Learn To Manage Stress And Anxiety
Does stress and anxiety impact on your studies or your personal life? Are anxious and worrying thoughts making it hard for you to concentrate?
We all experience some level of stress at different times in our lives in response to challenging and stressful situations and events that are encountered. In small doses stress can help keep us energized, motivated and equipped to deal with what confronts us such as preparing for an exam or a job interview. Once the stressful situation passes, the stress gradually subsides. However if stress is prolonged it may impact on your study and/or your relationships with others.
Learning to manage stress and early signs of anxiety will assist you to manage challenges without feeling overloaded and overwhelmed.
How could learning to manage stress and anxiety improve my life?
Managing stress and anxiety has a range of benefits. We feel calmer and are less reactive to stressors that arise, giving us an overall sense of control in our lives and a general sense of wellbeing.
What happens when we are stressed and anxious: tuning the fight or flight response
Have you heard of the flight or fight response? This is actually the body’s natural response to stress with the nervous system preparing us to either fight or run away from a dangerous or challenging situation. In evolutionary times this would enable us to run very fast from a predator but in modern times there are fewer real life dangers. In our modern urban environments it appears as if our minds often process threat based on experiencing ourselves as psychologically vulnerable, ie. not good enough, not liked, not valued, not successful etc.
So where the flight or fight physiological response is designed to assist us in dealing with situations where danger is imminent, it can rise in response to relatively minor mishaps or stressors, such as rushing to classes, writing a difficult essay or obtaining a mark for an assignment that disappoints us.
We feel on edge, troubled and even anxious, as though something really bad is about to occur and the reaction is really not appropriate or necessary for the situation that we are facing. We might also react with frustration or anger creating difficulties in our relationships with others. We (and those around us) consequently suffer unnecessarily when there are more effective and energy efficient ways of dealing with the matters that we are reacting to.
How does stress and anxiety affect our bodies?
Some of the physical changes that occur during the flight or fight response include:
- increase in heart rate
- increase in blood pressure
- increased breathing rate
- increased blood flow to the muscles
- muscle tension
- decreased blood flow to important organs.
All of these changes put unnecessary strain on our bodies and if allowed to continue, stress can impact the immune system making us more prone to illness. So managing stress and anxiety is first and foremost important for maintenance of a healthy functioning body and to prevent stress related illnesses arising.
How does stress and anxiety affect our minds?
The flight or fight response also results in an increased alertness of the mind and if stress continues this can result in such things as:
- worry
- fear
- sleeping difficulties
- difficulties concentrating
- irritability
- negative thinking
If these symptoms arise, they can be very disruptive and possibly affect one’s study, work and relationships. Thus managing stress and anxiety is important for optimal functioning in everyday life.
Improved quality of life
Managing stress and anxiety can improve our life in many ways, from improved health and feelings of wellbeing, reduction in distress and anxiety, better concentration, improved work productivity, improved sleep, feelings of being in control and improved relationships with friends and family. So lets get started. What skills do I need to learn to manage stress and anxiety?
What Skills Do I Need To Learn To Manage Stress and Anxiety?
There are many skills that can be learned to help manage stress and anxiety. These include:
Relaxation Exercises
A really good place to start to manage stress and anxiety is by practicing relaxation exercises. Relaxation exercises are essentially designed to help bring about the relaxation response which is the opposite of the stress response or the flight or fight response which we talked about earlier. Some of the changes that occur during the relaxation response are:
- decrease in heart rate
- decrease in blood pressure
- slower and deeper breathing
- relaxed muscles
With regular practice of relaxation exercises we can reap a whole lot of benefits including improved concentration and memory, better academic performance, reduction in anxiety and worry, less reactivity to stressors. There are many different types of relaxation exercises and we will be talking about some of the most commonly used ones here.
Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises can be very helpful in making us feel more relaxed. Did you know that when our breathing rate increases during the stress response, that this triggers physiological changes in our bodies? Our bodies actually need a balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen and when we begin to breath quickly we take in more oxygen than we need and this upsets the balance, triggering a number of chemical changes producing symptoms such as dizziness, light-headedness and confusion. This can lead to feelings of anxiety and even panic in response to stressful situations and so breathing exercises are designed to help you slow down your breathing and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
A breathing exercise is outlined in an information sheet from the Centre for Clinical Interventions. This can be practiced regularly so that you get skilled in bringing about the relaxation response, or can be used at times when you are feeling stressed or anxious such as before you go into an exam or give a presentation at university.
Another good way to learn relaxation skills is by using a guided relaxation exercise. A guided breathing exercise is available in MP3 format on the Counselling Service website. This exercise and other relaxation and meditation exercises are also on a Guided Relaxation and Meditation CD which you can purchase from reception if you would prefer this format.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Another type of relaxation exercise is called progressive muscle relaxation. Remember we spoke about how the stress response can lead to muscle tension? Progressive muscle relaxation will help you to see the difference between tension and relaxation in the body and help you to release the tension from your muscles leading to a state of relaxation.
The general method for practicing progressive muscle relaxation is to tense and then relax all of the main muscle groups in your body. The Centre for Clinical Interventions has a useful information sheet on progressive muscle relaxation which outlines the procedure for practicing this exercise. A guided progressive muscle relaxation exercise is also available in MP3 format on the Counselling Service website as well as on the Guided Relaxation and Meditation CD.
Attend a relaxation and meditation workshop
You might also like to attend one of our Relaxation and Meditation workshops which are held during both semesters where you can learn about and practice different types of relaxation exercises. See our workshops page for further information.
Mindfulness Skills
Mindfulness is a skill in learning to focus, or be mindful of what is happening from moment to moment with a non-judging attitude. Once we learn how to do this, we can begin to deal with many of the causes of everyday stress such as anxiety provoking thoughts about the past or future and any other stressful phenomena such as time pressure, frustration, disappointment and distraction.
Practice Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness can be achieved through a formal meditation practice where we train ourselves to be aware of present moment events such as our breath, body sensations or external events such as sounds. Click here for a guided mindfulness meditation exercise. This exercise can also be found on our Guided Relaxation and Meditation CD.
Dealing with Thoughts when Meditating
It is important to note that when we begin mindfulness training it is not uncommon to have thoughts which distract us from our present moment awareness. In order to deal with this, we simply observe the thought in a non-judging and objective way and quickly switch our attention back to the focus of attention. In this way we train our minds to stay in the present moment and learn to simply accept and move on from our distracting and sometimes stressful thoughts.
Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Mindfulness can also be practiced in daily life as one moves from one activity to the next, becoming aware or mindful of one’s surroundings or what one is doing in the present moment such as walking, eating or routine tasks like cleaning the house. For some mindfulness exercises you can practice in everyday life see the Black Dog Institute.
Attend a mindfulness based workshop
Finally, the Counselling Service also has regular mindfulness based therapy workshops which are an excellent way to learn mindfulness skills. Keep your eye out on our workshops page for upcoming courses during the semester.
Additional Resources
For further information on mindfulness and how it can help you deal with worry and anxiety, the Centre for Clinical Interventions has an information sheet on mindfulness and an exercise to help you let go of worries. For additional resources on mindfulness you can also go to the ThinkMindfully website.
Cognitive Strategies
Sometimes when we are stressed and anxious we notice that our thinking can get distorted. We might start to worry too much about even small things and this can make us feel more stressed and anxious and affect our concentration. The way we think affects the way we feel and it is helpful to learn some cognitive strategies to bring about more realistic and positive thinking.
A simple exercise to use to challenge your worrying thoughts is to examine:
- The evidence to support the thought
- The evidence to refute the thought
- And then come up with a reasoned conclusion
You will probably find that in most cases you will not find any evidence to support the worrying thought and once you come up with a more rational thought you will feel calmer and less anxious. As you may have been in the habit of worrying for a long time, changing these thoughts will take time and practice. Keep persisting as it will pay off in the long term.
For more self-help material on dealing with anxious and worrying thoughts go to the Centre for Clinical Intervention website for a comprehensive workbook which you can work through at your own pace.
Exercise
Exercise such as walking, swimming, playing a sport, going to the gym, or yoga can help relax the body and mind. If you want to join a gym or start swimming you can go along to Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness. The key is to exercise regularly. Sometimes exercising with a friend or sporting or exercise group can help us keep up our motivation to exercise and the social aspect of the activity can also contribute to managing stress. Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness have a range of sporting clubs to suit all sporting interests. It is a fun way to meet people and you will benefit mentally and physically from the activity.
Ten Tips For Learning To Manage Stress And Anxiety
- Practice relaxation exercises
- Exercise
- Eat well
- Get enough sleep
- Reduce alcohol and drugs
- Practice mindfulness to let go of worries
- Spend time with friends
- Ensure a study/life balance
- Use cognitive strategies to deal with stressful thoughts
- Engage in enjoyable and fun activities
Want to Know More About Managing Stress and Anxiety?
If you are interested in finding out more about stress and anxiety you might like to go to our Anxiety and Stress web page which also looks at how prolonged stress can lead to anxiety as well as information on different types of anxiety disorders. If you are concerned about any symptoms of anxiety that you are experiencing you might like to check out our online self assessment web page.
Individual Assistance
If after accessing all of the resources on our website you are still needing some further help in learning skills to managing stress and anxiety or are concerned about symptoms you are experiencing, please make an appointment with one of our counsellors at the Counselling Service or see your doctor who can provide assessment and referral to resources in your local area.