How to increase stress resistance: psychologist's advice

How often in the resume you can find a beautiful concept: "stress tolerant." However, in reality, not everyone can cope with the problems and difficulties that arise in life. Low stress resistance threatens with nervous breakdowns and a depressive state. To get rid of the negative effects of stress, you must constantly be prepared for them. But how to do this in practice?

Why are stresses dangerous?

In fact, stress does not always have only a negative effect on the body. “Soft” stresses, on the contrary, are even useful - they mobilize all the forces of the body, forcing the brain to work faster, activating the protective mechanism. If stress is not a constant occurrence of life, then sudden stressful situations train the psyche, help to cope with the complex tasks that somehow arise daily.

Another thing is if stress is a constant phenomenon. Regular pressure on the psyche does not activate, but, on the contrary, inhibits the body's defenses. After all, why fight the problem if it is still unsolvable? Nervous tension flows from one sphere to another - from working to personal life, because the brain simply does not know how to relax and is constantly in a state of stress. People begin to lose weight, sleep and appetite, apathy and even depression appear.

Here is a short list of negative manifestations of stress:

1. The risk of stroke and heart attack increases - it is not for nothing that they say that many managers literally "burn at work." Constant stress, a crushing sense of responsibility and fear of failure increase the risk of heart problems by 31%.
2. Diabetes is another manifestation of stressful situations in the body in the form of a disease. Regardless of genetics, age and weight, constant stress can lead to diabetes of at least the second type.
3. Lack of immunity due to stress hormone (cortisol). As you know, this increases the risk of getting any disease, moreover, the treatment can be delayed and complicated.
4. Children who are under attack by their peers also have serious health problems, in addition to their mental disorders. Scientists have proven that school stress can lead to brain cell death and premature aging in the future.

How to increase your own stress resistance

Awareness of the problem is a huge step towards solving it. If you stop ignoring the fact that work does not bring pleasure, but constant stress and anxiety, then you can get neurosis and health problems. Having accepted the emerging stresses as a problem, you can already begin to fight.

Problems should be treated more calmly - yes, it’s difficult, but this is exactly what is the way to increase stress resistance. We offer you several techniques that will help you learn how to relax. Remember that every day you need to learn to “turn off” problems, leaving them in the walls of your office. Pleasant moments are important in your life, not work achievements.

1. Sign up for yoga or taichi courses, learn breathing exercises and meditation. These exercises will help you find a balance of calm, teach you to relax even in a stressful situation, and additionally - heal the body, make it more flexible and plastic.
2. Any physical exercises - daily walks, jogging, cycling, rollerblading, swimming in the pool will help increase the level of hormones responsible for reducing anxiety. Psychologists also advise power sports and martial arts, during which you can "let off steam" and forget about the problem.
3. To improve your mood, your favorite hobby will help - even if it is not calm and relaxing.The main thing is that you enjoy doing your favorite thing.
4. But the “sluggish relaxation" behind the monitor or screen will not bring the desired result. Thoughtless viewing of programs and videos on the Internet does not unload the brain at all, as we used to think. It just for a while boggles the head with unnecessary information, which disappears exactly at the moment when the monitor goes out. Therefore, free time should be spent in conversations, sports or walking.
5. Sometimes relatives and friends who need you do not even relax on a legal day off. You should learn to say “no” to the next requests that eat up your free time. Allocate it to the benefit of your own body.
6. Use every opportunity to listen to classical music. Modern rhythms excite the nervous system. Listening to the radio on the way to work, we come to the office in order, inflated from loud music and the noisy voices of the hosts. In addition to the classics, it is useful to listen to the noise of nature - the sea, rain, birds.

The harmful way of avoiding daily problems and routines is the use of alcohol and delicious foods. However, it harms the body and creates only a false sense of relaxation - remember how tired you feel the next morning after a party. And carbohydrate-rich foods made from white flour increase levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. It is healthier to eat foods high in omega-3 acids - these are halibut, salmon, mackerel, and flax seeds. Food with vitamin B5 also benefits - pastries from whole grain flour, eggs and broccoli.

Frequent outdoor activities are helpful as it fills our bodies with vitamin D, the best natural antioxidant.

Of course, the best way to increase stress tolerance is to learn how to solve problems, perceiving them not as a threat to all future life, but as a small obstacle to the routine of daily affairs.

Video: how to develop stress resistance in a child