Stress Management
Coping with Stress
The tools and skills below will help you get better at dealing with stress, but there is no such thing as a stress-free life. Part of life is dealing with stress. Here are three groups of practical solutions you can use to decrease your level of stress:
1) Positive self-talk
Self-talk is what we say to ourselves, and the way we think about ourselves. Some examples of replacing negative self-talk with positive:
“I can get through this” instead of “I can’t handle this”
“I’m okay just the way I am” instead of “I need to change to get people to like me”
“I can learn to control my feelings” instead of “I can’t help how I feel, I’m miserable”
2) Avoid short-term coping actions. Here are some strategies that aren’t very helpful for long-term coping:
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Avoidance: Procrastination Skipping out Withdrawal Illness Sleep |
Distractions: TV Socializing Video games Shopping |
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Violence: Hurting others or yourself Throwing objects Yelling Hitting |
Chemicals: Smoking Sugar & caffeine Drugs & alcohol
|
** Short-term coping actions may give temporary relief, but in the long-run they can do more harm than good.
Learning to manage our stress well can improve many aspects of our lives. For example, stress management can give us:
* Increased ability to deal with problems
* Increased productivity
* Stronger relationships
* Increased energy
* Improved health
* Higher self-esteem
3) Think about a few more things:
There are a lot of ways to avoid or decrease stress. Here are some examples:
* Get enough sleep (at least 8 hours)
* Be active: do something you like and get your heart rate up
* Eat healthy food (fruit, veggies, whole grains)
* Find something that makes you laugh (a good friend, a movie, a funny memory)
* Talk to people you trust about your feelings
* Learn about managing your time so that things don’t pile up
Remember:
- Be patient with yourself. Realize solving big problems takes time
- Focus on accomplishments and progress instead of failures
- Avoid comparing your behaviour to others
- Set reasonable goals for yourself
- Have a back up plan
- Often ask yourself how much stress are you feeling
- Make a ?to do? list, rank order the items by priority, start with #1, and work down the list
- Remember that taking on too much too soon may lead to failure
- Think positive thoughts and try to keep a good sense of humour
- Recognize that a negative or angry emotional response may push away family and friends
- Avoid putting yourself down or pushing yourself too hard
- Get help from trusted people in your life
- Keep a healthy lifestyle by exercising, eating right, and avoiding caffine, alcohol, drugs and smoking
- Breathe slowly and deeply
- Take time for yourself and do something enjoyable
- Everyone struggles and feels stress at times. Realize that you can cope better by taking breaks and seeking help from others.
When you are really stressed out, here are a few more things to think about:
* YOU ARE HERE: accept where you are and go from there
* DON’T TRY TO PLEASE EVERYONE: leave something for yourself
* STRESS CAN BE AN ENERGIZER: harness that energy and focus on a task
* LAUGH: look for opportunities to laugh-laughter is great therapy
* TAKE CHARGE: of yourself; you can’t control other people’s actions
* RELAX: create quite time, meditate, listen to music
* GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK: pause and do something for you
* YOU ARE NOT ALONE: talk to someone you trust
Chat with us. Want help in your BC community?
E-mail us at: youthinbc@crisiscentre.bc.ca
