Until you accept responsibility for the role you play in creating or maintaining it, your stress level will remain outside your control. A stress journal can help you identify the regular stressors in your life and the way you deal with them.

Each time you feel stressed, make a note of it in your journal or use a stress tracker on your phone. Keeping a daily log will enable you to see patterns and common themes. Write down:. Many of us feel so stressed out, we resort to unhealthy and unproductive ways to cope.

A lot of these unhelpful strategies can temporarily reduce stress, but in the long run, they actually cause even more damage:. While stress is an automatic response from your nervous system, some stressors arise at predictable times: your commute to work, a meeting with your boss, or family gatherings, for example.

When handling such predictable stressors, you can either change the situation or change your reaction. When deciding which option to choose in any given scenario, it's helpful to think of the four A's: avoid , alter , adapt , or accept.

It's not healthy to avoid a stressful situation that needs to be addressed, but you may be surprised by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate. Whether in your personal or professional life, taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.

Avoid people who stress you out. If someone consistently causes stress in your life, limit the amount of time you spend with that person, or end the relationship. Take control of your environment.

If the evening news makes you anxious, turn off the TV. If traffic makes you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.

Avoid hot-button topics. If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. Pare down your to-do list. Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you can't avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.

Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way.

If you don't voice your feelings, resentment will build and the stress will increase. Be willing to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you'll have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.

Be more assertive. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. Find balance. All work and no play is a recipe for burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life, social activities and solitary pursuits, daily responsibilities and downtime.

If you can't change the stressor, change yourself. You can adapt to stressful situations and regain your sense of control by changing your expectations and attitude. Reframe problems. Try to view stressful situations from a more positive perspective.

Rather than fuming about a traffic jam, look at it as an opportunity to pause and regroup, listen to your favorite radio station, or enjoy some alone time. Look at the big picture. Take perspective of the stressful situation. Ask yourself how important it will be in the long run. Will it matter in a month?

A year? Is it really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.

Adjust your standards. Perfectionism is a major source of avoidable stress. Stop setting yourself up for failure by demanding perfection.

Practice gratitude. When stress is getting you down, take a moment to reflect on all the things you appreciate in your life , including your own positive qualities and gifts.

This simple strategy can help you keep things in perspective. Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You can't prevent or change stressors such as the death of a loved one, a serious illness, or a national recession.

In such cases, the best way to cope with stress is to accept things as they are. Acceptance may be difficult, but in the long run, it's easier than railing against a situation you can't change. Don't try to control the uncontrollable. Many things in life are beyond our control, particularly the behavior of other people.

Rather than stressing out over them, focus on the things you can control such as the way you choose to react to problems. Look for the upside. When facing major challenges, try to look at them as opportunities for personal growth.

If your own poor choices contributed to a stressful situation, reflect on them and learn from your mistakes. Learn to forgive. Accept the fact that we live in an imperfect world and that people make mistakes.

Let go of anger and resentments. Free yourself from negative energy by forgiving and moving on. Share your feelings. Expressing what you're going through can be very cathartic, even if there's nothing you can do to alter the stressful situation.

Talk to a trusted friend or make an appointment with a therapist. When you're stressed, the last thing you probably feel like doing is getting up and exercising.

But physical activity is a huge stress reliever—and you don't have to be an athlete or spend hours in a gym to experience the benefits.

Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel good, and it can also serve as a valuable distraction from your daily worries. While you'll get the most benefit from regularly exercising for 30 minutes or more, it's okay to build up your fitness level gradually.

Even very small activities can add up over the course of a day. The first step is to get yourself up and moving. Here are some easy ways to incorporate exercise into your daily schedule:.

While just about any form of physical activity can help burn away tension and stress, rhythmic activities are especially effective. Good choices include walking, running, swimming, dancing, cycling, tai chi, and aerobics. But whatever you choose, make sure it's something you enjoy so you're more likely to stick with it.

While you're exercising, make a conscious effort to pay attention to your body and the physical and sometimes emotional sensations you experience as you're moving. Focus on coordinating your breathing with your movements, for example, or notice how the air or sunlight feels on your skin.

Adding this mindfulness element will help you break out of the cycle of negative thoughts that often accompanies overwhelming stress. There is nothing more calming than spending quality time with another human being who makes you feel safe and understood. It's nature's natural stress reliever as an added bonus, it also helps stave off depression and anxiety.

So make it a point to connect regularly—and in person—with family and friends. Keep in mind that the people you talk to don't have to be able to fix your stress. They simply need to be good listeners.

And try not to let worries about looking weak or being a burden keep you from opening up. The people who care about you will be flattered by your trust. It will only strengthen your bond. Of course, it's not always realistic to have a pal close by to lean on when you feel overwhelmed by stress, but by building and maintaining a network of close friends you can improve your resiliency to life's stressors.

Don't get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to take care of your own needs. Nurturing yourself is a necessity, not a luxury.

If you regularly make time for fun and relaxation, you'll be in a better place to handle life's stressors. Set aside leisure time. Include rest and relaxation in your daily schedule. This is your time to take a break from all responsibilities and recharge your batteries.

Do something you enjoy every day. Make time for leisure activities that bring you joy, whether it be stargazing, playing the piano, or working on your bike. Keep your sense of humor.

This includes the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight stress in a number of ways. Take up a relaxation practice. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing activate the body's relaxation response , a state of restfulness that is the opposite of the fight or flight or mobilization stress response.

As you learn and practice these techniques, your stress levels will decrease and your mind and body will become calm and centered. Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you're stretched too thin and running behind, it's hard to stay calm and focused.

Plus, you'll be tempted to avoid or cut back on all the healthy things you should be doing to keep stress in check, like socializing and getting enough sleep. The good news: there are things you can do to achieve a healthier work-life balance.

Don't over-commit yourself. Avoid scheduling things back-to-back or trying to fit too much into one day. Limit checking sources to once per day or less if you can. This includes reading or listening to news stories about COVID Even though things are shifting rapidly, daily changes are not likely to affect how you should manage your risk.

Set aside some time to unplug from all electronics, including phone, tablets and computers. Disconnect for a while from social media outlets. You may need to schedule this to make sure it happens. Do something fun and healthy for yourself instead e.

All the issues you might need to address during this pandemic situation may feel overwhelming. It can be useful to identify which things are actually problems that need to be solved or addressed, and which are just worries that are not necessarily grounded in reality.

Click here for some steps you can take to resolve issues that come up for you. In stressful situations, people often overestimate how bad the situation can get, but underestimate how well they will be able to cope.

People are resilient and have coping skills they use every day. High levels of anxiety and stress are usually fuelled by the way we think. However, not all our thoughts are facts; many are simply beliefs that we hold.

Sometimes we have held these beliefs for so long that they feel like facts. Click here to work through an exercise to challenge your worries and anxious thoughts.

COVID is probably not the only source of stress in your life right now. Consider addressing other sources of stress to reduce your overall level of anxiety.

You can use problem solving steps outlined above , challenge your thinking, practicing relaxation and meditation or other strategies you may have used in the past that have helped.

Relaxation strategies and meditation can help reduce or manage your levels of stress and anxiety. There are many options to consider:. Choose an activity that works for you and that you are likely to continue doing. Start slowly and gradually work toward a regular practice.

Social distancing does not mean you should break off all contact from loved ones. Being alone can lead to spending too much time thinking about the current situation, resulting in increased stress and anxiety.

It can be helpful to connect with people who are a positive influence when you are feeling stressed. Try to avoid people who are negative when talking about current affairs or events, or who generally increase your stress and anxiety.

The strategies mentioned here can take some time to work. We need to practise them regularly and in different situations. Eating healthily can help us feel better. When we are stressed, many people might choose comfort foods that are not actually good for stress and overall health.

As much as is possible, choose more fruits and vegetables, and drink lots of water. Some people use substances, including smoking or vaping, to cope with stress, anxiety and depression. This may appear to help reduce stress initially, but in the long run can make things worse.

The brain and body develop a tolerance to the numbing effects of these substances, and people have to compensate by using more and more. That leads to additional harms and often delays the recovery from the stress. Moreover, in those at risk, substance use can lead to an addiction or a relapse in those who are in recovery.

If you are in recovery and experiencing stress, it is important to reach out for help before a relapse occurs. In general:. Caffeine may be an important part of our daily routine, but too much can make your heart race and interfere with sleep.

This can make anxiety worse. Try to stop intake before the evening so you get proper sleep. Getting enough sleep can both help reduce the amount of stress we experience and prepare us to better manage stress.

Physical activity is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety, and improve our mood and overall health. If you are self-isolated, find ways to exercise in your home. For example, use your stairs or follow an exercise video on YouTube.

Sometimes, even after trying to reduce our stress and anxiety, we may continue to struggle. If you still feel significant distress around COVID and feel you are not coping well, you may need extra support from someone like your family doctor or a psychologist, psychotherapist, social worker or other health professional.

Understanding your stress levels can help you make a plan for how to manage your stress and anxiety. When some people experience too much stress, they may feel a loss of control, excessive worry and other negative emotions.

By managing our stress and anxiety, we can maintain positive mental health as the pandemic evolves. You can then decide how you want to use these answers to help you cope with the anxiety and fear being caused by this pandemic and social distancing.

Please note that these resources are offered for educational purposes only and are not intended to diagnose any mental illness. If possible, reach out to your provider to make sure you are not experiencing a relapse, and adjust any treatment as required.

How stressful do you perceive events in your life to be? This scale helps to answer this. For example, people with higher scores on the PSS might be more vulnerable to symptoms of depression from stressful life events.

How well are you coping with the stress in your life? A higher score means you are likely handling stress better than those with a lower score. The GAD-7 is a tool that screens for symptoms of anxiety affecting several parts of your life, also known as generalized anxiety.

It is not used to diagnose, but to assess the severity of your symptoms.

Call People can feel stressed when they are under pressure or strain. Children and teens may feel pressure to do well at school or to look a certain way. Or they could be feeling the strain of living with family conflict or being constantly picked on. In the natural world, it helps us face down immediate dangers, like an animal in the wild.

Our stress hormones prepare us to act. We might run, or we might fight, but either way the stressful situation is over quickly and our body calms down. So our bodies continue to be on alert and ready to respond.

This kind of prolonged stress response is hard on us. It keeps us on edge and wears us down. Stress is not all bad. Living with ongoing stressful situations can make someone sick, both physically and mentally.

Here are some warning signs that stress may be getting the upper hand:. Some people try to control these stress responses by self-medicating with drugs or alcohol. Although this may seem like a way to feel better, in reality it can make things a lot worse.

Here are some self-help tips you can share:. Kids Have Stress Too! Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Dundas Street West, Suite , Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8. Phone: Toll Free: E-mail: info ontario. Highlight Bar IN CRISIS? Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar.

About Us Get Involved Events Contact Us facebook Twitter LinkedIn. Search CMHA Ontario Language Selector Translate site to Français. Home » Understanding and Finding Help for Stress. Take the pressure off, reduce your stress Your first line of defense is to identify your stressors and try to remove them from your life, if possible.

Try setting personal goals using the SMART approach: Specific: Choose one small goal and write it down. Measurable: Make sure you can count it or check it off a list.

Attainable: If your goal is too difficult, you set yourself up for failure. Realistic: Make sure your goal is something you are willing to work towards. Time-limited: Set a specific, realistic date to finish or achieve your goal.

Physical activity Physical activity can clear your mind, reduce tension and boost your energy. Yoga and stretching Yoga and slow stretching — even just five to 10 minutes a day —promote relaxation to reduce stress.

As you stretch to a comfortable limit, think about the muscles being stretched and imagine the tension leaving your body. Exhale as you stretch. Inhale as you release. Breathe deeply and slowly.

Do not hold your breath. Relaxation exercises There are lots of different relaxation techniques, but breathing exercises are among the most popular and effective. Exhalation breathing Do this exercise for 10 minutes or more to help you calm dowm.

Lie on your back with your arms at your sides. As you begin to breathe in, raise your arms toward the ceiling with your elbows bent.

Move your arms all the way up and over your head to the floor as you inhale. Reverse the order: Breathe out slowly and smoothly as you return your arms to your sides.

Repeat this motion several times. Then slowly inhale and exhale without moving your arms. Relax and enjoy the peaceful feeling. Deep breathing Do this exercise for three to five minutes whenever you feel tense.

Slowly inhale through your nose, expanding your abdomen before allowing air to fill your lungs. Reverse the process as you exhale.

Healthy diet Your body runs on the fuel in your food. Thinking cognitive and mental coping skills These skills involve using your thoughts and mind to counteract negative effects of stress.

Problem solving If you feel overwhelmed and panic when faced with a stressful situation try some classic problem-solving skills to solve it.

Write down a list of every possible solution or way of dealing with your stressful situation. Act on your top-ranked solution. Assess whether that action solved your problem. If it did, great! If not, select the next solution on the list and see if that works, and so on. Reappraisal Sometimes your interpretation of a stressor can magnify it, making you feel more stressed than necessary.

Identify your thoughts about the situation. Ask yourself: What am I saying to myself about this situation? Challenge your thoughts about the circumstance.

Am I grounded in fact, not fear? Reappraise your position. Ask yourself: How can I change my thinking to be more realistic about this situation?

Meditation Meditation can help settle your mind, allowing you to think more calmly. Take time to relax. When you are relaxed, breathing slowly and evenly, close your eyes. You may wish to slowly repeat a pleasant-sounding word or mantra, such as peace or harmony, in your mind as you breathe. Do this for 10 to 20 minutes.

When your mind wanders, gently bring it back to concentrating on your mantra or your breath. Then open your eyes and look around. After a minute or so, stand up and stretch. Personal and social coping skills Taking the time for things that give you pleasure and nurture your spirit, is an important coping tool.

Some of the most effective activities are to: Spend quality time with your friends and family. Explore your spirituality. Develop your hobbies and personal interests.

Try volunteering, it helps by re-directing any focus on anxious thoughts to something else. What coping skills work for you and the situation? To help you decide which coping skill to use, ask yourself three questions: Is my coping response suitable in this situation?

Physical activity may calm you, but it may not be appropriate in a job interview. A breathing exercise might be the right response in that situation.

Is my coping response positive? Not all ways to relieve stress are good for you. Some people use drugs and alcohol to cope with stress, but those can have dangerous side effects. Even healthy options, such as physical activity or dieting, can be bad in extremes. Moderation is the key.

Is my coping response going to help me in the long run? Instead, try talking about your situation with a friend or trusted colleague to help find solutions.

Stress-busting tips Figure out what is causing you stress.