Stress Management Skills

We are all familiar with the word ‘stress’, nowadays it has become a

fashionable concept. The mental stress that doesn’t get noticed leads to

physical stress. Most people cannot cope with their stress properly or deal

with it sufficiently. Doctors, scientist, psychologist confirm that a high

percentage of diseases have a psychosomatic cause; these diseases are

induced by tensions, pressures or a negative attitude towards life that

influence the body and the mind and in due course of time lead to a

medical disorder. In addition, highly stressed mind lose the ethical values

like humaneness, respect, compassion and caring for others. So stress is a

very high-risk factor we are dealing in our day to day life. It is important to

understand the cause of stress and learn effective measures to make our

stress as eustress rather than distress. In this topic, we are going to learn

about Stress Management Skills.

What is Stress and Stress Management?

circumstance or event that requires immediate action and attention. This

reaction initiates our nervous system to produce adrenaline and cortisol

functions of our immune, digestive and reproductive system. That is why it

becomes essential to handle our stress level effectively to keep ourselves

physically and mentally fit.

Stress management is a process that helps an individual to control stress

level by practicing self-care, relaxation and also imparts some techniques to

handle stress when it occurs. It is a “set of techniques and programs

intended to help people to deal more effectively with stress in their lives by

analyzing the specific stressors and taking positive actions to minimize their

effect” (Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine).

Causes of Stress
The actual cause of stress varies from person to person; a situation may be

stressful for an individual but for others, it may consider as challenging. The

various stressful conditions and situations which plague the mind of many

people are called ‘stressors’. The stressors are generated by our own

perception depending on our personal traits, thought process, habits,

available resources and so on. Some people consider financial issues, health

problem, conflict in the relationship, job satisfaction, etc. as the source of

like a busy schedule, time pressure. Actually, when the challenges are

greater than our ability to encounter them, we feel stress.

Effects of Stress
We always consider stress as a negative impression on our mind. But a

certain amount of tension is helpful for triggering a stimulus to overcome

the challenging situation. A certain amount of positive stress which is

known as eustress is vital to enhance our positive energy. On the other

hand, the negative stress which we call distress is responsible for all kinds

of physical, mental, behavioral problem. The below diagram clarifies the

various patterns of stress level on ourselves.

equilibrium as well as physical health. We detract from a healthy lifestyle

and even a high amount of stress hampers our productivity level also. The

ultimate purpose of our life is to enjoy a balanced life with timely work,

healthy relationships, relaxation, and fun. That is why, effective stress

management is essential to handle our stress level efficiently when it

occurs, that we can think clearly, perform our professional role productively

and relish healthy life.

All in One Project Management Bundle (100+

Related Courses
Project Management Training Certification (30 Courses)PMP Training (12
Courses)Agile Scrum Training (7 Courses)

Various skills or techniques to handle stress

where the stress begins; in order to prevent the stress from occurring at the

outset, we should follow some strategies. But the strategies of stress

management varies from person to person based on individual’s stressors.

There are various stress management techniques that can implement to

handle the stress effectively. Some approaches that address stress

physically and psychologically and helps to develop the skill of resilience.

Some useful stress management techniques include:

Work schedules sometimes become overloaded which causes some

individuals to feel overwhelmed. In order to manage this kind of

situation, one can make a plan of priorities to do the work

accordingly. This will help to reduce the stress and even a

manageable schedule which can complete within the time frame.

2. Self-limitations: Knowing your own limitation and to perform your

work accordingly helps to alleviate the unnecessary stress. Creating

your own boundaries is essential for healthy stress-free living.

Boundaries mean we create some internal rules for ourselves to take

care of our well-being. Sometimes it is good not to involve in any

kind of racing thoughts which may also aggravate stress. It is

suggestible to deviate your mind from that kind of thought and

involve yourself with some activities which give relaxation and

refreshment to your mind.

3. Friendly social network: Sometimes a supportive network of friends

and relatives help to face the challenging situation with stability and

less stress. Their encouraging words and listening ears become

supportive.
4. Reduce the noise: You may try to distract yourself for all kinds of

technologically advanced gadget and manage some time to stay in

quietness. You can notice that those things which you consider most

important for day to day life are very trivial.

5. ABC technique: The well-known ABC (A – Adversity or stressful

situation, B – Beliefs or the way response to the situation, C –

Consequences or the result of your belief) technique was first

introduced by psychiatrist DR. Albert Ellis and later it was adopted by

Martin Seligman. The purpose of the technique is to think

optimistically.

6. Healthy Diet: A healthy balanced diet gives fuel to the body and

mind function; it helps us to cope up with any stressful situation.

Reducing the consumption of alcohol, caffeine, and sugar is a proven

way of decreasing stress or anxiety. If our body gets proper nutrients,

stress can likely occur in our everyday life.

7. Exercise: Maintaining a consistent routine exercise is a sign of

following a healthy lifestyle. Exercise helps our body to reduce

tensions and relax muscles.

exercise, yoga, yogic sleep, meditation to control our physical and

mental being. Meditation helps to calm down our body and mind to

awaken our inner power.

9. Sleep habit: Adequate sleep is necessary to rejuvenate ourselves. It is

helpful to boost our immune power and also increases mental

alertness, memory, and concentration.

Conclusion
Actually, stress comes about because our mind is everywhere, either

regretting past or glorifying future. That is why we should develop certain

stress management skill to cope up with stress in our daily activities and be

able to adore healthy life.