FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE

Stress Management

Stress is a natural human reaction to pressure when faced with challenging and sometimes dangerous situations. That pressure is not only about what’s happening around us, but also about loads we place on ourselves.

Feeling stressed is part of being alive, and some stress helps increase our readiness and energy to meet challenging situations. If stress lasts a long time or overwhelms our ability to cope, it can have a harmful effect on our health, wellbeing, relationships, work and general enjoyment of life.

Stress can affect how you feel, how you think, how you behave and how your body works. Sleeping problems, sweating, loss of appetite and difficulty concentrating are all common signs of stress. Stress doesn’t have to control our lives. 

Tips for managing everyday stress

Learning to handle stress in healthy ways is very important. Fortunately, it is easy to learn simple techniques that help. 

Recognise warning signs - These vary from person to person, but might include things like tensing your jaw, grinding your teeth, getting headaches, or feeling irritable and short tempered.

Recognise triggers - There are often known triggers which raise our stress levels and make it more difficult for us to manage. If you know what the likely triggers are, you can aim to expect them and practise calming yourself down beforehand, or even find ways to get rid of the trigger. Triggers might include late nights, deadlines, seeing particular people, hunger or over-tired children.

Start routines - Having regular routines in your day, or over a week, such as set times for exercise and relaxation, mealtimes, waking and bedtimes, can be very calming and can help you to manage your stress. 

Look after your health - Make sure you are eating healthy food and getting regular exercise. Take time to do activities you find calming or uplifting, such as listening to music, walking or dancing. Avoid using alcohol, tobacco or other drugs to cope.

Notice your ‘self-talk' - When we are stressed, we sometimes say things in our head, over and over, that just add to our stress. This unhelpful self-talk might include things like: ‘I can't cope', or ‘I'm too busy', or ‘I'm so tired', or ‘It's not fair'. Try more helpful self-talk like ‘I'm coping well given what's on my plate', or ‘Calm down', or ‘Breathe easy'.

Spend time with people who care - Spending time with people you care about, and who care about you, is an important part of handling ongoing stress in your life. Share your thoughts and feelings with others when chances arise. Don't ‘bottle up' your feelings.

Practise relaxation - Make time to practise relaxation. This will help your body and nervous system to settle. Think about learning a specific relaxation technique such as progressive muscle relaxation, meditation or yoga; or make time to absorb yourself in a relaxing activity such as gardening or listening to music.

When to seek professional help

If high levels of stress continue for a long period of time, or are interfering with you enjoying a healthy life, it is worth seeking professional help. A doctor can refer you to a mental health professional to help you notice behaviours and situations that are leading to high stress and help you to make changes to the things that are within your control. Seeking help can be one way to manage your stress well.

References: www.psychology.org.au, www.healthdirect.gov.au