How do you handle stress?

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Everyone handles it differently. Me? I come on here and rant until I feel better. I've been doing it for the past 4 months, and never felt better.

Well I don't handle it very well at all.

Same here. I tend to have more meltdowns or shut downs and I get more autistic and bitchy. The anxiety just gets in the way. I do not handle it well.

well that depends. Stress at it's worse, I make sure no one (friends, etc.) has access to me (at least I try). I might cut off my phone or something. And at times I literally search for cool/unique/quick/painless ways to commit suicide just in case I ever get the balls (I'm still kind of a wimp when it comes to the whole shooting yourself thing). Regular stress however is a little bit easier, I might just go to sleep, or waste time watching reruns of random shows, walk around the kitchen even though I know I'm not even hungry. Sometimes taking a drive helps. I'll usually bring a couple of cd's and go to places I have never driven before. I remember the first time I went to the movies by myself. I thought just then wtf is wrong with me. *smh* There are lots of other things too. I can't think of them all at this very moment though.

Shut down, cry, yell, or escape somewhere and calm down. I have a low tolerance for stress, so I just avoid it as much as possible.

So far, very badly. Always causes problems.

Not very well, thanks.

I'm a stressy person, and I always have been. Anything little thing stresses me out, and that is why I rant and rave and complain about everything and wallow in self-pity all the time and I have a lot of aggression in me because of it. It's all because I don't handle stress very well. Yes, I do express the emotion to other people, but they just accuse me of moaning.

Try to avoid it in advance which doesn't always work since there are many unexpected changes and eventualities.

Worst is with people who don't know me and insist on something despite my lack of reaction on them.

Strangers tend to even increase their efforts to engage me in conversation, which inevitably leads to a meltdown if i can't escape the situation.

I never reacted to stressful situations when younger I just dealt with it and moved on. I would get sick a lot though. My doctor told me it was because I bottled up my stress. Then my dog, who was youngat the time, and myself were attacked by two nasty beasts who escaped their home. We were playing in a nearby park. From that moment on I knew something of what it must be like for men and woman to come home from war. You click into this fight or flight mode and there is no way to turn it off. I almost want to go back to bottling.

I avoid stress and exercise

When stress is mostly caused from difficult situations I have a rest, allow time to process what the plan of attack should be, dont focus on the big picture and break everything down and tackle it one step at a time.

If its caused from sensory overload or too much going on - i need time alone, in a fun activity, or exercise, time to rest and recouperate with little stimulation (darkened room, escape into a book, yoga, meditation)

If I'm especially stressed... I will cry or scream, find a quiet place to be alone (preferably my room) and hug a stuffed animal until I've calmed down. Other times, I rant about what's bothering me in a journal or something.

I don't deal with it well. I have two typical responses- I try to control absolutely everything in some belief that it will make it easier. Or I just completely shutdown and avoid the stressor entirely.

I usually just go out and search stars with my telescope or i run or dance.

Stim like there's no tomorrow! Escape to my "other world."

Or, depending on the situation, have a huge meltdown.

Or get away to quiet place. Hiking is good for this.

I've got a variety of ways to deal with stress. Much of the time, the choice I make for 'dealing' with the stress depends quite a bit on the stressor itself...what type of stress it is, how I've been impacted by the stressor in the past, how long I can anticipate the stressor being present in my life, etc. I've 'dealt' with stress by decreasing or eliminating the stressor's source, attempting to address stressors via present company's approved procedures - then, if not getting/seeing necessary changes, releasing the stress/agitation into a high-vocabulary 'tantrum' (believe it or not, this has most commonly been effective for me...but, something I dislike as it is a version of 'intimidation' - it also wears me out), an occasional 'blowout' day (in which I do absolutely EVERYTHING that occurs to me...exercise, playing 'hard' music loudly (this often includes old Anthrax or Metallica...I also will use 'house' or techno/rave music), having a movie playing at the same time, pushing the vacuum around, just 'zinging' off everything I can until I can get the 'edge' off my overly high energy), sending a letter or an e-mail to a person (if they're the 'stressor')...sometimes just writing the letter but not actually sending it, color-pencilling an abstract, remembering to take some kind of 'B' supplement (B12, B6, whatever), physically changing my position within a stressful environment (i.e. different sitting area), make a meal I can 'savage' through (like ripping meat off a bone, crunching down on something I'd turned into ice, stabbing a potato with a fork, chomping jicama...), using chopsticks instead of a fork/spoon, using ASL instead of verbalizing, blowing bubbles in the back yard, 'escaping' by reading fiction, practicing visualization (this can be great fun ), timed gazing at my color-changing optic lamp, ensuring a minimal intake of caffeine, asking a campus Counselor to 'spearhead' certain communications, hanging (and changing 'often') scenic pictures of nature and favored animals (whenever I'm not actually able to be out in nature itself), ripping paper into tiny pieces (I 'shred' my own obsolete documents), taking a spa bath, listening to 'wordless' music, doing a 'wipe-down/shake-out' (similar to sluicing water off one's skin after showering) immediately after experiencing one of my 'flight-or-fights' (to try ramping down adrenaline), doing isometrics, or bursting out into one of my 'nervous' songs (in which I remake lyrics of commonly-known songs to fit the situation I may be trying to live through...it makes me laugh because songs I re-make are generally serious, even sacred songs that I treat rather sacrilegiously...inserting cuss words and such - ha!). This list could go on... but, it's past my bedtime and I'm getting stressed. LOL!