Stress Awareness Month

Hello everyone! You may or may not know that April is stress awareness month. The theme for this year is ‘Regaining Connectivity, Certainty and Control’ after a UK study revealed that 65% of people in the UK have felt more stressed since the COVID-19 restrictions began in March 2020 due to feelings of disconnection, uncertainty, and a worrying loss of control. We know that these concerns would have been felt within our community too especially around life going back to normal so it would be good to hear what has worked for people in terms of coping with stress?

In line with this year’s theme, is there anything that helps you feel more connected to others, gain a greater sense of control, or manage feelings of uncertainty?

[PB58]

I find that following some sort of routine helps with feeling in control & is also amazingly calming when I feel stressful. It can be anything from waking/going to bed at roughly the same time, to taking a regular route on your daily walk. Knowing that we can control even one element in our lives can add to our sense of being more able to control difficult situations or intrusive, damaging thoughts!Try it & let me know how it makes you feel; but remember to start small, with just one task or activity that you are able to routinely complete on a daily/weekly basis.

[Hidden in reply to PB58]

Thanks for sharing thisPB58 , having a routine is a great tip. I feel so off balanced the days or weeks I don't follow mine. It makes a world of a difference when I return to it.

[younique]

Stress Awareness month is great, I'd never heard of it. Considering how deeply affected our overall health is by stress, it makes sense that more attention should be given to it. I cope through a combination of mindfulness and medication. I choose to lead a healthy lifestyle by cutting out toxins such as alcohol, caffeine and added sugars, and don't put myself in stressful situations. I am on low dose meds for anxiety and depression, which helps me keep a clear head. Mindfulness lets me be aware of how I'm feeling and redirect my thoughts if I need to. I also try to remain productive by having creative projects and continuing to improve my skills. I still feel like I'm suffocated by stress at times, and the heaviness of my challenges, but I try everyday to improve myself despite them. I've always heard such great things about yoga, so I think I'm going to try that next. I love animals and know if I had a pet that would help with stress too but my situation doesn't allow it. I want to try bird watching as well and get out in nature more. Those are just a few things I've found to help me. I still struggle connecting with people since I live with a condition most people don't understand. So I focus my attention on self care and that seems to be working out ok for me.

[Hidden in reply to younique]

I'm glad to have brought it to your attention younique ! It looks you have a lots of different ways of managing stress as well as some new things to try....yoga sounds great! You're right that stress and life challenges can get the better of us sometimes, I think trying to improve yourself each day is a great way to keep moving forward. I know you say you struggle with connecting with people but I'd just like to say you connect with people on here in such an uplifting and supporting way. Thank you for sharing😊

[AlwaysSmiling Community Ambassador]

I never knew that this existed but thanks for sharing - I think it is very important!

I think it's perfectly understandable to feel stressed and even overwhelmed when there is so much going on that's out of our control. And I have to say that when we first went into lockdown last year, I let this loss of control get on top of me too much. But, then I realised something... yes, there are lots of things in life that are completely out of our control (which can be very stressful) but, there are also lots of things that we can.

Once I thought about this realistically, I was able to acknowledge the things I couldn't change and then focus on the things that I could. Even if they were just little things. As much as I wanted to escape the pandemic and pretend it wasn't happening, I knew that I couldn't so I accepted that and found ways to try and make the best of the situation. In the end, I feel like the past year has been a good opportunity for me to find who I am, what I want to do with my life and what's really important... all because I accepted the things I couldn't control and focused on what I could.

This wasn't easy at first and I did get quite stressed (and still sometimes do). But two big stress relievers for me are music and nature. I'll go out for a walk with no-one but me and my dog and this really allows me to clear my head and see things more realistically. If that doesn't work, I turn to music. It has always been a big part of my life and never fails to make me feel better. I usually sing because this really makes me feel good but sometimes I'll just sit and listen to the lyrics of a song to just be in the moment. This really helps me... maybe it could help you too?

[Hidden in reply to AlwaysSmiling]

I love this AlwaysSmiling -accepting the things we can't control and focusing on what we can. What a great perspective and I can hear the positive impact that has had for you. Music has always been my go to stress reliever as well. I never really enjoyed the benefits of nature and walking until that was all we could really do during the lockdown. I love my walks now and it will be a part of my routine even once all the restrictions are lifted. Thanks for sharing 😊