Stress has become something everyone seems to have. You either live with it or you struggle with it. You’re facing an ongoing level of frustration, missed nights of sleep, and an overwhelming desire to just not deal with it.
With the holidays approaching, stress is on your mind. You’re anxious and frustrated about everything on your plate, especially during this season. But let’s look further. Think about The New Year. Instead of resolutions to live stress-free (knowing they aren’t going to be something you stick with), why not take a more holistic approach to finding ways to reduce your stress?
The No-Resolution Way to Make Stress Less of a Factor Next Year
While you may know that many people face stress and live with the consequences of it, what you shouldn’t have to feel is that this is the way life has to be. Unhealthy, long-term stress can worsen health problems, as noted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and impact your quality of life. To overcome these challenges, consider the following tips.
#1: Start with Expressing Your Feelings
One of the most effective ways to manage stress is to release it. That is, get upset, cry for a few minutes, or simply step away from others and voice your painful opinions and feelings. You can do that alone, through expressive songs or music, or in a meaningful letter you write to yourself. No matter what you do, express your feelings in the most effective and impactful way possible.
That doesn’t make the problem go away. It does give you some stress relief (including reducing the presence of stress hormones in your bloodstream). It also allows you to clear your mind. It is in that space that you can start to incorporate new ways of managing stress.
#2: Evaluating Priorities
At the start of the New Year, it’s always a good time to do some reflection. Many people create resolutions that focus heavily on doing more during the year to come. What if you did the opposite?
- Evaluate what you do during your life that you hate and that brings you stress.
- Determine if it’s worth continuing to engage in those activities. That could be volunteering, relationships, or specific work projects.
- Ask yourself how you can effectively exit those experiences. If enough is enough, find a way to move beyond those experiences that contribute to the highest level of stress you have.
Once you get rid of activities or tasks that bring stress, use those gaps to fill in what’s missing. That could be more time with people you love, or it may be pursuing a passion. When you create those openings in your life, fill them with meaningful activities you want to engage in.
#3: Learn When Stress Is More Than Just Frustration
Are you trying to manage anxiety over things that seem impossible to control? Do you find yourself always worrying about something, especially things that you cannot really do anything about? As you look at your stressors and the facts that impact your health and well-being in the year to come, realize that mental health could be the priority.
There are many signs when stress becomes serious, and anxiety is not something you can ignore. In these situations, you may have one of several factors contributing to your unhappiness and challenges:
- An undiagnosed mental health disorder really may be skewing reality. Mental health challenges, like depression and generalized anxiety disorder, can mask as simply being stressed.
- A hormonal imbalance could be contributing to the level of stress hormone present. No resolution will fix that on its own. Medications and lifestyle changes can help balance these feelings, giving you a real chance at recovery.
- Past trauma that’s lurking under the surface could be causing you to experience uncontrollable feelings and negative thoughts. Working through that trauma can provide a highly effective way of navigating life without pain.
This year, instead of promising to exercise or creating a journal, dive deeper. Find a way to embrace your mental health and wellbeing in a more authentic, innovative, and deeper way. Doing so could provide you with a better year and a better life ahead.
Taking Time Now to Get the Help You Need by Your Side
At Willow Creek Behavioral Health in Green Bay, Wisconsin, we provide our clients with the one-on-one support they need in a way that’s meaningful and effective. Instead of New Year’s resolutions that you’ll forget within a few weeks, make this the year you get mental health support that changes your future and reduces all of that risk. We offer help for anxiety disorders, depression, and much more. Contact us now.
