Stress can be defined as a physical, mental and emotional response to a challenging situation where it is often required for you to adapt or change. As you’ll be well aware, it’s a natural part of life and can be triggered by a multitude of factors such as work, relationships, finances, health issues and big life events. How stress manifests itself is different for everyone, though tension, anxiety, fatigue, irritability and difficulty concentrating are all common.
What are the two main types of stress?
Short term stress, known as acute stress, can be beneficial for some people and cause them to perform better. Acute stress could be triggered by a sudden deadline at work or witnessing a car accident, it triggers the body’s flight or fight response, which releases the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. For a lot of people, an increased heart rate, muscle tension and bladder urgency are all common symptoms in response to acute stress, designed to prompt movement or action.
Chronic stress, on the other hand, is a long term and ongoing stress response that persists over an extended period. Chronic stress often results due to ongoing difficult conditions such as financial problems or a stressful job. The constant release of stress hormones in response to chronic stress has the potential to negatively impact both physical and mental health over time.
What impact does stress have on our eating behaviour?
We know from the research that stress and emotional conditions affect eating behaviour, however it’s thought to affect appetite inversely meaning that some people tend to eat more in these conditions whereas some people tend to eat less.
For some, the increase in the release of the hormone cortisol in response to stress can increase appetite and induce cravings for high calorie, comfort foods. Sometimes this is in conjunction with emotional eating, where a person eats to deal with the negative emotions or to feel better temporarily.
For others, stress can cause digestive problems or nausea, making it difficult to eat, thus resulting in a loss of appetite or under eating. Moreover, the feelings of anxiety and/or depression that can accompany stress can reduce a persons desire to eat.
How can we begin to manage our response to stress?
First, let me reiterate, stress is a natural part of life and in most cases is unavoidable and out of control. Therefore, when attempting to manage our stress, it’s not about trying to eradicate it but rather, managing our response to it. The ideal scenario is that you’re able to become aware of how you’re feeling, meet yourself where you’re at and work out a response that will hopefully lessen the feelings of stress, even slightly.
Here are a few tips and practices that I like to use with my clients, next time you’re feeling stressed, I’d like to invite you to give some a go;
- Check in with yourself;
Take a moment to pause, if you can. Even just for 30 seconds. Notice how you feel physically; loose or holding tension? Notice any changes in your breathing; are your breaths quick, shallow or short? Pay attention to how your feel within your mind; are you distracted or engaged? Frustrated, competing for focus on maybe on high alert?
Becoming attune to how you feel will help to dictate the actions that follow.
- What brings you back to a calmer state?
Listing a few behaviours or actions that will either bring you up or down to a calmer state ahead of time will be a really helpful resource to refer back to. Some common ones might include; having 5 minutes away from your phone or computer, going for a walk and getting some fresh air, taking a break from work to sit and have a cup of tea in peace, playing some calming music, reading a few pages of a book, watching a funny video or talking to a friend, family member or work colleague.
Keep this list somewhere handy for you to return back to when you need it.
- Little and often
Rather than focussing on one big stress reducing behaviour, try to pay attention to little actions you can practice a couple of times a day, like a 10 minute phone free work break. These practices can still have a really beneficial impact and will likely be more achievable to complete in a time of heightened stress.
- Talk to yourself like you would a loved one
Talking to yourself in a negative manner, beating yourself up for being late, getting something wrong or missing a specific instruction won’t get you anywhere. Instead, think about how you might respond to a loved one who came to you with the same issue. What might you say to them? Try to work with your inner critic, rather than against it. For example, how might it feel to view the situation like this..? What would it look like if I reframed the situation in this way..?
The power of social connection
Finally, research has consistently shown that social support is an effective buffer against the negative impacts of stress on mental and physical health. Specifically, studies have reported that social support can reduce the harmful effects of stress on the immune and cardiovascular system as well as reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression.
What’s interesting is that these positive effects can come from small social interactions like catch ups in the staff room or the office, they don’t have to be a big emotional offload onto someone else if you’re not comfortable. Similarly, even just knowing that you have a support network around you when needed is enough to elicit these benefits.
As always, I hope you find this useful and insightful.
