The majority of us live with moderate to high levels of stress, so it’s important to understand the difference between obtaining relief from stress and building resilience to stress. Read more to understand relief vs. resilience and get 10 tips to build resilience!
We all experience stress in different ways. You may have a hard time concentrating or making decisions, feel angry, irritable or out of control, or experience headaches, muscle tension or a lack of energy. Some people use Short Term Energy Relieving Behaviors (STERBs) to relieve stress, including drinking, sleeping, smoking, eating, shopping, etc.
STERBs distract attention from the negative effects of stress by providing a short-term relief. Not all STERBs are inherently unhealthy, but relying on STERBs to manage stress can create additional problems.
Those who identify themselves as “stress eaters” fall into the pattern of using food to obtain relief from stress: Eat to relieve stress, stress about gaining weight, eat to relieve stress …
The more effective way to manage stress is to build resilience to more easily “bounce back” from problems and continue to work towards a healthy lifestyle. The American Psychological Association* suggests 10 ways to build resilience:
- Maintaining good relationships with close family members, friends and others.
- Avoid seeing crises or stressful events as unbearable problems.
- Accept circumstances that cannot be changed.
- Develop realistic goals and move towards them.
- Take decisive actions in adverse situations.
- Look for opportunities of self-discovery after a struggle with loss.
- Develop self-confidence.
- Keep a long-term perspective and consider the stressful event in a broader context.
- Maintain a hopeful outlook, expecting good things and visualizing what is wished.
- Take care of one’s mind and body, exercising regularly, paying attention to one’s own needs and feelings.
Which of these 10 resilience builders sounds good to you? How can you focus on building your resilience to stress instead of seeking short-term relief? I would love to hear your thoughts and plans in the comments section below!
*American Psychological Association, “The Road to Resilience”
These are great!! I will definitely be sharing these with my TSFL clients and talking with them directing them to the chapter on Stress in Habitsof Health. Thank you for putting this all together in one place Nick!
Thank you for the article on stress. I am a stress eater. I had a tough day yesterday at my job and thanks to medifast I did not stress out on junk food. Your thoughts today is helping me keep a better perspective on the situation. I need to keep in mind the bigger picture but need to take a more active role in this adverse situation. I can make choices and do not have to sacrifice myself to meet their needs. I have been putting in extra hours and not able to keep up with the paper work demands. “The bosses want more soon and faster.” I am looking at setting priorities but my nature is to be flexible and do what ever is needed by those around me. This experience is going to be a challenging one to face. I will learn from the experience.
I am at goal and have been worried about not having enough practical tools for helping myself continue with what I want for my health. Resilience is to mental balance like exercise is to physical balance. Thanks from me personally. I’ll be looking for more of your posts on the website.