Stress comes with life but not all of stress is bad for us. Some stress can be beneficial. The right amount of emotional stress can give us energy and focus. The same goes with physical stress, the appropriate amount of physical stress can strengthen us, enhance our immune system, and trigger cognitive regeneration. But too much stress can be detrimental.
Too much psychological stress can have a negative impact upon the body’s immune system. Chronic psychosocial stress promotes accelerated aging at the cellular level and increases vulnerability to numerous diseases. Research reported in a September 20th, 2023 in Molecular Psychiatry offered a fascinating look at how high levels of stress can negate the benefits of a healthy diet, further emphasizing the importance of stress management for overall health. The researchersdiscovered that individuals who had a high level of prior day stressors experienced no dietary benefits from eating a healthy meal compared to a group of individuals who ate an unhealthy meal. The people who ate the healthy meal with the prior day stressors had the same inflammatory responses as the group who ate the unhealthy meal.
There are unlimited ways to reduce feelings of anxiety before they become too intense and all-consuming. The following are a few ways to gain some temporary relief when stress starts to build up to unmanageable ways. One way is to do some breathwork. When we slow our breath and breathe deeper, we tap into our parasympathetic nervous system which helps our body to rest and heal. Another way to manage stress is use a distraction technique. Sometimes being nosy can help. People in a study were asked to think about a recent bad experience. The group was split into two groups. People in the first group were able to eavesdrop on researchers who were in conversations with other researchers. The people in the second group who were not able to eavesdrop still ruminated over the bad experience while the ones who were able to eavesdrop stop ruminating over a bad experience. When ruminating focus on an image of something else like a picture on the wall or imagine an image in nature. In addition, another technique is called grounding. One way to ground is to come into the present moment by identifying three things you can see and identifying three things you can hear.
The above stress management techniques may be effective for the moment but they repress anxiety rather than work through the sources of your anxiety. In the next few articles, we will look at ways to work through the sources of our anxiety. In the meantime, be nosy.
