Emotional Stress Relief

Stress, including emotional stress, is a response to changes in our environments.

Under normal conditions, stress produces internal reactions that work to save our lives. Stress would normally be felt under times of duress such as accidents, emergencies, and deadlines.

However, in today’s hectic world, our bodies are under constant stress. Most of it can be avoided. How?

Most stress is not caused by outside factors; rather, it is caused by how we (learned to) react internally to external stimuli.

A big part is in fact subjective emotional stress.

To find out if you are plagued by this kind of mental tension we must know what the symptoms and what our personal triggers are, so we can manage it better. You can learn some methods of stress relief, to prevent a nervous overload all together.

The Difference Between Normal Stress and Emotional Stress

Normal stress is when a friend or family member calls with devastating news, you drive by an accident on the highway, or you just found out you have a project due at work and no time to work on it.

These types of stress can cause you to take immediate action. And this can temporary cause a bit of grief over the phone call, a sigh of relief as you realize that you are safe from the cause of the accident, or you get to work to make sure that project gets done.

If you get stuck in a chronic mental state of being under emotional stress, that's the time to take action. When the initial intent to adapt becomes a problem on its own.

Symptoms and Types

Chronic emotional stress has side effects such as depression, non-medical insomnia, panic attacks, malaise, increased or decrease appetite, or other seemingly unavoidable ailments that are common place in today’s western society.

Emotional stress can be caused by a single event, triggered by the scene of an event, or be prolonged over time from a hectic lifestyle.

The good news is that unlike the type of stress we have no control over, such as the near hit and miss while driving, or other tragedies; emotional stress is not only preventable, it is also curable, as are the long term effects that many today face as a consequence of it.

Above all, emotional focused strategies can be useful to treat a myriad of ailments. Remember the better recovery results by the use of clinic clowns like Patch Adams? Humor stress relief really helps in a lot of medical cases and daily life.

A Temporary State That Occurs To All Of Us

We have all experienced it at some point or another, the fatigue, the malaise; the mild depression that makes us want to put the covers over our head in the morning and say enough with it.

That time in our life when we just couldn’t take one more day of school or work because of the emotional drain we felt when we walked through that door.

Most of that perceived emotional drain was internal. It is how we react to whatever triggers walking through that door means to us.

Start Managing Your Stress

First on our list should be identifying what triggers your personal stress that is not truly emergency related. Then we can get to work on how we react to that stress.

Next we must work on finding time away from that stressor and work on healing it from within.

The three steps to reducing emotional stress in order to be well should include: removing ourselves from the environment, creating a stress management plan, and changing the way we react to emotional stressors.

A Three Step Plan To Deal With It

First remove yourself from the environment. While this may not always be easy, it is usually doable. While you could take a vacation, you might just take a break by breaking out of your normal routine.

If your emotional stress is caused by something at home or work you could take a break by going for a drive or a walk through a local park. If needed, you can do this task nearly everyday. This break should enable you to think clearly, as you are not at the scene of the crime, so to speak.

Next you need to come up with your very own stress management plan. If anxiety and stress are getting to you, then get a handle on them by keeping a schedule and learning to say no. Remember to schedule in time for you. Then use this time wisely to get a handle on your emotions. And learn not to over schedule yourself.

Consider the clear link between food and stress. Get onto a balanced diet for a better balanced mind and body.

If it is a certain person that is getting on your nerves and interaction with them is unavoidable, then try to minimize the time spent with them. If it is avoidable, learn to say no to destructive relationships.

Finally, we need to start to work on changing the way we react to situations. There’s an old adage that basically means we have two choices in life, we can let something affect us and depress us or we can get up, take action, and do something about it.

In most cases, this is 100% effective. If your job is the biggest part of your stress, get a new one. It wont be the end of the world if we have to change careers.

Useful Add-ons

Part of you plan should include therapy if needed, daily exercise, a well balance nourishing diet, plenty of sleep, and rest.

There are even more good therapy aids such as yoga, meditation, prayer, hobbies, alone time, a good book, or treatments whether medical or non-medical.

Sauna, sunshine, vitamins, music therapy for stress relief or a change of pace should be considered as part of the treatment as well.

Learn To Deal Better With People

If your friend, neighbor, or family member is causing you emotional distress, do some research and figure out new ways to deal with people.

While we cannot always move away, and there’s definitely no reason to kick your 12 year old out for loud music, or get a divorce from a sometimes annoying spouse, there are creative ways to handle these types of situations that can mean a healthier environment emotionally for all those involved.

Simple mindfulness exercises can help you tremendously seeing things as they are, without the additional -and often erroneous- layers of assumptions and judgement.

Negotiate directly a better situation with a clear focus on reality and a balanced hart can make a big difference in how to manage some conflicting relationships in family and work.

A Hopeful Conclusion

Depression can usually be cured or put at bay if it is caused by emotional stress. If it is your work, your family, or a particular situation or lifestyle that is causing you grief, then you can do something about it.

Self help anger management can tackle the other side of the emotional distress spectrum, when too much unleashed energy can lead to trouble.

The power is in your hands, so to speak. Often times changing what stresses us just means changing our minds, or how we look at the situation. Emotional stress is curable, and so are its side effects.

Getting started working on a stress relief plan right away can have a profound impact on your thinking and ability to cope with stressors.

Remember that life is about making choices and to learn from it.


Learn about relaxing music therapy

More about the interaction between Stress and Anxiety

An article about stress management for depression relief

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