April is Stress Awareness Month

While there’s a National Day for pretty much anything nowadays, some of these designated days, weeks, and months are for important reasons. They encourage people to learn about various life experiences that people may not otherwise have any interactions with. While National Coffee Day is fun for finding free coffee specials, we thought we’d mention an important one happening right now: April is National Stress Awareness Month and, this year, the theme is anxiety. 

The goal is to raise awareness around the negative impacts of stress on peoples’ relationships and livelihoods. “Stress” doesn’t have a simple definition because individuals experience it in many different ways and intensities. To put it vaguely, stress is generally physical, emotional, or mental tension or strain. It can have short-term and long-term (life-long) effects on our overall health.

Before we start hating on stress, it isn’t entirely evil.

Exercising is putting stress on your muscles or heart in order to strengthen them. Learning a new skill is putting stress on your comfort zone by expanding your knowledge or stamina. It takes stress for us to grow mentally, physically, and emotionally. However, most people experience this getting pushed too far into unhealthy habits and scenarios. 

Pushing yourself too far physically can result in injury. 

Pushing yourself too far mentally can result in burn-out and illness. 

Pushing yourself too far emotionally can establish dangerous insecurities that lead to poor relationships, decision-making, and unsafe situations. 

Like most things, there is a balance. 

So how do we differentiate between healthy stress and unhealthy stress? The toughest part is that it looks different for everybody. Challenges at work could be one person’s motivation versus another person’s depressive episode. A new workout routine could be one person’s victory to weight loss versus another person’s major health scare. It’s imperative to focus on your manifestations of stress without comparing them. Once you get more familiar with your physical, mental, and emotional boundaries, it’ll get easier to know when you (or someone else) is stepping on them. 

For example, if a competitive coworker makes you feel super insecure, take the opportunity to be mindful of it. 

Does your mind start catastrophizing? 

Does your heart start racing or your shoulders tense up? 

What aspect of this coworker is the root of your current stress? 

Seeing our reactions for what they are (without judgment) and understanding what triggers them helps us learn how to deal with similar situations moving forward. Often, reframing it can help prevent the stress from getting the upper hand. (Therapists are incredibly helpful with this part of the process!) 

Are you feeling stressed? Reflect on it! Whether it’s with a therapist, coach, or friend over coffee, take time to express it and get to know yourself a little better. It isn’t a bad thing to experience stress, it’s about how we handle it and bounce back that matters.

If you’d prefer a less verbal form of expression, try one of our upcoming SoulCollage workshops (the next is 4/16 from 1:00pm – 3:30pm) or learning about our Art Therapy services. Register by contacting lynne@life-after-loss.com or 630.567.8171.

You can learn more about our mental health services (women’s therapy, EMDR therapy, Reiki, Tarot, and more) on our website or by contacting us at 630-999-8236 or info@forwardemotion.com. 

 

Sources:

National Stress Awareness Month. National Institutes of Health. https://hr.nih.gov/working-nih/civil/national-stress-awareness-month