Nevertheless, there are many stress moments in our lives. How do we best deal with it? People deal with stress by Various coping strategies apply. Mostly: problem -oriented coping or emotional coping.
Coping strategies for stress:
- Take control of your own life:
Those who have an external control conviction believe that chance or external forces determine their fate.
Those who have convinced an internal control believe that they have their fate in their own hands.
- Self -control:
It is the ability to control impulses and to postpone short -term satisfaction in favor of larger long -term rewards.
The exercise of willpower temporarily exhausted the spiritual energy that is required for self -control in other tasks. Self -control requires attention and energy, but it predicts good adaptation, better grades and social success.- Optimism:
Optimists can work well under stress and have good health.
- Social support:
Social support helps in two ways to combat diseases.
It calms the cardiovascular system, which lowers blood pressure and stress hormone levels. It also fights diseases by strengthening immune function.
Close relationships offer us the possibility of "therapy of the open heart". It is an opportunity to entrust painful feelings.
- Sports activity:
Persistent activity increases the fitness of the heart and lungs and Reduces stress, depression and fears. It can weaken the influence of the genetic risk of obesity and increases the quality and duration of life.
Slightly depressive students who took part in an aerobics program showed significantly lower depression than those who did relaxation exercises or received no treatment
- Relaxation:
More than 60 studies have shown that relaxation procedures for headaches, high blood pressure, anxiety and insomnia can provide relief. Mindfulness meditation: A reflexive practice in which people have current experiences in a non -evaluating and accepting manner.
- Factor belief § religious:
Religiously active people tend to live longer than those that are not religiously active. The possible explanations include the effects of the intervening variables, such as: B. the healthy behaviors, social support or the positive emotions that can often be found in humans who regularly attend services.
- Sleep and sleep hygiene:
When we are stressed, we often sleep less, and if we sleep less, we are stressed. It is exhausting to just think about it. If you have survived a stressful day, enough good sleep (especially sleep in the event of fast eye movements) can be an important relaxation strategy. Chronic sleep deprivation can disrupt our stress response system and reduce our ability to deal with stressors.
- Progressive muscle relaxation:
With progressive muscle relaxation, different muscle groups (e.g. legs, stomach, back) are tense and relaxed one after the other. In addition to many advantages, the progressive muscle relaxation reduces the cortisol level in saliva, anxiety, heart rate and blood pressure.
- Guided imagination interventions
They demonstrably reduce stress and help with the treatment of depression. Guided imagination practices activate the senses and conjure up memories or pictures of calm places. These positive mental images induce a peaceful state of mind.
- humor
Other researchers have found that students who are more humorous in their approach to working stress were better able to deal with it and reported more about greater job satisfaction.
- Breathing exercises:
Tief breathing techniques help to calm the physiological systems in the body, to lower heart rate and blood pressure, to increase the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and reduce the cortisol level;
- Reframing:
Reduce your thinking: One of the best research -supported treatments for stress and fear is cognitive behavior therapy or CBT. At the root of this therapy, the understanding is that our thoughts influence our emotions, which in turn influence our behavior.
- Pets:
You may already have known that pets are one of the most effective remedies for stress. And now the science says that too. Washington State University carried out a study in 2019 that confirms this. The organizers of the study gathered 249 students for an activity: stroking dogs and cats for 10 minutes. They make the cortisol level, the hormone associated with stress. The result?: Cortisol (and thus stress) was significantly reduced in a short time.
Sources: https://www.apa.org/topics/stress; Psychology - C. Nathan Dewall, David G. Myers, 2021; McCann & Holmes, 1984; Suchecki, Tiba & Macado, 2012; Suchecki et al., 2012; Varvogli & Darviri, 2011; Booth-butterfield, Booth-Butterfield, & Wanzer, 2007; Perciavalle et al., 2017; https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2019/07/15/study-demonstrates-stress-tress-tress-benefits-petting-dogs-cats/
