April is recognized as National Stress Awareness Month, and before the month ends, Lara Media Services (LMS) wants to shed light on this significant problem that affects us all, both at home and in the workplace.
Stress is a complex issue that can leave us with many questions: What to do, how to recognize it, how to act, how to improve our mental health, and how to support our loved ones who suffer from this disease? While it is easy to become overwhelmed with these questions, it is crucial to understand that it is never too late to begin making and implementing changes that can positively impact our lives.
LMS has a network of supportive allies and friends. Recently, LMS had the honor of speaking to our friend and ally, Catherine Fixe Chapin, a therapist with a Master’s in Social Work who specializes in stress, anxiety, trauma, life transitions, body pain, PTSD, and much more. During the interview, Catherine shared various tips and tricks to manage stress, enhance quality of life, and increase overall happiness.
LMS- Catherine what is stress?
Catherine Fixe- Stress is when your nervous system can not stay at an optimal functional level that is engaged yet calm and balanced. Stress can create tension or dis-regulation on a physical, emotional, mental or spiritual level.
LMS- Why is it important to recognize the difference between stress and anxiety?
CF- Stress is the body’s reaction to a challenging situation in the present moment. Often it is a response to external stressors such as a work deadline, unexpected events or changes etc.
Anxiety on the other hand comes from excessive worry or thoughts often focused on something in the future. Anxiety is more of an internal process and may lack an identifiable trigger or reason. It is much easier to work on your nervous system in the present time. Identifying stressors and things that activate your nervous system as well as identifying resources that help calm or soothe your nervous system can be very helpful in managing stress.
LMS- How does stress affect a workplace?
CF- First I want to offer an analogy of the body and the training of a muscle. If you are working out, you need some amount of stress on the muscle to build the desired effect of strength and bulk. If you don’t work out at all, then the muscle isn’t getting the stress it needs to stay fit. If on the other hand you work out too hard, you may damage the muscle all together.
Some amount of stress or challenge is important.
If tasks are too easy and repetitive then people lose interest and motivation without experiencing growth. However if the stress is too high, then employees may experience burnout and may feel incompetent.
The ideal is when there is a balance between the challenge and the capacity and skills of the person and/or business. For example if the team or business can experience a challenging project and succeed since it has the capacity both in terms of time, employee skills etc, then this can be a really positive, confidence building and bonding experience.
LMS- What is the most notorious impact of the negative effects of stress?
CF- Signs of negative stress in the workplace may show up as:
- Physically – Physical tension or headaches.. Sleep issues such as insomnia, digestive issues such as diarrhea or constipation, heart palpitations or dizziness, skin conditions
- Emotionally – Being more emotionally sensitive and reactive. Increased moodiness, irritability, anger, tears etc. Also feeling anxiety or unhappy
- Mentally – Difficulty concentrating or making decisions. Feeling overwhelmed with a loss of motivation, confidence and commitment
- Relationships– Withdrawing or isolating oneself, more conflict and blaming of others
- Spiritually – Feeling a sense of burnout and a lack of purpose of meaning – depression
LMS- How can we recognize a situation of extreme stress in our workplace?
CF- Some stress can be anticipated such as when you know there are several projects with a close deadline. Other types of stress however may be unpredictable such as a sudden loss of a team member due to illness. In general, our nervous system feels more calm with predictability. We develop a baseline of what we can accomplish in a day, a week, a month and we create a workflow. The more we can keep that work flow stable and predictable, the less stress we will experience.
If we know there will be increased stress due to increased work, it may be helpful to prepare and discuss how we will adjust. Knowing the time limit of this increased demand and knowing there will be a break and/or reward at the end helps mitigate the stress. Our bodies are not designed to sustain prolonged stress. If it is occasional and temporary with breaks to recuperate, then stress can be productive.
LMS- How can we try to avoid a stressful episode without judging and respecting the feelings of a coworker?
CF- It is important to remember that each person’s nervous system is wired differently. What may be stressful for one person may not be stressful for someone else. For example, giving a presentation may be very stress producing for one employee and not for another.
I think a wise approach is for employees to spend some time getting to know each other – what things create stress for them as well as what challenges they enjoy.
Secondly – our body’s response to stress varies. For example some of us eat more when stressed while others forget to eat. If we can get to know our own signals and perhaps those of our teammates, then we will be able to pick up on the stress in its early stages.
LMS- How can we make our workplace environment stress-free?
As I stated before, stress is an important and necessary aspect of life. Therefore the goal is not to eliminate stress but rather to manage it.
The most important thing is to take care of your own nervous system since we have limited control of our environment or of other people. Building awareness and getting to know what events or situations activate our nervous system into stress as well as which ones help to soothe or calm down the nervous system is key.
Our most basic physiological functions like eating, sleep, movement and connection with others have a huge impact on our NS and our ability to manage stress. Therefore looking at how you meet these basic needs in your daily life is a good place to start. Are you skipping meals or eating junk food? Are you lacking movement and exercise in your life? Are you sleeping 8 hours a day?
Other Recommendations:
- Try drinking water or herbal tea as opposed to caffeinated or sugary drinks
- Eat regularly -move vegetables, fruits and nuts and less carbs, processed foods and sugar
- Be aware of your media diet – are you listening to or reading triggering or depressing news? What brings you hope and peace?
- Try some sensory deprivation – time away from any screens or stimulation.
- Bring more movement into your life – adding a movement snack of 1-2 minutes can do wonders for shifting your energy.
- Practice breathwork and meditation
To learn more about stress and other important related topics, visit Catherine Fixe Chapin therapist’s website: https://www.laya-yoga.com/
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