5 Stress Management Habits to Help You Stay on Track

Insomnia, heartburn, erectile dysfunction, and anxiety are just a few health issues linked to stress. In fact, people often refer to stress as the new smoking, with good reason, so let’s focus on stress reduction.

Despite all our modern conveniences (or perhaps, in part, because of them), stress levels are at all-time highs. Most adults in the United States report an average stress level of 5 on a scale from 1-10 and nearly a quarter of adults report higher stress levels around 8-10.

Ongoing and heightened stress can wreak havoc on your health and wellness, and researchers continue to find links between stress and a wide range of health issues from anxiety and insomnia to heartburn and heart disease.

Since mental health is our focus, we understand all too well the effects stress can have on your well-being, and they’re not good. So, in this blog post, our team at Point of View Mental Health in Scottsdale, Arizona, focuses on stress reduction, including five great practices to bring you more peace of mind.

A quick word about stress

Before we dive into ways to reduce stress in your life, let’s set the stage a little more for why stress reduction is so important.

When you feel threatened, your body enters fight-or-flight mode. This stress response is kicked off by your cortisol hormones. These hormones lead to physiological changes in your body designed to help you stand your ground or flee. Changes include:

Muscle tension
An increase in blood pressure and heart rate
Pupil dilation
Rapid breathing
More oxygen to your brain

These responses are meant to flare for a short period and then go away once the threat is over.

With chronic stress, you’re stuck in this stress response and the effects can exact a toll on your physical and mental health, especially if the stress turns the corner into an anxiety disorder or depression, which is very common.

Improving your mental health through stress reduction

Now that we appreciate how stress can affect your well-being, let’s look at some solid practices for reducing stress:

1. Exercise

One of the best ways to quickly reduce stress is to exercise, which sets off a different metabolic chain than the one involved in stress.

More specifically, exercise increases the production of endorphins, your body’s natural painkillers and mood elevators. While this effect alone is great for combating stress, exercise can also reduce the level of stress hormones in your body, making this stress-busting technique a win-win.

2. Meditation and mindfulness

Much of what we stress about are things we have no control over, such as the future or the past. A great way to reduce stress is to stay in the present through meditation and mindfulness, which are grounding and acceptance practices that keep you in the here and now.

There are myriad apps for meditation that can help you get started, and practicing just 15 minutes a day can make a big difference in your stress levels.

3. Time with friends and loved ones

If you take some of this mindfulness and direct it toward your loved ones, this is also a great way to reduce stress. Spending time with family and friends, including your pet, can keep you focused on what’s important in life, rather than worrying about things beyond your reach.

4. Deep breathing

If you’re having a particularly stressful moment, take a quick timeout for some deep breathing — inhale through your nose for four seconds, hold for a second, and then exhale through your mouth for six seconds. And repeat.

This deep, mindful breathing can reset and soothe your nervous system and reduce your stress response.

5. Unplug

If you haven’t noticed, bad news sells so it’s all you see when you turn on the TV or look at your phone. If you want to destress, make it a practice to unplug from the world and turn your attention to the good things in life, such as dinner with your family or a good book.

If you make an effort with these five stress-relieving recommendations — commit to practicing them every day for at least a month — we’re confident stress will begin to release its hold on you.

If you’d like a more detailed stress relief plan, we can help. To get started, simply call our office at 520-999-9114 or connect with us online. We also offer telemedicine services throughout the state of Arizona.