Many people think that stress and anxiety are the same things, but they are actually different. Stress is any pressure, torture, or burden that you put on your brain about any subject. In contrast, anxiety is the feeling of worry and fear of something that is going to happen. Stress may be about an upcoming event or may be based on a past incident. However, anxiety is usually about upcoming events for which you are very concerned or worried. Most commonly, stress and anxiety hit a person's life altogether. In such a situation, the inability to manage stress can increase the level of anxiety.
Let's learn about these two in detail below.
How to Know if a Person is Under Stress or Anxiety
When a person is going through anxiety and stress, he would observe the following signs or symptoms:
Headache
Increase in heartbeat
Sweating, shivering or sometimes shaking.
Loss of appetite
Inability to sleep
Difficulty to focus on anything.
Fast breathing
Restlessness and anger
Does Stress Affect Anxiety?
The research has depicted that stress has a deep impact on a person's anxiety. If a person has constant stress about anything, it will give rise to anxiety. If stress is unmanaged for a longer time, a person can go into critical episodes of anxiety. As stress is due to the increase of cortisol hormone in the body, the increase of this hormone affects the mood and mind. In the presence of this, it becomes hard for a person to have positive thoughts and a good mood. As a result, he may go into deep anxiety, which ultimately leaves a very bad impact on his health.
How to Reduce Stress to Manage Anxiety
To get rid of anxiety, it is important for a person to first manage his stress. Although there are several techniques for stress management, here are a few important ones.
Increase your physical activity.
Physical activity plays a crucial role in assuring the good health and wellbeing of a person. If you are not engaging yourself in any type of physical activity, you are ruining your mental health. Lack of physical activity doesn’t only increase the stress level of a person but also enhances anxiety. Therefore, engage yourself in a morning walk, yoga, meditation, multiple exercises, and body workouts. All of these would help you in enjoying good mental, physical, and emotional health.
Go for clean and healthy eating.
The food that you intake also has a deep influence on your mental health. Therefore, fill up your plates with more vegetables and fruits instead of processed junk food. Avoid foods full of sugar and also fried foods. Also, say goodbye to fast food if you want to manage your anxiety and stress.
Increase your water intake.
The more liquids you intake, the healthier you will be. When you increase the intake of water, your body flushes out its toxins into the kidneys. Then, your kidneys prepare the urine and flush out all these toxic compounds out of your body. It helps in managing stress along with neutralizing the compounds that were causing anxiety.
Cut down your sugar intake, caffeine, alcohol, and smoking.
Don’t drink sugary beverages or alcoholic and caffeine-rich beverages. All of these combine to leave a poor impact on your health and weaken your immune system. Moreover, smoking is a silent killer that doesn’t only affect your health but kills you from the inside. Try different stress management techniques instead of smoking for good mental health.
Manage personal and professional life.
One of the biggest causes of stress and anxiety in one’s life is the inability to manage personal and professional life. Try to maintain a balance in both of these areas. If you give more time to the one and less time to the other, you will end up creating issues for yourself. These issues would then make you anxious and stressed. Therefore, manage both of these effectively to have a stress-free life.
Develop a proper sleep schedule for the night.
If you are compromising on your sleep, you would never be able to control your stress/anxiety. When you have a good 8-hour sleep at night, it relaxes your organs and recharges them with energy for the next day. A good night's sleep also enhances your performance for the next day and boosts your productivity. As a result, you would feel more productive and happy, which ultimately takes away your stress.
Use of supplements and medications.
You can also try different over-the-counter medications for stress management and supplements. There are certain vitamins, such as vitamin B complex, that are very effective for managing stress. It improves your brain muscles and gives them a sensation for relaxation to make you stress-free. However, one must consult with a doctor before starting any medicines.
When to See the Doctor
If you see that all of the stress management techniques are useless in managing your stress and anxiety, look for professional help. When nothing helps in controlling your stress and anxiety, it is time to book an immediate appointment with a doctor. Before visiting the doctor, take some time thinking and writing about the possible cause of your anxiety or stress. Also, write down the questions that you want to discuss with the doctor. These things would help you discuss your mental and physical health in detail.
Make sure to ask as many questions as you want from the doctor and ask him to prescribe the best possible treatment. Whether he recommends therapies, medications, or further sessions, follow everything religiously to see better results.
Final Verdict
Stress has a deep influence and a powerful impact on the level of anxiety you have. The prolonged stress conditions result in damaging your mental health and increasing your anxiety for a longer span.
To control your anxiety, it is crucial to practice various stress management techniques. Some of the most effective ones have been discussed above that you should consider for improving your wellbeing.
If you looking for personal coaching contact christine@healthyourself.co.za
Yours in health
