Picture credit - The Stress Relievers
Day 30 - Coping with stress
9 May 2020
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sirurp@gmail.com
What is stress?
When you perceive a threat or a major challenge, chemicals and hormones surge throughout your body. This is called stress. It is basically a survival mechanism of our body.
There is good stress (eustress), bad stress (acute stress) and chronic stress
Eustress is the type of stress when we feel excited e.g. when riding a roller coaster or when competing for a promotion etc.
Acute stress is a short term stress because of some stressors e.g. stuck in a traffic jam when we are late for a meeting, an argument with your spouse, an unkind criticism from your boss etc.
Chronic stress is a long term stress brought on by continual acute stresses when we repeatedly face stressors. This condition gives a feeling of helplessness and a feeling of being put in inescapable state. Chronic stress causes many physical and mental health related issues e.g. heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.
My learning for the day
Stress and Anxiety; are they different?
The ‘fight, flight, or freeze’ responses are the same for stress and anxiety. Even the physical sensations are similar (Canadian Mental Health Association)
Both can lead to sleepless nights, exhaustion, excessive worry, lack of focus, and irritability etc. (Katie Hurley)
But the causes are different for both. Stress is a response to an external cause (e.g. working with a tight deadline) whereas anxiety is a response to an internal cause (e.g. worry or fear) (Gabrielle Moss)
Stress is the body’s reaction to a threat/ challenge, whereas anxiety is the body’s reaction to the stress.
Surprisingly, the remedial steps look to be similar for both e.g.
Asanas (posture/ pose, The Yoga as called by the new world)
Dhyana (meditation techniques to cultivate new, more positive ways of being)
Pranayama (breath control, breathing exercises).
Mobile Apps to cope up with stress
In the first post on this topic, I shared my learning about the stress theory; the second post was about Holmes Rahe Stress scale & Symptoms and causes of stress.
This post covers my learning from some mobiles apps that help us manage stress. I am not promoting any of these. Just sharing my wonder as to how these apps have become an extension of our brain.
GPS for Soul - This app uses biofeedback to help you determine your stress level, heart rate etc. and then connect you to what you would need to become balanced. It might be music, or poetry, or breathing exercises, or photos of a person or place you love…
Stress Doctor - This app also uses biofeedback and helps you become aware of your breathing and shows you how to control it in order to calm yourself down
Pocket Yoga - This app is a Yoga guide that tracks your practice progress and allows you to share it on social networks
Hundreds of guided meditation apps - such as HeadSpace, Calm, Buddhify...etc.to name a few that help you in your meditation journey
Hundreds of fitness apps - such as Fitbit, My Fitness Pal etc.
Hope you have great ‘mobile’ partners during your combats with stress.
How to improve this skill?
Set a goal to become a go-to person by mastering the art and science of coping with stress.
Follow the LAST model to build your personal brand as a Guru of stress management.
Learn - Invest time in learning different frameworks/ models/ techniques of coping with stress
Apply -
Identify a model suitable to you
Create a template to document the flow of the process
Find opportunities to use the selected method/ template
Maintain record/ process flow of every important activities you did to cope with stress
Maintain notes of your thoughts/ insights/ failures/ challenges…. to be used for sharing/ training others
Share - Share the insights captured in step 2 above in a planned manner (social media posts, blogs, videos, study notes…)
Train - Generate opportunities to train your peers and team members so that, over time, your organization benefits from your efforts
Purpose of this document
I took a 66 day challenge to study Life Skills last year (10 April 2019). To my astonishment, I succeeded in studying for 66 days one skill a day.
My objectives of learning these skills were - To strengthen my mind to face life’s challenges with ease, To use these skills in my worklife for a better performance, To use these skills in my personal life for enriching my relationships, To open new possibilities to surprise myself.
This is my next 66 day challenge (from 10 April 2020) - To share my Life Skills learning with my social media friends.
I pray that my toil helps you in your success journey.
What are Life Skills?
UNICEF defines Life skills as - psychosocial abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are loosely grouped into three broad categories of skills
- cognitive skills for analyzing and using information,
- personal skills for developing personal agency and managing oneself,
- inter-personal skills for communicating and interacting effectively with others.
Which LifeSkills are covered?
The World Health Organisation identified these basic areas of life skills that are relevant across cultures:
1. Decision-making
2. Problem-solving
3. Creative thinking
4. Critical thinking
5. Communication
6. Interpersonal skills
7. Self-awareness
8. Empathy
9. Coping with emotions
10. Coping with stress.
Some trivia
‘Life skills’ was never part of the school curriculum. WHO/ UNESCO mandated academia to teach these skills in all schools across the globe in 1993.
Different countries educate their children in these skills with different objectives
- Zimbabwe and Thailand - prevention of HIV/AIDS
- Mexico - prevention of adolescent pregnancy
- United Kingdom - child abuse prevention
- USA - prevention of substance abuse and violence
- South Africa and Colombia - positive socialization of children.
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