Chill, bro!
Money. Friends. Assignments. Girlfriends. Boyfriends. Parents. Marks.
There are so many challenges that we face in our everyday lives, and with it comes the unavoidable build-up of stress. This is our body’s response to threats and challenges, keeping us on our toes and sharpening our senses which can push us to focus on the assignment the night before it is due or even to be that little bit stronger. But, beyond a point the changes it makes to our mental and physical states can be quite harmful.
When we experience stress it can have a drastic effect on the way that we feel often making us moody, irritable, frustrated and anxious. It can also manifest as different physical effects: headaches, backaches, changes to our hunger level, indigestion and difficulty in sleeping.
So how do we manage stress??
Relax.
Take time out from the daily grind to chill out by doing what you love to do, be it: going for a walk, watching a movie, catching up with some friends, taking a nice long hot shower, etc. It may sound easy and the obvious things to do, but it’s amazing how easily we can become tied up in our stressful situation and just forget! Other techniques which we can employ to decrease our stress levels include practising breathing techniques and meditating.
Something have you stressed out? Looking for ways to de-stress and chill out? Join us on the ReachOut forums on Monday the 23rd of July, 8pm AEST.
Hope to see you there!
Hey everyone! 🙂
Welcome to tonight’s getting real session on Relaxation and Stress Management. Facilitating tonight’s session will be Michine, Rosie and I.
We’ll be discussing all about stress, ways to prevent stress, how it can impact our lives and ways to cope with it when it does.
As always, if anything in tonight’s session upsets you in any way there’s an emergency help tab in the top right hand corner which we urge you to use. Also keep in mind that we want to keep this discussion safe for everyone so try to stick to the community guidelines.
So to start us off here's the first question:
What are some of the things that stress you out the most? On the smiley scale how much do they stress you out (
)
Hi all! Looking forward to the discussion as I'm actively trying to improve my stress management at the moment.
What are some of the things that stress you out the most? On the smiley scale how much do they stress you out (
)
Fighting with family and friends/ trouble with my relationships =
Uni =
Work =
Not knowing what to do/ how to do something =
Not meeting my own expectations =
Money =
Loving this smiley scale btw!
Hey DD! Glad you could join us and thanks for sharing some of the things that are stressing you out.
There can be so many stressful things, can't there?
Some things that stress me out are:
Uni- always so many things to think about
Looking for work
Trying to keep up with so many committments
hey DD: Thanks for joining with us tonight!
Agree with not meeting our own expectations, that usually gets my blood boiling especially if I do it again!
@Lightuptheworld: Thankfully I do, but unfortunately no pianos to move 😞
Hey all
My stressors
Family conflict
Uni starting up again
Chores
Walking the dog
My to-do list before uni starts again
@Doris wrote:
Hey all
My stressors
Family conflict
Uni starting up again
Chores
Walking the dog
My to-do list before uni starts again
Sounds like you have a lot of things to do/think about!
Hey Doris, glad that you could join us :). I would of thought that walking a dog is great fun?
Now that we have a good idea of what really gets us all riled up...
How often do you feel stressed? Does it get particularly bad during certain times of the year?
How often do you feel stressed? Does it get particularly bad during certain times of the year?
I feel stressed fairly often lately. However it definitely gets worse during heavier assessment times, on prac, the festive season (or when we get a lot of visitors), and when I experience change or something new.
EDITED: I agree with LUTW, mine gets worse when I'm overcomitted too.
@delicatedreamer wrote:
How often do you feel stressed? Does it get particularly bad during certain times of the year?
I feel stressed fairly often lately. However it definitely gets worse during heavier assessment times, the festive season (or when we get a lot of visitors), and when I experience change or something new.
EDITED: I agree with LUTW, mine gets worse when I'm overcomitted too.
I'm also with you in terms of change/new things. adapting can be difficult sometimes.
How often do you feel stressed? Does it get particularly bad during certain times of the year?
I probably get stressed at least several days a week. It's probably worse at the beginning and end of semesters and times like that or when I take on too many things, etc.
I usually feel stressed about once a week, although that is usually frustration being built up as a result of being lazy and not getting things done.
The time which I'm usually most stressesed out is towards the end of the uni semester, no surprise there, as the assessments just keep piling up with the exams just around the corner.
@michine wrote:
I usually feel stressed about once a week, although that is usually frustration being built up as a result of being lazy and not getting things done.
The time which I'm usually most stressesed out is towards the end of the uni semester, no surprise there, as the assessments just keep piling up with the exams just around the corner.
How hard can it be to get motivated sometimes? I can definitely relate to that but I think I'm getting a little better with being organised which I've found helps to reduce the stress a bit, even if it's little bit by little bit.
How often do you feel stressed? Does it get particularly bad during certain times of the year?
I've been at uni so long now I htink I'm just trained to get stressed in June and October, even if I don't have any exams!
@Rosie: haha and here I was thinking 1.5 more years and I'll be stress free, guess not
@DD &Doris: Totally agree, I guess I should start planning now for the upcoming semester.
I agree with you guys. Procrastination definitely causes me stress too. But I am trying to be more organised this semester which is helping 🙂
@delicatedreamer wrote:
I agree with you guys. Procrastination definitely causes me stress too. But I am trying to be more organised this semester which is helping 🙂
Awesome that you're getting more organised! 🙂
Also, for all us that are procrastinators out there, there's an awesome new factsheet about motivation: http://au.reachout.com/7-ways-to-find-motivation 🙂
How does stress manifest in you? Do you think that it alters how you think, feel and even your physical health?
Emotionally, I think it makes me more irritable and prone to crying fits. I do think it can change my thinking too - I think it makes me more prone to wanting everything to happen a certain way. I think that's because when I'm really stressed I want to try and maintain some control over things when I feel like I'm losing control over others (if that makes sense?). I also think I'm more likely to fall into negative thinking patterns and think I can't cope or handle things. In terms of physical health it seems to have a negative impact on my sleep (hello insomnia!) and I usually eat more unheathily and do less exercise (unless I'm trying to use exercise as a management strategy).
.How does stress manifest in you? Do you think that it alters how you think, feel and even your physical health?
I just end up like this
*hide*
@ Rosie: That looks like it hurts!
Knowing how detrimental stress can be to our mindset as well as how we physically feel...
What do you normally do to relieve yourself of stress? Are there certain techniques you've used before?
@michine wrote:
Knowing how detrimental stress can be to our mindset as well as how we physically feel...
What do you normally do to relieve yourself of stress? Are there certain techniques you've used before?
Concentrate on my breathing, watch youtube vids, eat chocolate, drink water, listen to music, talk about it.
Or this
In other news, I just discovered searching gifs on tumblr.
@Rosie-RO wrote:
Or this
In other news, I just discovered searching gifs on tumblr.
Hahaha OMG yes, agreed Rosie!
