Stress: Does it take the best of you?

The world today is pacing with an unprecedented speed and vigour. The competition is cutting edge and the ambitions are taking to the sky. The ever-increasing demands of this world keep one on the edge, so close to going over-board. Serious psychological ailments keep surfacing that root from no big causes. Multiple social reasons can account for even if heredity is not the cause to the psychological conditions one may suffer from.

Stress is one big contributing factor to disheveling one’s social standing as it can directly be found related to increased irritability, short temper and lack of tolerance. No spouse, child, parent or friend should be made to pay for your day gone bad due a rotten day at work, bad traffic jams, or an argument with your boss. It shouldn’t be so hard to believe that all of them also have their own fronts to fight on, and if they have managed not to go berserk in the face of the challenges they have faced during the day, so should you.

Here are some stress relievers that have not, by any means, been deduced from everyday life observation of people around. Since they have nothing to do with the larger-than-life theories that psychology books are loaded with, they can be related to better:

Take reaction time: A bad day at work, scorching sun reducing your car’s AC to a nil and (to top it all) another guy, who has also had a bad day at work, hits your new car. You make your way home and your kids comes running to you and hangs to your pants and asks you about the toy you had promised him. Oh how convenient would it be to blurt ‘Leave me alone! Can’t you see I am tired?’, which would immediately be followed by an acute sense of guilt. All one needs in situations like these is a little reaction time. Yes do not just say the first thing that pops to your mind. A little rethinking of thoughts before giving the words spares you the guilt.

Contain your anger: Observations have it that if you manage to keep yourself from manifesting your anger physically, it channels itself in a manner that it takes a toll on your energy. A blessing in disguise as I would call it; you feel low on energy and hence sleepy. A couple of hours of sleep at such point of time redeems you of everything.

Get a good laugh: Stress also takes a toll on your spirits, mood and at times self esteem. A good laugh can give all these a raise. Get a good comedy movie, if time allows, or short sitcoms on TV or DVDs and give yourself a good laugh. I used to consider the axiom ‘Laughter’s the best medicine’ till I tried it. You may not find your spirits soaring high in the sky after this treatment, but you would surely feel them lifted, vacating a little room in your head to look at things with reason, the same reason the depression temporarily deprived you of.

We all Scream for….: A bowl of ice-cream with your favourite topping can do wonders. This cold sweet miracle of an oral delight is pretty useful in dealing with minor mental crunches. Forget your calorie count every now and then and flatter yourself with and relish this sweet wonder.