So, stress...how do you handle it?

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Like the post title says, how do you deal with it? Because I've hit that time of year in school (college in this case) where all of my classes pile on ALL of their big projects at once and I just discovered that one of them is due tomorrow . Not to mention I've been stricken with the flu and can barely move on a daily basis because of it. I'm very easily susceptible to stress a lot of the time. So I was just wondering how other people dealt with it, and maybe take something from it. I guess this post could also be about emotional exhaustion. Since I feel pretty burned out and apathetic ALL the time.

One method is to make sure you have time alone to do whatever calms you the most. Sometimes I can postpone crying (meltdown) till I get home. And then I have to make myself not hide my feelings by reading or other escapes. Recognize it is the first step. Labeling it is the next. At least for me it helps to label each emotion as stress, temptions, etc. It is good that you are acknowledging that you are susceptible to it. Do you think the flu is caused by it? Or is the flu just not helping?

I know that if I don't let myself do something calming, stress will accumulate more than if I make myself color or other calming activities each day.

I smoke a lot of pot honestly. It really does help with stress and anxiety. Other than that if I have a lot of tasks at hand, I will organize my tasks and schedule them all, which makes me feel better.

I tend to whittle things down to the main priorities and find solutions for those. I put all the unimportant or non urgent stuff on a back burner (on hold) and focus on what needs to be done in regards to the task I am working on before moving on to the next task once the last one is finished.

One thing at a time basically and in order of importance.

Anything that does not get done...does not get done. I am not a robot and there are only 24 hours in a day and I cannot do more than I am physically capable of doing at any given time.

If people have complaints because I have not finished something they are waiting for...my apologies but the complaints department is closed and is not taking calls. When I become immortal and no longer require food and sleep I will consider reopening the complaints department again, but until that day, the staff there (meaning myself) are either busy or on vacation.

Failing that...I hide in my head and refuse to come out until the problems have magically gone away! Alternatively I hide on the internet and refuse to log off until the problems have gone away...but that mostly happens when I hit exhaustion and find myself too tired to function (complete energy wipe out) which is why I no longer push myself to take on more than I know I can manage at any point in time which is why the complaints department is presently closed...

I either try to ignore it if I have to leave the house or I just hide indoors until it goes away.

The most unhelpful advice is to dig in and work on the things causing you stress (provided that those things are time-constraint-based things, like classwork). The sooner you get things off your plate, the less stress you will feel. It's the good ol' Nike commercial slogan: Just Do It. There's always the addendum piece of advice to that which is to break things down into "more manageable pieces" and start knocking those off one at a time, with each piece knocked off decreasing your stress just a little bit more.

Oh, and the WORST advice is to "stop thinking about it - you're just stressing yourself out."

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Recognize that Stress = Fear of [something]

So, what I like to do is take a moment to figure out why I'm feeling stressed in the first place, which sometimes requires a lot of honesty and digging in my mind where my mind doesn't want to go, which is always towards something that is causing me some form of fear and anxiety. Most times it's because I'm upset with myself for procrastinating something in the first place (which I procrastinate things quite often). The reason I'm upset isn't exactly because I procrastinated as much as now I am potentially facing consequences for that procrastination which I don't want to face, which in the case of when I was in college equated to a late, sleepless night of cramming for a test and running the risk of getting a bad grade.

Stress = Fear of bad grade

Now, that example is me and my tendency to procrastinate. Your cause of stress may be something different, but the fear driving it is what's important.

For me, once I accept that the worst possible result CAN POSSIBLY RESULT, then I usually start to relax and let go of the stress. I guess it falls back to asking, "What's the worst that could happen," and as long as the answer isn't death (and sometimes even if it is), then once I accept it, I feel better.

THEN, once I feel better, I dig in and start getting things knocked out. Not only do I feel less stressed, but I tend to also feel energized to move forward in a very determined way, which almost always equates with the final result not being near as bad as my worst case scenario.

I guess it largely depends on what specifically causes the stress. Seems stupid to have done, looking back on it, but I felt that at the time, the only way to stop being so stressed was to quit the only job I've had a couple years ago. Probably could have done something different, but thinking about what could have been only causes more problems.

It's not exactly stress I deal with now, but more so a mild depression, if such a thing exists. Can't imagine I'd go about it in any significantly different way, though. Coming here and simply talking about it helps, or even just learning about others' experiences and their own hardships.

Personally, I deal with stress by releasing endorphins-an intense cardio workout usually makes me feel on top of the world. It may not fix the problem, but I feel like I can tackle anything after I am done with my workout.

Listen to music, read, play video games.

Things that help me clear my mind from whatever is bothering me.


If you're talking about sensory stress, I do my things

Sometimes being distracted can help a person to take their mind away from stress and anxiety, if a person hasn't been taught how to discern or deal with stress, putting them in a situation which causes them stress will only work against them, they need to learn the techniques to face stress first.

I prioritse what I have to do, and break it down into small, managable steps.
I also make sure I play lots of sport and listen to music and take breaks to recharge.

Simple things like deep breathing while standing with legs and arms apart. meditation, even 10min will help. Try walking or exercise

Coffee and cig stress the body. Cannabis removes stress very well,

I'm horrible with stress, so this advice is great for me too. thanks

That's the problem - I can't handle it.

We create much of our own stress by choosing how we perceive things. Change your perception, change your stress levels.