something made from metal such as an aircraft wing. The wing is designed to take stress, but too much and the metal becomes fatigued and begins to show signs of stress exhaustion. This creates cracks or perhaps breaking altogether.
The same thing can happen to people when they stress. We are designed to handle stress, and in fact, stress can help us grow and learn. Our brains respond to stress by becoming stimulated to learn and adapt to our environment. However, when there is too much stress and we begin to show signs of fatigue and begin to break down.
Additionally, stress can create physical issues as well. There is a saying, “the body betrays the mind.” In other words, what is happening in the mind shows up in the body. Stress can create ulcers, high blood pressure and high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Too much cortisol stimulates the adrenal gland in the body. When this happens, we tend to gain or hold onto weight despite our best efforts to lose it. Cortisol also impairs our immune system and has been shown to decrease our sensitivity to pain and increases the likelihood of suffering from depression. Cortisol impacts serotonin levels in our brain which is our natural feel happy neurotransmitter. If it is too low in our brain, we suffer a depressive mood.
So, what can we do about stress? Remember, stress is the result of an external demand. There are a few things we can do to help lower stress and the associated results we experience from it. Here is a list of things you can do to help reduce stress when feeling overwhelmed.
● Relax: Just relax, stop what you are doing and just take a minute to calm down.
● 5.4.3.2.1 Technique to Reboot: Stop what you are doing and close your eyes. Slowly count backwards from 5 down to 1. Open our eyes and now think what the first thing is you need to do and begin to focus.
● Focus: Look around and see what is really going on, get the big picture. Sometimes we can get really caught up in reading, going over too much material at one time, overthinking things and so forth. Get out a clean sheet of paper and write down 3-5 things you need to do immediately.
● Prioritize: Figure out what is first, second, third and so on. Brian Tracy in his book Eat That Frog suggests an ABCDE model to prioritize. This model simply states that you begin with your most important task first which is A. The letters indicate where to start. The lower letters such as D and E may be delegated or to pay someone to do them for you.
● Execute: Go to your A task and do that task first and only that task. Go to the next item and so on until you have completed your list.
A quick word on how the 5.4.3.2.1 technique works. Our brains are designed to naturally go forward. Future oriented thoughts are okay if they are positive ones. However, negative thoughts like those found with stress and anxiety can begin to predict a negative future.
To do this exercise, you cannot count forward. If you were to count forward, it would lead to the future which is how anxiety and stress works just like runaway thoughts. An example of this is when we count to 5, we tend to want to keep going with 6.7.8.9 and so on.
When we count backwards and arrive at one, our brains have nowhere to go. Worry and stress comes from the subconscious mind in the amygdala which is part of our survival mechanism. This is called an “amygdala hijack” as it holds the rest of the brain hostage clouding our ability to think and make rational decisions.
When we count down to one, our subconscious mind has nowhere to go and so the brain shifts to the conscious thinking mind. The brain activity literally switches from the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex, and we can think more clearly. It may take a few attempts depending on how anxious and stressed you feel, but it is an easy trick that can be used as often as needed.
The next time you are feeling stressed out and anxious, just relax, reboot, focus, prioritize and execute. This can be an easy and quick way to reduce stress and get your life back on track. If you try these techniques and still struggle, then attempt them over again. It may take some practice.
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