Stress is a biological response to a perceived threat. It’s caused by chemicals and hormones surging throughout your body. It can help you respond to a particular problem, but too much can harm your health. Stress triggers your fight-or-flight response in order to fight the stressor or run away from it. Typically, after the response occurs, your body should relax. Too much constant stress can have negative effects.
Is Stress Bad?
Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s what helped our hunter-gatherer ancestors survive, and it’s just as important in today’s world. It can be healthy when it helps you avoid an accident, meet a tight deadline, or keep your wits about you amid chaos.
We all feel stressed at times, but what one person finds stressful may be very different from what another finds stressful. An example of this would be public speaking. Some love the thrill of it and others become paralyzed at the very thought.
Stress isn’t always a bad thing, either. Your wedding day, for example, may be considered a good form of stress. But stress should be temporary. Once you’ve passed the fight-or-flight moment, your heart rate and breathing should slow down and your muscles should relax. In a short time, your body should return to its natural state without any lasting negative effects.
On the other hand, severe, frequent, or prolonged stress can be mentally and physically harmful.And it’s fairly common. Life being what it is, it’s not possible to eliminate stress completely. But we can learn to avoid it when possible and manage it when it’s unavoidable. Understand what’s happening inside your body and learn simple coping skills to combat the negative impacts of everyday stressors.
Use these tips to prevent or reduce chronic stress.
1. Rebalance Work and Home: All work and no play? If you’re spending too much time at the office, intentionally put more dates in your calendar to enjoy time for fun, either alone or with others.
2. Get Regular Exercise: Moving your body on a regular basis balances the nervous system and increases blood circulation, helping to flush out stress hormones. Even a daily 20-minute walk makes a difference. Any kind of exercise can lower stress and improve your mood ― just pick activities that you enjoy and make it a regular habit.
3. Eat Well and Limit Alcohol and Stimulants: Alcohol, nicotine and caffeine may temporarily relieve stress but have negative health impacts and can make stress worse in the long run. Well-nourished bodies cope better, so start with a good breakfast, add more organic fruits and vegetables for a well-balanced diet, avoid processed foods and sugar, try herbal tea and drink more water.
4. Connect with Supportive People: Talking face-to-face with another person releases hormones that reduce stress. Lean on those good listeners in your life.
5. Carve Out Hobby Time: Do you enjoy gardening, reading, listening to music or some other creative pursuit? Engage in activities that bring you pleasure and joy; research shows that reduces stress by almost half and lowers your heart rate, too.
We believe that every child deserves access to quality healthcare, regardless of their background or financial situation; our mission is to improve their health and well-being by providing free surgeries to those who need them most but cannot afford them.