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Stress: Catholic Charities offers ways for people to deal with stressBy KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
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| Some stress handlers
are:
1. Regular healthy meals and rest. 2. Daily exercise, walking, jogging, gardening, swimming, etc. 3. Alone time - a quiet place to ourselves - 10 or 15 minutes per day will help. 4. Change of pace - e.g.: Do the laundry at a different time, eat breakfast at supper time, grocery shop at a different time, have friends over a week night rather than weekend. 5. Laugh a lot - Look for the humor in things - rent a funny video, etc. 6. Be good to yourself - take up a hobby or activity that you enjoy and indulge weekly. 7. Learn to avoid situations that make you tense - e.g. shop or bank at less busy times. 8. Get a pet - a dog or cat can be a great comfort when experiencing their unconditional loyalty. A publication of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City |
"Anything can be stressful," said Rhoden. "It depends on the individual and how they are handling that issue. What might cause stress to one person may not to another. Stressers and stress itself is highly individual."
Rhoden noted that it depends how stress is presenting itself in a person's life. Someone who is stressed may be irritable, testy, short, tired or worn out.
"Stress presents in many different ways," said Rhoden. "The first thing we need to decide is where is the stress originating from. What's causing your stress? Explore that issue. At the beginning, we need to explore how is the stress manifesting in your life."
Someone who is experiencing long-term stress often times has some medical consequences like ulcers, migraine headaches or long-term medical issues, explained the therapist.
"Stress can cause heightened anxiety levels where you are just struggling to relax and cope with specific issues," said Rhoden. "It really depends where your stress is coming from and what your symptoms of stress are."
With those factors in mind, dealing with stress is very individual and it depends where it is coming from, added Rhoden.
For example, if someone has a diagnosis that is stressful the person needs to come to an understanding within themselves as to what the diagnosis means and is.
"When we get a handle on the situation, it can help us reduce the stress," said Rhoden. "Then we are going to start looking at how we are going to take care of ourselves during that time. We might teach relaxation exercises with someone. We are going to make sure they have a good support network around them and talk about who they can talk to and express themselves to."
She continued that the big key with especially a medical issue is helping the person understand it, really learning how it impacts their life and how to cope with it. The person needs to come to peace with it.
"When you are looking at stress there are some basic things that we are going to suggest to many of our clients," said Rhoden. "We want folks to be eating regular meals and getting appropriate rest. Sometimes what happens when we are stressed is we don't sleep and that increases our stress."
When they assess someone and their needs, the therapist will ask them about their eating and sleeping habits and talk to them about how they can get those things back into their lives.
She added that daily exercise is a good way to handle stress.
"Sometimes stress happens when we are over-stimulated - we have too much going on in our lives, we are over committed and we are being bombarded from outside," said Rhoden. "We need to step back and take some time alone. If we just take 10 or 15 minutes by ourselves a day, that can really make an impact."
Once a person looks at what is causing the stress, then they need to deal with that issue, pointed out Rhoden.
"For many of us the stress is caused by being overworked or overwhelmed or over-committed," said Rhoden. "We need to look at how can I slow down or how can I pace myself or how can I set boundaries and say no. How can I take care of me so that I can take care of my family and my life. That is really important."
Sometimes people need to figure out what their priorities really are or what they really need in their life, she commented. People also need to take time to have fun - laugh and have a sense of humor.
"Stress is going to be a natural part of life," said Rhoden. "Stress response is actually healthy to a certain extent. We all have it. Different things are going to cause us stress. It is what we do with it that is important. Our stress response is basically a chemical response inside our bodies to help us cope with difficult situations around us. We are always going to have stress. Part of it is learning how to embrace that as opposed to fight it."
