How To Handle Stress

Each one of us will face some pretty trying times during our life, it’s a part of being human. Life has its ups and downs and when the downs come, it is so important to know how to handle stress effectively so you can deal with the events without entering into a harrowing episode of stress, anxiety or depression. 

One of best stress management skills you can acquire is to focus on the aspects of your life that you can control and influence instead of focusing on things you cannot. This is an especially important skill to have during economic downturns such as the current one. A good way to apply the skill is to concentrate on your two main priorities: Paying the rent or the mortgage and putting food on the table. Everything else is secondary to these and can wait until the economy recovers. 

Knowing how to handle stress effectively means being continually aware that there is always a solution. If you're having problems with debt, get help. Write to lenders to inform them of the situation and ask them for help. There are organisations that will help you too and use the Internet to inform yourself and to find as much help as you can.  

Keeping your concerns and problems to yourself certainly isn’t a good way to manage stress as this will only result in greater stress and will make finding solutions to problems so much harder. Talk about the situation with your partner or your family or even a close friend so you get different perspectives. Denial, hoping problems will solve themselves or believing that you can do it all by yourself fuels stress and the problems just get worse. Before you know it you'll be trapped in a harrowing stress loop that is so very difficult to break out of and your physical and mental health will take a huge hit. 

At the root of stress is fear. A good way to deal with fear is to write down exactly what it is that you are worried about. List them all: Job loss, reduced income, losing your home, servicing debts, paying bills, dealing with unwanted change. Get it all down on paper. Talk with your spouse, or with your family or a trusted friend. All of these will help you learn how to handle stress and lessen the burden.  

Asking questions will also help to bring in perspective so you avoid assigning negative and worst-outcome meanings. One of the best questions to ask is: 

What are the chances of this actually happening? 

This leads to another great question:  

What can I do to prevent it from happening and what can I do should it happen?  

Draw up a list of actions and solutions you can take to minimise the effects. Can you cut down on non-essentials, can you reduce spending, can you do something better, cheaper, more efficiently? Can you see the situation as an opportunity to make improvements to your life instead of a life-crisis? The more solutions and meanings you can assign to what's going on the less emotionally aroused you will feel, the less fearful you will feel and you’ll keep stress firmly at bay as well as keeping yourself healthy which will also ensure you don't incur additional expenses for medical care.  

It's also important to know where can you go for help and support, and make sure you involve your family. Be prepared for any outcome and you will not fear it.  

You have some really powerful skills and you now know how to handle stress effectively. Put your knowledge to work and you will soon feel less stressed without a doubt. 

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