While the early sunshine this year may be brightening some people’s day, others are still feeling the grey clouds pressure of the economic climate.
In the UK more reports are being released every day of increasing sick days due to mental health problems, whilst over in the big US of A Barack Obama and his crack team have produced an online self help website called Getting Through Tough Economic Times.
However, it is still possible to harness your inner calm when posed with a stressful situation. Here are a few tips.
So, how can you tell if you are stressed out? Well, psychotherapist Derek Draper, author of Life Support: A Survival Guide For The Modern Soul (£8.99, Hay House), explains that emotions are a very basic human response.
‘They are sited in the part of our brain designed for survival. In today’s relatively safe world, stress can be triggered when we perceive an imagined threat,’ he says.
For example, if you receive negative feedback from your boss on a piece of work you submitted, your emotions reaction to this could be, ‘The boss is unhappy, which could mean I eventually lose my job and my family will be homeless and starving – help!’
Meanwhile your adrenalin levels soar, your heart rate quickens and your breathing becomes fast and strained, ‘Constant repetitions of this eventually affect our well-being,’ Draper says, ’so we wake up tense, become rundown, are more prone to ailments, and start relying on alcohol and cigarettes more.’
So, if any of this is sounding familiar, then read on to find out how to immediately reduce this pressure. To start with, try to pick out exactly how your thoughts form a negative process. ‘Jot down where the sources of your stress are coming from and score them from nought to ten,’ advises Draper.
‘Do the same with any negative thoughts you may have, then rationally challenge them by searching for evidence to support or refute them, noticing if your feelings have changed.’
James Koch, co-author of Active Steps To Reducing Stress (£9.99, Bracken Books), advises a radical remedy - no matter how low you are feeling, plaster a smile on your face and force yourself to be positive, ‘Thinking positively is a powerful tool to instantly feel calmer and in control, so talk to friends and family about positive plans and avoid blaming things such as the recession.’
