How to reduce stress and anxiety

Both stress and anxiety involve mostly identical symptoms, including: • trouble sleeping • digestive issues • difficulty concentrating • muscle tension • irritability or anger Most people experience some feelings of stress and anxiety at some point, and that isn’t necessarily a “bad” thing. After all, stress and anxiety can sometimes be a helpful motivator to accomplish daunting tasks or do things you’d rather not (but really should). But unmanaged stress and anxiety can start to interfere with your daily life and take a toll on your mental and physical health. Here’s a closer look at stress and anxiety, how they differ, and how to find support for managing both. Stress and anxiety can produce a range of physical and psychological symptoms. Stress symptoms include: • dizziness • muscle tension • digestive issues, including nausea and • trouble sleeping • anger or irritability • • • feelings of overwhelm • restlessness • • increased heart rate Anxiety can involve the same symptoms as stress, in addition to: • • • The big difference between stress and anxiety is the presence of a specific trigger. Stress is typically tied to a specific situation. Once that situation resolves, so does your stress. Maybe you have an upcoming exam that you’re worried about taking. Or you’re trying to juggle working from home with three small children who are competing for your attention. In both cases, there’s a specific root of your stress. Once the exam is over or your children return to dayc...

Having occasional feelings of anxiety is a normal part of life, but people with anxiety disorders experience frequent and excessive anxiety, fear, terror and panic in everyday situations. These feelings are unhealthy if they affect your quality of life and prevent you from functioning normally. Common symptoms of anxiety disorders include: • Feeling nervous • Feeling helpless • A sense of impending panic, danger or doom • Increased heart rate • Hyperventilation • Sweating • Trembling • Obsessively thinking about the panic trigger These feelings of anxiety and panic can interfere with daily activities and be difficult to control. They are out of proportion to the actual danger and can cause you to avoid places or situations. You should see your health care provider if your anxiety is affecting your life and relationships. Your provider can help rule out any underlying physical health issue before seeing a mental health professional. While most people with anxiety disorders need psychotherapy or medications to get anxiety under control, lifestyle changes and coping strategies also can make a difference. Here are 11 tips for coping with an anxiety disorder: • Keep physically active. Develop a routine so that you're physically active most days of the week. Exercise is a powerful stress reducer. It can improve your mood and help you stay healthy. Start out slowly, and gradually increase the amount and intensity of your activities. • Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs. These s...

Stress and anxiety are common experiences for many people. In fact, millions of adults in the United States say they feel stress or anxiety daily. Many people deal with stress every day. Work, family issues, health concerns, and financial obligations are parts of everyday life that commonly contribute to heightened stress levels. What’s more, factors such as genetics, level of social support, coping style, and personality type influence a person’s vulnerability to stress, meaning that some people are more likely to become stressed than others ( Plus, research shows that parents, people in professions such as healthcare and social work, People of Color, and LGBTQIA+ individuals are more likely to have higher stress levels ( Minimizing the chronic stress of daily life as much as possible is important for overall health. That’s because chronic stress harms health and increases your risk of health conditions such as heart disease, anxiety disorders, and depression ( It’s important to understand that stress isn’t the same as mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, which require treatment from medical professionals. Although the tips below may relieve many types of stress, they may not help people with these conditions ( Here are 15 evidence-based ways to relieve stress. If you’re feeling stressed, moving your body on a consistent basis may help. A 6-week study in 185 university students found that participating in Many other studies have shown that engaging in p...

While you can’t avoid all of the stress in your life, there are stress and anxiety relief strategies that can help you cope more effectively. This article discusses some self-help techniques that can help you get a handle on stress and anxiety. It also covers when to consider talking to a professional. Exercise can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. It helps to lower the body's stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol, while also increasing endorphin levels. Endorphins are the body's "feel-good" chemicals. In addition to acting as natural painkillers, they also play a role in inducing feelings of relaxation and boosting mood. • Sit in a comfortable position. • Place one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest. • Inhale slowly through your nose, allowing your belly to expand to move your hand outward without expanding your chest. • Slowly exhale through pursed lips and let your hand on your belly gently help push all of the air out. • Repeat this move for 3 to 10 breaths. Meditation Experts also suggest that Label Your Emotions Research has also found that, in many cases, putting your feelings into words, known as affect labeling, can help reduce the intensity of those emotions. This means that talking to a friend about the things that are causing your stress can actually make those feel less overwhelming. Focus on labeling your emotions clearly and be as specific as you can be. You might start by saying something general such as “I feel bad,” but ...

• Get Started • Self-Assessment • Stress Management • Articles & News • Podcast • Certified Products • Speakers Bureau • Mental Health Apps • Book Reviews • Links • Magazines • Contentment • Combat Stress • Health & Stress • Advertise • Membership • Become a Member • Member Directory • Learning Center • Videos • Courses • Events • Podcast • CES Research • eBooks • Music Therapy • Horizons • Archives • Shop • Assessments • Courses • Documentaries • Gift Packs • Webinars • Books & DVDs • Donate • • Anxiety and fear are different concepts. For instance, DSM-V differentiates fear as “emotional response to a real or perceived imminent threat” from anxiety, as the “anticipation of future threat”. Such disturbances can impact different areas of your functioning such as your school, work, and even your overall personal and social life. Thus, you may need some anxiety relief. The Effects of Stress on Your Body Stress can be normal, especially that it is already part of our daily lives. When you experience stress, a part of your brain, specifically the hypothalamus reacts, allowing the release of stress hormones. Stress hormones are the same hormones that make you sense the “fight or flight response” of your body. When you are threatened, stressed, or having an intense emotion, you will feel that your heart is beating fast, as your heart rate increases. Your breath also becomes faster, your muscles start to shake, and for some, it leads to uncontrollable shedding of tears. Chronic s...

Try these tips to ward off ongoing stress and its many health risks, such as chronic inflammation and chronic disease. Do you handle stress as well as you used to? For most folks, it gets harder as the years go by — and that’s a potential problem for health. Stress increases the risks for chronic disease, to which the body is already more vulnerable after a lifetime of wear and tear (and perhaps unhealthy habits, such as a poor diet or not exercising). Why is stress bad for us? We need the body’s stress ("fight or flight") response to get us through tough times. When you sense a threat or danger, your body rises to the challenge by releasing stress hormones, tightening your muscles, making your blood pressure rise and your heart and lungs work harder, and releasing a surge of fat and sugar to give you energy. When danger subsides, your body goes back to normal operations. If you get stressed out frequently, however, the stress response can become constant and cause ongoing harm, including chronic inflammation — the persistent activation of the immune system, which sharply raises the risks for many diseases such as dementia, heart disease, and stroke. Fighting stress The best way to cope with stress is by getting at least seven hours of sleep per day, eating a predominantly plant-based diet, exercising regularly, meditating, and staying socially connected. "If you’re practicing all these healthy habits, it helps you become more resilient and better able to adapt to life’s c...

Virtually any form of physical activity can act as a stress reliever. Even if you're not an athlete or you're out of shape, exercise can still be a good stress reliever. Physical activity can pump up your feel-good endorphins and other natural neural chemicals that enhance your sense of well-being. Exercise can also refocus your mind on your body's movements, which can improve your mood and help the day's irritations fade away. Consider walking, jogging, gardening, housecleaning, biking, swimming, weightlifting or anything else that gets you active. During meditation, you focus your attention and quiet the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. Meditation can instill a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health. Guided meditation, guided imagery, visualization and other forms of meditation can be practiced anywhere at any time, whether you're out for a walk, riding the bus to work or waiting at the doctor's office. You can also try deep breathing anywhere. A good sense of humor can't cure all ailments, but it can help you feel better, even if you have to force a fake laugh through your grumpiness. When you laugh, it not only lightens your mental load but also causes positive physical changes in your body. Laughter fires up and then cools down your stress response. So read some jokes, tell some jokes, watch a comedy or hang out with your funny friends. Or give laughter yoga ...

• Get Started • Self-Assessment • Stress Management • Articles & News • Podcast • Certified Products • Speakers Bureau • Mental Health Apps • Book Reviews • Links • Magazines • Contentment • Combat Stress • Health & Stress • Advertise • Membership • Become a Member • Member Directory • Learning Center • Videos • Courses • Events • Podcast • CES Research • eBooks • Music Therapy • Horizons • Archives • Shop • Assessments • Courses • Documentaries • Gift Packs • Webinars • Books & DVDs • Donate • • Anxiety and fear are different concepts. For instance, DSM-V differentiates fear as “emotional response to a real or perceived imminent threat” from anxiety, as the “anticipation of future threat”. Such disturbances can impact different areas of your functioning such as your school, work, and even your overall personal and social life. Thus, you may need some anxiety relief. The Effects of Stress on Your Body Stress can be normal, especially that it is already part of our daily lives. When you experience stress, a part of your brain, specifically the hypothalamus reacts, allowing the release of stress hormones. Stress hormones are the same hormones that make you sense the “fight or flight response” of your body. When you are threatened, stressed, or having an intense emotion, you will feel that your heart is beating fast, as your heart rate increases. Your breath also becomes faster, your muscles start to shake, and for some, it leads to uncontrollable shedding of tears. Chronic s...

Try these tips to ward off ongoing stress and its many health risks, such as chronic inflammation and chronic disease. Do you handle stress as well as you used to? For most folks, it gets harder as the years go by — and that’s a potential problem for health. Stress increases the risks for chronic disease, to which the body is already more vulnerable after a lifetime of wear and tear (and perhaps unhealthy habits, such as a poor diet or not exercising). Why is stress bad for us? We need the body’s stress ("fight or flight") response to get us through tough times. When you sense a threat or danger, your body rises to the challenge by releasing stress hormones, tightening your muscles, making your blood pressure rise and your heart and lungs work harder, and releasing a surge of fat and sugar to give you energy. When danger subsides, your body goes back to normal operations. If you get stressed out frequently, however, the stress response can become constant and cause ongoing harm, including chronic inflammation — the persistent activation of the immune system, which sharply raises the risks for many diseases such as dementia, heart disease, and stroke. Fighting stress The best way to cope with stress is by getting at least seven hours of sleep per day, eating a predominantly plant-based diet, exercising regularly, meditating, and staying socially connected. "If you’re practicing all these healthy habits, it helps you become more resilient and better able to adapt to life’s c...

Anxiety often is described as sustained and excessive worry that a person cannot control, and is related many times to the anticipation of a future threat, such as COVD-19 or a traumatic event. At times, anxiety can have a large and negative affect on our daily lives, work, relationships and overall happiness. Anxiety also can manifest as an irritable, worried, restless and debilitating stress response which can last for minutes to days. Most everyone has had anxiety surrounding a stressful situation. Anxiety becomes an obstacle for a happy, healthy life when it affects our day-to-day lives in these ways: Emotionally, anxiety can appear as: • Excessive worry • Fatigue • Irritability • Panic attacks • Paranoia • Poor concentration • Restlessness • Sleep disturbances Physically, anxiety can appear as: • Chest pain • Diarrhea, stool pattern changes or upset stomach • Headache • Increased heart rate • Muscle aches • Shaking • Shortness of breath • Sweating The negative effects of anxiety Left unchecked, anxiety can negatively affect our lives in these ways: • Interrupting daily life— Causing issues at home, school, work and socially • Isolating us— Not wanting to participate in normal daily activities or take new steps in life due to fear • Emotionally— Increasing our risk for depression, suicide and failure to progress in life • Physically— Increasing our risk for physical distress, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, chest pain and tremors • Mentally— Increasing our ri...