Answers to the 8 Most Common Stress Questions

The irony is that it’s type of traumatic to seek out solutions about stress.

There’s a lot conflicting data on the market.

But when you’re a well being and health skilled, your shoppers—possibly even your mates and family members too—will possible flip to YOU for counsel.

They’ll ask issues like:

“Is stress REALLY toxic?”

“Do you think stress caused this belly fat I can’t lose?”

And:

“Are these red bumps from stress?”

(Why does everybody insist on displaying you their rashes??)

You wish to assist, however arising with the suitable solutions could be laborious, as a result of:

The proper reply relies upon.

It relies on WHO the asker is, WHAT their objectives are, WHERE they’re ranging from, and HOW MUCH they’re prepared and capable of change

The fact is, one-size-fits-all solutions to stress-related questions don’t exist.

However, you may construct a robust basis of information about stress that may make it easier to reply these questions with extra confidence and experience.

In this text, we’ll attempt to offer you some assets to do this.

If you need, learn the next Q and As from prime to backside. Or, simply bounce to those that curiosity you essentially the most:

Question #1. Is stress actually unhealthy for you?

Question #2. What are the indicators of stress?

Question #3. Is stress making me achieve / drop some weight?

Question #4. How can I cease stress consuming?

Question #5. How do I eliminate stress?

Question #6. How do I slot in stress-management methods and self-care?

Question #7. Is there a food plan that can assist scale back stress?

Question #8. Is there any solution to cool stress quick?

Question #1. Is stress BAD for you?

Yes and no. It’s all about the suitable quantities—for YOU.

The relationship between stress and well being has gained much more consideration and validity previously 30 years.

As a end result, you’ve possible realized to affiliate stress with every kind of horrible issues: coronary heart assaults, hair loss, early loss of life.

And whereas extreme, unrelenting stress positively erodes well being, let’s clear one thing up:

Not all stress is unhealthy.

In reality, so as to thrive, we truly want some stress to really feel juicy, purposeful, and alive.

As the above chart reveals, it’s all about discovering a stress “sweet spot.”

Go too far in both excessive, and also you’ll really feel crummy.

How do you discover your stress “sweet spot”?

Stress that’s long-lasting, relentless, and demoralizing can be the type of stress that’s related to melancholy and anxiousness, heart problems, diabetes, stroke, and most cancers.¹

If you’re coping with these sorts of stressors, contemplate the place you’ve gotten management, and attempt to scale back—and even keep away from—them when you may.

Also, ask for assist. Sometimes having one other individual round to deal with an issue with you makes the distinction between feeling such as you’re drowning and feeling such as you’ll make it to the shore.

On the flip facet, when stress happens in shorter bursts, and you are feeling like you’ve gotten some management over it, in addition to alternatives to recuperate in between, it could actually truly make it easier to develop into stronger and extra resilient over time.

This type of stress tends to really feel empowering: It helps construct you up; not break you down.

One huge complication…

What feels traumatic is extremely subjective.

Turns out, your notion of stress has a big effect on how stress feels—and what it does to your well being.

If you imagine stress is all the time horrible and ought to be averted in any respect prices, you’ll be extra more likely to cling to your consolation zone, concern the longer term and what may occur, and avoid conditions that would result in progress.

(You’re additionally extra more likely to expertise the unfavourable well being results of stress, like excessive cortisol.²)

In a merciless self-fulfilling prophecy, stress truly does develop into extra dangerous.

However, when you imagine stress could make you stronger, wiser, and extra resilient, you’ll be extra more likely to proactively remedy issues, search out difficult experiences—and profit from stress in your life.

Luckily, you’ve gotten some management over your notion.

In the spirit of serving to you shift your perspective, listed below are some examples of how some stress can truly enrich numerous points of life:

▶ Stress can strengthen relationships. Some battle is definitely essential for wholesome, safe relationships—it’s a pathway to higher perceive others. By working via issues collectively, we develop collectively.

▶ Stress could make you smarter. Managed successfully, stress helps you focus your consideration, plan for future challenges, and improve reminiscence and studying. Stressors may even really feel like enjoyable puzzles to unravel.

▶ Stress can construct muscle mass and endurance. This might be the obvious instance, however most of us know that intermittent bodily stress—say, from a exercise—couped with applicable restoration helps your physique develop into stronger and extra succesful.

Choose to imagine that stress has the capability to learn you. It might help you study, develop, and stay an even bigger, extra adventurous and significant life.

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Question #2. What are the indicators of stress?

The indicators and signs of stress rely just a little on whether or not the stress is acute or persistent.

Acute stress (suppose: a automobile simply swerved in entrance of you) typically causes your sympathetic nervous system to ramp up, which releases hormones akin to epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol.

With acute stress, you may discover:

• Your coronary heart beats just a little sooner
• Your respiratory will get deeper and faster
• You really feel a burst of vitality, alertness, giddiness, and/or focus
• You may really feel just a little shaky and even nauseous, if the stress was intense

The stress response is built-in. You don’t should suppose consciously about it; your physique simply responds routinely on this solution to all stressors.

Luckily, the restoration response can be built-in. Once a risk recedes, your coronary heart fee and respiratory will return to regular, and also you’ll really feel calm once more.

Chronic stress is when that sympathetic activation lasts for days, weeks, or months, with out enough alternatives for restoration.

Just like a rollercoaster, stress can really feel energizing in brief bouts—however like a nauseating nightmare when you can’t get off the journey. Not surprisingly, persistent stress is extra more likely to take a toll in your bodily and psychological well being.

Signs of persistent stress embrace:

• Excessive worrying or anxiousness
• Low temper or vitality
• Poor urge for food, OR an elevated want to “stress eat”
• Digestive issues like heartburn or constipation
• Trouble sleeping
• Unfocused or foggy considering
• Feeling remoted or irritable with others
• Frequent colds, flus, or infections
• Trouble recovering from exercises, or aches and pains basically
• Low intercourse drive

While the stress response is regular and useful for short-lived bouts of problem and pleasure, we’re not meant to stay in a relentless state of activation and risk.

Stress feels greatest when it’s damaged up with intervals of restoration.

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Question #3. Is stress making me achieve / drop some weight?

Possibly.

But extra possible, stress is affecting your behaviors. And consuming behaviors positively have an effect on physique composition.

Here’s the way it works

When you’re pressured, your physiology adjustments—not less than quickly.

Your physique’s acute stress response and the accompanying spike in adrenaline releases saved glucose (sugar) into the bloodstream so you’ve gotten vitality to cope with no matter problem you’re dealing with.

This improve in blood sugar can scale back your urge for food, making you push away your sandwich even when you haven’t eaten all day.

The stress response additionally dampens digestion.

Even if you do eat, meals may really feel prefer it’s simply sitting in your intestine not shifting anyplace, or it’d blast via you so quick that you simply’re afraid to stray too removed from a washroom. Because digestion is compromised, you additionally could not adequately soak up your meals.

It’s via each lack of urge for food and lack of absorption that some individuals drop some weight in periods of stress.

On the opposite hand, weight achieve in periods of stress is simply as widespread.

Especially when stress turns into persistent, the stress hormone cortisol will increase. Cortisol can improve urge for food, particularly for carbohydrate- and calorie-rich meals.^{3 4}

Most individuals discover consuming pleasurable and soothing, so turning to meals throughout occasions of stress is a typical (and comprehensible) coping mechanism. Of course, when this turns into a behavior, extra energy over time can result in weight achieve.

If that’s one thing you battle with, take a look at the following reply under.

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Question #4. How can I cease stress consuming?

More than 60 % of our new shoppers checklist emotional or stress consuming as a serious vitamin problem. What’s extra, over 50 % say additionally they “get intense cravings” and “snack when not hungry.”

If you relate, it is perhaps a reduction to know you’re not alone. Of course, that’s little comfort when your palms are fumbling for crumbs on the backside of a freshly opened bag of peanut butter pretzel bites.

But what when you realized this habits happens…

• Every time your mother calls?
• On Sunday nights, if you’re dreading the beginning of a brand new week?
• Whenever you see, odor, or hear one thing that reminds you of your ex?

Emotional consuming and intense cravings are sometimes a part of a sample of habits that’s triggered by a particular expertise—a thought, feeling, and/or scenario.

If you may determine the set off, you may disrupt the sample of habits and make completely different selections.

Use the “Break the chain” worksheet to assist shoppers determine their emotional and stress consuming triggers. Then, apply the step-by-step technique on the finish of it to create and strengthen various coping mechanisms.

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Question #5. How do I eliminate stress?

You’ll by no means completely rid your lifetime of stress.

Nor would you wish to.

As we’ve talked about, stress is a standard—even good—a part of a full, significant life.

However, many people find yourself with stress ranges that really feel overly disruptive or unhelpful.

Sometimes, that’s unattainable to keep away from. At some level, most individuals will face very troublesome intervals of unavoidable stress: sickness, accidents, monetary hardships, pure disasters, or a pandemic.

But usually, you’ve gotten some management. Maybe much more than you suppose.

At PN, we use an train referred to as The Spheres of Control.

(If you need, fill out your personal spheres of management utilizing this free worksheet.)

With the Spheres of Control train, you determine what areas you actually have energy over and focus extra on them.

This usually not solely helps individuals really feel much less overwhelmed and pressured, but in addition more practical, succesful, and in management.

What about these areas you’ve gotten zero management over?

By seeing the fact on paper (or a display), you can provide your self permission to cease squandering precious vitality making an attempt to regulate the uncontrollable. And that in itself might help relieve stress and anxiousness.

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Question #6. How do I slot in self-care?

Sometimes, including extra restoration could be simply as efficient as lowering stress.

When you recuperate, you regain, restore, or recuperate what you’ve misplaced. And you come to your baseline state of wellbeing, well being, and efficiency.

Sounds nice, besides… what when you really feel such as you don’t have time to ADD anything, even when it’s good for you?

A paradigm shift that may assist

Instead of stress administration as an “on” or “off” swap—you’re both doing ALL the issues or NOTHING—consider it extra like a “dial.”

The picture under reveals what stress restoration may seem like on a continuum, from devoting 5 minutes a day to one thing restorative, all the best way to principally making it your job to be a Master of Chill.

(If you wish to see how this idea applies to different habits—like these associated to vitamin or health—take a look at this infographic: Never press “pause” in your well being and health once more)

To apply this idea, begin by figuring out your baseline: Are your stress administration practices at present at a 1 or 2? Or possibly even a 0?

If so, no judgment. This is simply your start line.

Think about what “a little better” may seem like.

Even by one or two “notches.”

Might you add 5 minutes of journaling to your night routine? Or a ten minute stroll to get some solar and contemporary air within the morning? Consider what only a little higher may seem like, and begin there.

For the additional frazzled, it’d assist to know that typically the BEST time to start out a brand new behavior is if you’re busiest.

If you may study to suit stress administration practices into your life if you’re swamped, it’ll really feel like a breeze to maintain them in there—and even construct on them—when life settles down.

(And if life by no means settles down, not less than you didn’t delay your self-care additional ready for the “perfect time.”)

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Question #7. Is there a food plan that can assist scale back stress?

All over the web, you’ll discover healing diets for stress and anxiousness. They put meals into neat little classes, and as long as you ONLY eat “do” meals—and judiciously get rid of “don’t” meals—your stress will go away.

If solely feeling higher have been that straightforward.

Truth is, good psychological well being relies on many completely different vitamins from many completely different meals, in addition to a set of elementary vitamin ideas, like:

• Getting sufficient vitality (energy) to cowl your vitality wants
• Meeting macronutrient (proteins, carbohydrates, and fat) and micronutrient (nutritional vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients) wants
• Drinking sufficient water
• Eating at common occasions, no matter meaning for you
• Consuming largely minimally-processed meals (like fruits, greens, entire grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, animal proteins, and dairy)
• Eating slowly and mindfully
• Enjoying your meals, and the corporate you share it with

Consistently neglecting the above can add stress.

Prioritizing them—which doesn’t imply doing them completely—might be the simplest vitamin technique to scale back stress.

If that checklist appears overwhelming, simply begin from wherever you might be proper now, and easily goal to eat “a little better.”

Choose one observe to work on from the above checklist, and in a few weeks, consider whether or not you’re able to construct on it.

Master the basics, and also you’ll see that they’re fairly efficient on their very own, no magic food plan wanted.

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Question #8. Is there a solution to calm stress quick?

No matter what’s happening in your life, some of the efficient, accessible methods to chill stress FAST is just to breathe.

Slow, deep respiratory stimulates your vagus nerve (the primary nerve of your “rest-and-digest” system), which might help chill out your entire physique.

In flip, this reduces not solely your physiological response to emphasize but in addition your emotional response.

When you’re calmer and extra relaxed, you make higher choices. You’re capable of focus higher. You really feel extra in management. And deliberate respiratory strategies might help.

One respiratory approach we like is named “Box breathing.” It breaks the breath cycle into 4 4-second-long phases (just like the 4 sides of a sq.).

Here’s how one can do it

1. Take a four-second inhale via your nostril. But don’t simply “breathe into your belly.” Try to tug the air into your chest and mid-back with out letting your ribs flare out. (You’ll really feel some rigidity in your abs.)
2. Hold your inhale for 4 seconds.
3. Exhale for 4 seconds. Imagine that you simply’re slowly blowing out an enormous sigh. Keep your physique relaxed, however put just a little rigidity into your abs so that you simply really feel them pulling your ribs down and in, towards your backbone.
4. Hold your exhale for 4 seconds.

Repeat as many occasions as you’d like. (And really feel higher.)

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Stress is uncomfortable, but it surely additionally helps us develop.

If you’re pressured about answering your shoppers stress-related questions, consider it this fashion:

This is a chance to increase and deepen your data and training abilities.

(See? We’re making use of a resilience-building mindset already!)

Being a coach who helps shoppers handle their stress entails, sure, figuring out about stress.

But it additionally means being a fellow human who can relate to their struggles.

Alongside your shoppers, you may use your data about stress and restoration to tackle challenges, and develop into a greater coach—and individual—than you have been earlier than.

References

Click right here to view the data sources referenced on this article.

If you’re a well being and health professional…

Learning how one can assist shoppers handle stress and optimize sleep can massively change your shoppers’ outcomes.

They’ll get “unstuck” and eventually transfer ahead—whether or not they wish to eat higher, transfer extra, drop some weight, or reclaim their well being.

Plus, it’ll provide the confidence and credibility as a specialised coach who can remedy the largest issues blocking any shoppers’ progress.

The brand-new PN Level 1 Sleep, Stress Management, and Recovery Coaching Certification will present you ways.