[Thread] How do you deal with stress?
Started meditating now and use my Apple Watch for guidance. I wonder what other people are doing. Because I’m having some rough nights sleeping in due to anxiety. Avoiding anxiolytics or beta blockers for now. Also avoiding a mental health therapist for as long as I can.
TheOatmeal
Stealth
6 months ago
Everyone one has there own way to deal with stress.
My suggestion would be to not apply other’s idea and book an appointment in NIMHANS if you are still in Bangalore.
The sooner you start taking care of this, the more you will be relaxed.
Also, please don’t be dependent on meds. It will take time but you will be able to deal with this on your own.
I mean. I would be open to getting therapy but the stigma at my workplace is too much. I have some terrible colleagues that make me feel like shit everyday.
You don't have to tell your workplace about your visits to therapy. That's your personal life and falls in that boundary. And honestly no one should give f*** about people who stigmatize therapy visits
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Eco
Stealth
6 months ago
What’s causing the stress? Pay? Work? Layoffs? Marriage? For layoffs fear, you can spend daily sometime on upskilling? FOMO, cut social media?
I don’t think there would be a single solution. Identify the problem, work daily to make it better. But at some point you’ve to make peace with it, Not living in present worrying about future events won’t help a bit.
Stress is caused by ambiguity. In an outcome driven role not an effort driven role.
Eco
Stealth
6 months ago
I’m not in your shoes, but we have to stop thinking of work after work hours. Worrying doesn’t solve anything. Either you do something to fix it, or make a peace with it. I know it’s easier said than done. But work on it, also if body is tired enough you would get sleep easily, evening workout might help a little.
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I go for long bicycle rides or swim. These 2 activities help me disconnect from devices and spend some time in real world.
I have dealt with anxiety in the past and have overcome it. This happened few months before my engineering exam preparations.
I used to follow a packed schedule and used to sleep 6 hrs daily, and started just sleeping 5hrs when this started. Somehow my body tried to adapt to this, so I wouldn't feel sleepy at night. Also I used to worry a lot as well about exams. Then I increased my physical activity, thinking being more tired would help in sleeping and it worked for few weeks. But again my body adapted to it. I increased my physical activity a lot more. Again after couple of days my body again adapted to it and I started loosing sleep again. At this point I would just sleep 1 out of 3 days and would feel tired all the time. Also consulted a doctor and had to take a sleeping pill before my board exam. Pretty much had to give my exams in this state.
What worked: Since exam anxiety was the root cause, it started getting better after exams. But even after exams, if I get too stressed, I still get this problem.
1. What finally worked was change in my mindset. I used to worry too much. Had to learn how to be more chill.
2. Getting enough sunlight during day is also important. During my exam preparation, pretty much used to be inside rooms in artificial lights
3. Doing something other than studies/work. Some kind of relaxing hobby
4. Last but not the least, believing that this will get better. I faced hopelessness in this stage which prolonged this. Believe that this will get better.
Currently whenever I feel I'm going to reach same level of anxiety due to work, I drop everything to relax. Doesn't matter what deadline it is, because health comes first and I don't have the courage to go through all this again
Thank you. Hope my experience helps you in some way. Also, EDM music helped me fall asleep (the ones with no lyrics), until I didn't need it anymore
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You need to do a mindset shift at a deeper level. Depersonalise yourself from work.
Work hard but don't let it get personal. This is easier said than done. Took me over a year to see some significant changes.
Following tools helped me a lot:
> Regular journaling to let out my thoughts and vent
>Gratitude journaling daily (made me realise there is so much more to be thankful for than to be worried for)
> Fixing circadian rhythm (still working on it)
> Daily sunlight and moonlight exposure (this has a magical effect on anxiety. Just try for 15 days and see a difference)
> Taking sick leaves and logging off early to avoid burnout. It's very important to recognise burnout before it actually happens. If your anxiety is increasing, take a day off. Maybe spend your evenings with friends/family that day. Or revisit a hobby
> Reading is also a miracle for anxiety.
> Physical separation of work and personal phone is of utmost importance. Please please please keep two different sets if you don't already. See the impact in a month!
Tried therapy, going out, hobbies, workout, sports. Nothing really helped, all temporary escapes.
Going back to hometown. Getting into a relationship and getting married. Permanently resolved the issue. Good luck
I have been dealing with anxiety related issues since a decade now. Cause of my anxiety i figured out lately were too much perfection and high expectations and not looking at life other than work. I still am very serious about work and public impression and a bad day just spoils my week. I am trying daily yoga and evening walks. The important thing which works for me is taking baby steps and not wait for perfection.
Excellent answer. I genuinely believe that we perform better when under less stress. So stress management potentially unlocks insane productivity gains.
I often sleep late too due to high anxiety. I understand what you must be going through, and like you I am also doing everything on my hand to avoid sleep medications and therapy visits. Some changes I have induced that I feel are helping me out
Morning workout (I have forced myself to exercise in the morning so that my body and mind starts feeling tired faster into the night). The workout should be of moderate-high intensity: preferably running or lifting, both is even better
Clean diet, as much as possible but allow yourself to have your comfort food/snack in moderation
Limit alcohol/smoking. No caffeine post 5pm or atleast 8/10 hrs before you go to sleep
Chamomile tea before bed time, atleast 2 tea bags, some nights it's even 3 bags. Melatonin once or twice a week. VitD-Mag supplements as well (you can amazon MagnextD)
Read before bed time, nothing technical/functional/business/economic stuff. Because that gets your mind thinking on higher gears at that time of the night. Preferably graphic novels, memoirs or travel writing (but feel free to adapt accordingly)
All this is more geared towards helping you sleep earlier at night than directly relieving stress on spot, but it helps. I don't meditate, but I pray and that helps. You can try dynamic mediation too - like seriously picking up and playing a musical instrument, or board games (they are great too)
Hope you get through this. And likewise looking out at this thread to see what others are doing too
This issue actually pure. Thank you so much. I’ll get started on the supplementation and chamomile tea.
Work, office politics, Marriage, fear of Layoffs was (in fact it is) causing a lot of stress. I started doing meditation in the morning, at least the sleep problem is solved. I still need to figure out ways to reduce anxiety and stress.
1. Stop using smart watch. The more you see your heart rate and other metrics, the more stress yiu are going to experience.
2. Stop using Google to search for what your medical symptoms mean.
3. Stop over sharing of medical information with your colleagues. Whenever someone asks, tell them you are fine
These steps will take you away from Hyper Vigilance mode.
Also, journaling has been amazing for me. Just writing down everything negative that I felt during the day has a great cleansing effect on the psyche.
Have regular and scheduled sleeping times.
Gladiator24
Student
6 months ago
Work stress? Sir it's nothing compared to a fresher being unemployed 😃
Atleast you have a job cherish that.
It's not comparable. People dealing with work stress have also been freshers, so they know.
Salesforceswap
Stealth
6 months ago
Musical long walk and talk to own self
Hey @salt what helped me is
1. Therapy
2. Writing journal
3. Cut off thoughts post work hour
4. Identify triggers which were making me sad
5. Surround yourself with good positive people
6. Vent out to someone just to feel lighter
Overall just remember mental peace is everything nothing is more expensive than that
Salesforceswap
Stealth
6 months ago
Comics, kids , musical long walk and listen osho
Coderdude9
Student
6 months ago
I usually go to gym and get myself tired enough, so at the end of the day I am really tired and sleep off rather than stressing about something
Have a simple, friendly, and active animal friend(like a kitten or a puppy or something like that) and play with it like you are an infant, especially before going to sleep.
Your mind needs to be off some topics too, just physically tiring your body to trigger quick sleep won’t help in the long run. Mental stress may have some emotional/mental implications in the long run or worse case it could lead to depression.
Just my two cents, speaking from experience.
Take care, buddy!
You don’t need to answer this question, but what’s holding you back from trying therapy?
I am saying this because it’s the best way for me to respond to my stress.
Other things that help:
1. Sleep
2. Workout
3. Meditation
4. Taking regular breaks
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