Tip of the Month
Sunflower Does your stress sometimes feel as if is getting out of control? Sometimes our stress levels can stress can creep up without us being aware. Stress can manifest itself in various ways. Look for headaches, back pain, irritability, feeling tense or rushed, forgetfulness, lack of motivation – these can all be ways that stress can be felt.
SunflowersLook at ways to reduce your stress. Ask yourself does this have to be done now? Don’t be too hard on yourself, ask for help where you can or put the task off until another time. Use positive self-talk to counter negative thinking, to turn any negative thoughts around. Look at small things that can create stress – are you always running late in the morning. Look at preparations you can make the night before to overcome this.
Try to be proactive and recognise when stressful situations are coming up. If the stress cannot be avoided then plan what you can do to minimise the stress. Take extra time to pamper yourself, buy yourself some flowers, or pick flowers from the garden to take to work. Buy some special bath or shower products to boost feeling good about yourself. The perfume will remind you during the day of small pleasures enjoyed away from the stress.
SunflowersTake time out during the day for a stress buster, take a deep breath and exhale slowly, repeat three times. During this time concentrate on the air entering your body, filling your lungs and slowly leaving. Sit or stand up straight, stretch your arms over your head and slowly bring them back to your side. Move your head form side to side and gently rotate. Close your eyes and picture your favourite scene, to move yourself out of the stress if only for a few brief moments. Put up a small reminder to use your stress buster techniques at least once every couple of hours.
If the person you care for suffers from stress there are strategies you can use to help reduce the stress. Look at things that may be causing stress. It may help to write these down in a column and then alongside write down some actions, which can either eliminate or counter the stress.
If the stress can’t be avoided then look at ways to balance out the stress with more pleasurable experiences. Encourage the person to express their stressful feelings, to look at ways of turning negatives around. Think of ways to support your special person, such as extra acts of kindness and pampering in recognition of the stress can balance out negative effects.
Don’t forget laughter as a stress buster. Go and see a funny movie, hire a comedy video, read an amusing book as way of encouraging laughter. Try to find the humour in day-to-day activities. Laughter where appropriate can defuse many stressful situations.
For more tips for carers visit the information for carers page
What is Stress Management? Stress management is the exercising of control over stressful events. This can help by making the stressful events feel less stressful because you are able to actively do something about them in a positive way. Stress management techniques may also reduce the tendency to develop depression in response to stressful events.