Q's Health News

Stress… We all experience it; the amount of stress varies day to day; from situation to situation. Stress comes in different forms; the stress of planning a wedding is very different than the stress of losing a home, but you may experience similar symptoms. Some stress is beneficial; it helps you develop skills to deal with possible threatening situations in life. However, too much stress can have adverse health effects on you. Stress is not helpful when it prevents you from taking care of yourself and your family. You can put problems into perspective by finding healthy ways to cope with stress. Getting the right care and support can help reduce stressful feelings and symptoms.

Symptoms of stress can vary depending on the person. Some of the common symptoms include emotional signs such as being easily irritated, impatient, forgetful, feeling anxious, anger, depression, helplessness, feeling out of control and tense. Stress can also cause physical symptoms such as headache, neck pain, backache, stomach pain, tight muscles, and a tense jaw. A person can also experience feeling tired without a good reason or have difficulty sleeping.

Everyone must learn to cope with stress. Coping with stress by overeating, drinking a lot of caffeine, drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, or using illegal drugs are not healthy ways of coping. Overeating can lead to weight gain which can have poor health outcomes, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. Smoking, drinking and doing drugs have no health benefits either.

There are many positive ways to handle stress. Talking with family or friends about your stressors is a great way to share your feelings and blow off some steam. Daily physical activity can relieve mental and physical tension – go for a walk, do some squats or just stretch your muscles. Laugh! It really does do the body good; I save memes on my phone and when I’m having a particularly stressful time, I might take a moment to go to a meme and just laugh. Give up bad habits; like those bad coping mechanisms we talked about earlier. Slow down and get organized! Plan ahead, use to do lists, and give you enough time to get the most important things done. Try to get enough sleep. Sleeping can be difficult when you are stressed. However, if you get enough sleep (6-8 hours per night) most nights, you may be able to cope with stress better when it comes up.

We all deal with stress differently, but you need to find a healthy way that works for you. If there is an emergency at work and I’m feeling stressed and amped up, I may do a few jumping jacks or squats to release some of that energy before the patient gets here. I can get quite stressed when working with cattle, especially trying to get them into the alleyway to the chute… When I get stressed in this situation, I may use some strong language to relieve my stress. When you are feeling stressed take a little break if you can; walk away from the situation for a few minutes. Take a few slow deep breathes and just concentrate on breathing. It may help you calm down. During the day or at the end of a stressful day take 3-5 minutes to lie down, close your eyes and relax; concentrate on your breathing. Do this before jumping into everything that needs to get done at home. I’ve done this, and it can help me feel refreshed.

If you find that you are unable to cope with the stress yourself, there are counselors that can help you learn healthy coping mechanisms. If you need help and don’t know where to start, contact your primary healthcare provider.

Thanks for joining me again this month! If you have questions or comments, you can find me at Dahl Memorial Healthcare Association or you can email me at rwilliams@dmhainc.com.

Raquel S. Williams, RN BSN