Combat Chronic Stress

In the last 3 years, my coaching has taken a bit of a shift from self-improvement and future goal setting to stress/anxiety management, and coping skills development. It is a fact that it is difficult to put energy and thought into a productive great future if in the present you are in survival mode and stressed out. However, stress is not all created equal. A recent study conducted by Kaufer, Kirby and colleagues at UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute concluded that short-term moderate stress can actually improve some brain functions. Moderate short-term stress can help the brain form brain cells more rapidly, increasing a person’s potential to learn and improve memory functions. Conversely, long term chronic stress has the opposite effect on the brain in that it suppresses brain cell growth making memory and learning more difficult. While this is great information to have, it is a fact that moderate stress can quickly turn into chronic more intense stress if not managed properly.  So, how do you combat chronic harmful stress? First, determine what your perception is about stress.  If you are someone who views stress as ALWAYS a bad thing, you probably struggle more frequently with it. Therefore, the longer the struggle the harder it is to manage. However, if you are someone who views stress as just part of life and manageable you will naturally manage your stress better. Thus, keeping you from ongoing or chronic stress.  Second, in stressful situations evaluate and determine exactly what you have direct control over and what you don’t. This is hard for someone who pridefully refers to themselves as a “control freak”. Agonizing over things you have no control over is a total waste of resources and brain ability and works against you as you are focusing on what you cannot do. Since often stress is directly caused by a lack of control, learning to accept the things you have no control over will reduce your level of stress. Think about it, sometimes you do feel stress over something you know you can control but it doesn’t seem insurmountable and hopeless. However, if you are stressed over something you know you have no control over, you feel helpless and hopeless. Lastly, evaluate if what you are stressed out about is life threatening. More often than not, you will determine it is not life threatening.  That thought alone should bring a feeling of thanksgiving that you or someone you love is not currently facing a life altering crisis. This helps put things into perspective and allows you to refocus on what matters most to you. When you focus on what is most important to you it provides energy and determination. Energy and determination create resilience and resilience always beats stress.