Strategies to Cope with Stress

In today’s day and age, we all want to do so much with our lives and push ourselves to new limits every day. The modern student or employee is busier than ever before, and it’s not uncommon for many people within Generations X and Y to take on incredible amounts of stress. It becomes incredibly important to be able to deal with stress effectively since you may run the risk of falling behind in your work or suffering from poor mental health. Everyone experiences stress at times, and while stress can be motivational in healthy quantities, we all will eventually find ourselves dealing with significant physical and emotional tension (the negative kind of stress). Fortunately, there are several strategies one can keep in mind that will help you remain calm, collected, and in control even when under immense stress.

Something that you should be doing regardless of how concerned you are about dealing with stress, however, is to take good care of your physical health. It just so happens that this also a great way to prepare your body and mind for stressful situations before they happen and keep you in good spirits even in the midst of them.

When under stress of any kind, our body’s sympathetic nervous system (the physiological basis behind our “flight or fight” response) is activated, causing an increase in heartbeat rate, blood pressure, and the hormone levels within the bloodstream.

Having a regular workout routine, eating three healthy and balanced meals everyday, and ensuring that you get at least 6-8 hours of quality sleep every night are fantastic ways to keep your heart, blood flow, and your overall health in good shape, putting you in a good position to take on lots of stress.

When it comes to high amounts of stress that you aren’t accustomed to, sometimes taking care of your health isn’t enough. We need to deal with any problems and keep life moving along or else we will face setbacks and potential negative mental health effects. What tips and tricks can you employ to deal with stress?

For starters, reaching out to friends and family is one of the most effective strategies for dealing with stress. Talking to those that you care about or even a complete stranger about your problems is a great way to expand your mind, gain a new perspective, and keep yourself together as you figure out what exactly you can do to move forwards.

Even if they have no specific or particularly helpful words to offer, simply forcing oneself to verbally describe the cause of stress and think critically about the structure of the problem helps us better understand what options are available to us. The worst thing you can do is to try and hide your stress and shy away from expression. If you ever find yourself trying to comfort someone else who is feeling overwhelmed by stress, it’s important to attempt to talk to them, listen carefully, and generally make them feel loved, reassured, and welcome to share their thoughts.

Another way to make the best out of a stressful situation is to turn the problem back around and use it as an excuse to allow yourself to indulge in life a little. It’s a great idea to have a list of fun or constructive activities that you can do to remove yourself from stressful situations temporarily. These activities, or destressers, will give you time to recover and rejuvenate yourself when feeling upset, down, or otherwise in a bad mood.

Some popular ways to destress include enjoying digital entertainment like television, video games, the internet, or going to the movies. Hanging out with friends and family also can be an easy and simple way to not think about stress. Perhaps the best way to destress is by exerting yourself in some kind of tangible way, either by singing, dancing, or exercising.

In fact, studies show that working out is a fantastic destresser and can be a highly refreshing and even essential component of stress management. On the contrary, doing relaxing and therapeutic activities works very well, if not better, for others. Such activities could include yoga, stretching, deep-breathing, knitting, reading, or just resting.

Perhaps the most important thing in dealing with stress is simply being proactive. This helps prove to yourself that you are strong even in the face of great stress and that you haven’t been defeated. Making an effort to go outside and get some fresh air has been scientifically proven to improve your mood. Try finding a quiet and calming place that allows you to think and relax. Such a calming place could be a bathtub, or perhaps a church or other religious outlet that allows you to connect with your spiritual side. Even being kind, appreciative, and positive has been shown to alleviate stress.

Unfortunately, stress is inescapable, and there will always be times when you will find yourself feeling at least slightly overwhelmed. Still, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; stress can be beneficial, even motivational, driving us to self-improve, adapt, develop, and self-achieve. Even when this isn’t the case, learning to deal with stress well is very important and will improve your character. Whether it is traumatic, sudden, and succinct, or more built-up, a collective of numerous smaller contributing factors, you can always make the best of a stressful situation, and it is undoubtedly in your best interest to do so.

Arthur is a second-year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley studying Biology and Computer Science. He enjoys playing tennis, biking, hiking, running, and exploring in his free time to destress and relax.

Main Photo Credit & Fourth Photo Credit: Syda Productions/shutterstock.com; Second Photo Credit: KieferPix/shutterstock.com; Third Photo Credit: AGLPhotography/shutterstock.com