stress Archives - AZupkaCounseling

April 29, 2024 by Alan Zupka

Managing Stress: 5 Effective Strategies

Did you know that chronic stress can have serious consequences on your health? It’s true—stress can make it difficult to sleep, weaken your immune system, and lead to other problems like heart attacks, strokes, anxiety, and depression. Plus, stress can cause irritability, lack of motivation, and difficulty concentrating, thereby negatively impacting your work and personal relationships.

If you’re feeling stressed, one of the best things you can do is speak to a therapist who can recommend stress relief techniques that are tailored to your specific circumstances. But in the meantime, we’ve compiled the following five strategies for stress management.

1. Eat a Nutritious Diet

It’s very common for stressed individuals to turn to comfort foods, which are typically high in fat and sugar. But it’s important to stick to a balanced diet, even in times of stress. Research shows that certain foods can impact stress levels—for example, lean proteins and herbal teas can help reduce stress, while refined carbohydrates and caffeine can make you feel more stressed.

2. Exercise

Stress often causes chronic fatigue, and if that’s the case for you, you may have a hard time summoning the motivation to work out. But it’s important that you find a way to incorporate some type of physical activity into your daily routine. Exercising can stimulate the body to produce endorphins and reduce its levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.

3. Establish Boundaries

Do you often feel stressed because you’re being pulled in too many directions at once? Setting healthy boundaries may help. For example, at work, this may involve shutting down your computer at a certain time each day, speaking up when you have too much on your plate, and avoiding office gossip.

4. Make Time to Relax

When work, school, and family obligations become overwhelming, you may feel like you don’t have any time left over to focus on yourself, but it’s important to carve out time for self-care and relaxation. Think about what brings you peace—whether that’s going to the movies, getting a pedicure, or working on a jigsaw puzzle—and set aside time to do that on a regular basis.

5. Meditate

Research shows that focusing on what’s going on around you and letting go of any intrusive thoughts and feelings can greatly reduce stress levels. One of the best things about meditation is that it can be done almost anywhere, so you can employ this technique whenever you start to feel stressed throughout the day.

Need Help Coping With Stress?

If you’re looking to improve your stress management skills, we can help. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

November 27, 2022 by Alan Zupka

Stress’s Physiological Impact on the Body

The old saying goes, “Into every life, a little rain must fall.” Stress is like rain. A little of it can be a good thing. But too much can cause havoc and devastation.

Our bodies are designed to handle a little bit of acute or sudden stress. But when stress is prolonged or becomes chronic, it can devastate our health.

Here are just some of the ways stress can negatively impact your body:

Respiratory Issues

Prolonged stress can lead to respiratory issues such as shortness of breath. Individuals who do not have an underlying respiratory disease may not be very impacted. But for those with pre-existing conditions such as COPD and asthma, stress can dangerously exacerbate the situation.

Heart Health

When we are stressed, we are in fight or flight mode. This causes our heart to beat faster and our blood vessels to dilate. In short-term scenarios, these physical manifestations help get us out of danger.

But for prolonged periods, this can put a lot of stress on our heart and blood vessels, potentially leading to a heart attack or stroke.

Gut Health

Did you know that 80% of your immune system is located in your gut? It’s incredibly important to ensure your gut is healthy!

But chronic stress can wreak havoc on your gut by changing the beneficial gut bacteria, and a change in this bacteria can negatively impact your mood. Consequently, when you’re already feeling stressed, the last thing you need is also to feel depressed.

Sexual Health

The nervous system influences both the male and female reproductive systems. When we are stressed, our sexual hormones can get out of balance, and we can lose sexual desire. Men may find it hard to achieve and maintain an erection. Stress can also make it hard to conceive and affect a woman’s menstrual cycle.

As you can see, stress can really negatively impact your physical health. While we cannot stop the rain from falling or stress from entering our lives, we can practice healthy stress management. That means eating right, getting enough exercise, and getting quality sleep each night.

SOURCES:

October 9, 2022 by Alan Zupka

The Three Types of Stress

Stress is a normal part of life. And a little bit of stress can actually be a good thing. For instance, when we lift weights, we are stressing our muscles, helping them to become bigger and stronger. Similarly, little bits of mental stress can help us become more skilled and resilient.

But too much of any type of stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and overall health. The following are the three main types of stress according to the American Psychological Association:

Acute Stress

Acute stress occurs suddenly and out of the blue. Your boss may throw you a big project to finish under a tight deadline. Or you just barely missed a bad car accident. You will experience an elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and perhaps a migraine for a short period.

Episodic Acute Stress

These are mini-crises that happen to some people on a fairly regular basis. Some people take on too much responsibility or are somehow overburdened in their life, and so they live in a constant state of tension.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress results from serious life problems that wear us down for months or years. There is really no let up with this type of stress. Chronic stress has been linked to heart disease and stroke.

Chiropractic to Help Beat the Effects of Stress

Seeing a chiropractor won’t magically make you immune from stressful events in your life. But regular chiropractic care can help your body deal with the effects of stress on your body. Whether you need help with tense muscles, ease headache symptoms, or get a better night’s sleep, we can help you hold onto your health and well-being.

If you’d like a free consultation, please give us a call or stop by our office.

November 14, 2021 by Alan Zupka

How to Prevent Burnout

Not many people get through life without experiencing burnout at some point. Whether it’s from working more than one job, taking care of a sick loved one, or juggling family life while going back to school, burnout is real, and it negatively impacts your life and health.

Common Signs of Burnout

If you think you may be experiencing burnout but are unsure, here are some of the most common signs:

Physical and mental exhaustion
Feeling overwhelmed
A need to isolate
Fantasies of escaping
Irritability
Frequent illnesses such as colds and flues

5 Ways to Prevent Burnout

Exercise

You know exercise is necessary for your physical health, but it is also fantastic for your mental and emotional health as well. Physical activity helps our bodies secrete feel-good hormones, which give our mood a boost. So be sure to commit to exercising at least 3-4 times a week.

Get Enough Rest

It’s essential to get enough restorative sleep each night. Sleep not only helps our bodies build and repair new tissue, but it helps us be able to feel calm and focus.

If you have trouble getting enough ZZZZZs each night, skip caffeinated beverages past 2 pm, ban smartphones and other electronics from the bedroom, and establish a relaxing nighttime ritual like meditation, reading, or taking a bath.

Validate Your Feelings

“Keep calm and carry on.” That’s a fun saying for a throw pillow, but it’s not always the best advice. Sometimes it’s important to admit that you are struggling and that you need a break.

Remember to Play

Just because you’re an adult, that doesn’t mean you don’t need some downtime to just have fun. Whether you want to play a sport, enjoy a hobby, or go to the theater, be sure to make time each week to enjoy yourself and your life.

Ask for Help

During stressful times, it’s important to reach out to others for help. Sometimes all we need is a friendly ear to listen to what’s on our minds and hearts. Let your friends and family know you could use a little support.

If your stress levels don’t seem to go down, you may want to consider working with a counselor who can help you navigate your feelings and offer coping strategies to deal with the issues you have going on.

If you’d like to speak with someone, please reach out to me.