How do you handle stress?

[banquo's_bumble_puppy]

Me- not good- somedays it gets so bad that I feel like crying...I get short tempered and try to avoid people...it's funny people, (co-workers can tell right away)...

[Candy]

It depends on my level of stress.

I break out in hives, become a hypochondriac, sprout new white hairs, over-indulge in food or alcohol, isolate myself, and/or get angry over nothing.

Oh, I'm just a mess when I stress.

I'm now stress free, and I will try to keep it that way for the future. I'm not continuing on with my Master's. I just can't handle another two years of freaking out all the time. Life's too short to keep worrying about every little thing. It took one hard lesson to get that through my thick head. ;)

[Yorkshireman]

Coping strategy for stress?
On a good day - pretty well, I might just go a bit quiet and fretful.

On a bad day - by snapping nastily at people who are only trying to help, stammering heavily, and pulling clumps of my hair out, then going home and drinking too much. It's more like a 'not-coping' strategy :wall:

[Lianachan]

I'm pretty much immune to stress. My basic philosophy is to assume that the worst possible thing is almost certainly going to happen at any moment, and then when actual problems are trifling by comparison - well, I am underwhelmed by them.

[Tinaa]

I used to smoke, then I quit. Again, I used to smoke, then I quit, again.

Stress, what stress?

[Fram]

Tinaa, I hope this doesn't come across insulting, but your post coupled with your sig (doing the same thing over and over again) made me chuckle. :lol:

[Moose]

* Mainly by not leaving myself enough time to brood over things I can't fix on the spot.

"I'll burn that bridge when I get to it" is one of my more commonly uttered truisms. While I can't single-handedly repair New Orleans, I can donate what I can to appropriate causes while keeping my little corner of the world safe and comfortable by doing my job competently.

* By looking at the big picture rather than fixating on the details.

I might, for example, get run over by a deorbiting non-organic Greyhound bus from Planet-X while in the tub. This doesn't especially worry me because I've taken sensible and appropriate precautions to minimize the risk (looking both ways for Nancy Leider before drawing a bath, for example) But then, just how likely is this scenario anyway?

* By keeping things in perspective.

So what if I forgot to bring the garbage out this week. The garbage truck will come back next week and I'll have four small bags to bring to the curb rather than two. Big whoop.

[Jim]

I try very hard to keep in mind that worrying (stressing) never solved anything. If you can do something about a situation, do it rather than worry; if you can't, worrying won't help anyway.

If that doesn't work:
When in danger, worry, doubt,
Run in circles, scream and shout.
Burma Shave

[Argos]

How do I handle stress? Have you ever heard of Lexotan?

[Cylinder]

I used to smoke, then I quit. Again, I used to smoke, then I quit, again.

I get tired of people complaining how hard it is to quit smoking. It can't be that hard since I do it at least once every month!

*Dodges tomatoes*

[Candy]

I get tired of people complaining how hard it is to quit smoking. It can't be that hard since I do it at least once every month!

*Dodges tomatoes*
http://www.illuminati-r-us.com/Forums/images/smiles/glp-tomato.gif

[Humphrey]

I actually welcome stress. Its prety much the only time i can hunker down and concentrate on my work. :-) Sure there is a limit, but its pretry darn high. MY favorite moments aare one hour befofe a paper is due and i still have three pages left to write. Its so damn energizing and amazing. I frankly get anoyed when i have work to do and im not stressed, i just can't get it in my head to sit down and do the work.

But to get rid of it? a book of video game and its all gone. Hard to get me stressed, easy to go.

[Swift]

For those who would just like to stay stressed...
LINK (http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~pinto/stress.html)

:lol:

Guess it shows humor is my stress relief (and I guess I'm not nearly funny enough ;) )

[Gillianren]

well, the short answer is, I don't. but I will, just as soon as I get health insurance!

however, when it's stress not caused by chemicals in my brain gone awry (when it is, I handle stress by having a panic attack!), I talk it out. you'll note that when I was angry at the DMV, instead of yelling at poor, innocent DMV clerk, I came here and ranted. yelling at him would've been counterproductive.

I admire all of you who say you don't get stressed. I'm not sure I believe you, mind, but I admire you. I've never been able to just not worry about things. in fact, in my personal life at least, the less control I have over a situation, the more stressful it is. besides, since my support network's scattered over at least two continents right now, I'm left with far fewer people to talk things out with properly, especially given that I don't have long distance.

[Monique]

I spend time with lovers. I pout and they make me smile. We laugh play, ignore ugly world for sometime. Then awful world not so bad. :)

[karna]

Hi,

When u r under stress. Just think of some thing else which makes u feel good.
I love hearing music. This makes me feel good whenever i am under stress .
The Stress is too bad to health, why should we spoil it our selves. So, if u feel that u r under stress think of some thing that makes u feel relaxed.

[Lianachan]

I'm sure I read somewhere recently that a walk along the beach was about as good a stress-buster as there is.

[Trebuchet]

The next thread after this one (at this moment) is "Run in circles, scream and shout". Sounds like as good a method as any!

Edit: Now that I've actually read that thread, I see it was derived from this one. Duh! Still, the juxtaposition was pretty good.

[Kemal]

I stuff it into a little ball of anger that I cram deep down inside me. Then, one day...

[Doodler]

Stress is easy, deal with it and whatever's causing it and move on. Or just ignore the bugger causing you stress until you can find a safe place to hide the body. ;)

Seriously, I work in architecture, which is nothing but high pressure deadlines from the moment I clock in, till about an hour after I log out. As I was told when I started, people either crack in a month, or they harden and learn to cope. I'm now into my sixth year as an associate in this firm. I'm not an alcoholic, I do not smoke, I've never used an illegal substance in my life. Aside from the occassional long weekend in the company of scantily clad or completely unclad young women taking my money one lengthwise folded $1 and $5 bill at a time, I've done pretty well managing the annoyances of life.

[Tinaa]

Tinaa, I hope this doesn't come across insulting, but your post coupled with your sig (doing the same thing over and over again) made me chuckle. :lol:

And whatever made you think I am sane? I am a mother of teen age daughters!

[dita]

If it's a situation...i just plow thru it till its done or gone. If its a person who stresses me out...I go into a private room and pretend to yell every single thing I "would if I could" and then go back and think it in my head but dont say it when I see them.

[Tinaa]

Stressed is desserts backwards.

[Candy]

Aside from the occassional long weekend in the company of scantily clad or completely unclad young women taking my money one lengthwise folded $1 and $5 bill at a time...
Well, this certainly caught my eye. ;)

[Fraser]

I'm also nearly immune to stress. As things freak out, I get calmer and calmer. I did learn my limits on one insane project though - 48 hours of non-stop work, pushing a team of web designers to help deliver a huge project for a VERY important client. I lost my appetite, couldn't sleep, and mostly just worried relentlessly.

[dakini]

I grind my teeth. My dentist yells at me. :(

I too could use a stress coping strategy.

[Swift]

I would say I'm mediocre at handling stress. I'm big on planning and anticipating and paying attention to details, which is an asset at work for troubling shooting (or avoiding trouble) and can be helpful at home, but it also means I worry alot. Not quite a control freak; would that be a control-odd-ball. :eh: ;)

My work is very stressful, just because this company seems always on the brink of disaster. I can handle it for extended periods of time, but it kind of seems non-stop here, going on for years and years. I usually contain it or laugh it off, but I occassionally boil over and do a little ranting and raving. I do however have a lot of outside interests and hobbies, and so can usually do a good job of separating work and life.

BAUT is actually a good stress relief for me - this is a good group to hang out with. :)

[Candy]

My work is very stressful, just because this company seems always on the brink of disaster. I can handle it for extended periods of time, but it kind of seems non-stop here, going on for years and years.

Do you work for United Airlines? ;)

I have a very stressful job, too. I’m accustomed to it now, after 4 years. I’m surprised at how we keep losing team members with more seniority than I, though, since 2002.

Victim 1 - got furloughed after 9/11
Victim 2 – started substance abusing (got fired)
Victim 3 – went on Family Leave (never came back)
Victim 4 – abused company property (got furloughed)
Victim 5 – became violent at work (got fired)

I’m still with the company after continually fighting tooth and nail. I’m in the clear now, because I’ve jumped all the hurdles to get this far. They now know I'm serious about staying with a company I love unconditionally. The BABB family knows, as I posted all my struggles this last year.

[edited - forgot one person]

[Monique]

I grind my teeth. My dentist yells at me. :(

I too could use a stress coping strategy.
Dentist should yell, no?

Must find friends to care for you, help you to laugh. :)


Edit to Add:

As Buddhist, I like name you chose.
The Dakini are not bent on mindless destruction or chaos for its own sake The wrath they embody is towards their own states of anger, greed and delusion, which they and their practitioners seek to cut out and transform. Great energy and determination is needed to achieve this and the violent imagery used shows the energy necessary to cut out the roots of ignorance, greed and delusion.

[snabald]

I lift weights - after that I'm too tired to be stressed!

[genebujold]

Well, at first, I fake the "strong silent type." Then I wail. After that, I change underwear and take the presidential role - "I understand, people - you're city will be flooded. We're preparing every emergency response known to man, rest assured."

I wail again, after which I usually go camping, for two or three weeks, staring at the burning embers, wondering what life is really all about.

After a good, hot, shower, in non-contaminated water (I left for the hike, remember?), I stop by a good library to catch up on the news.

Seeing what it is, I usually go hiking for another two or three weeks, this time in a different spont.

Eventually, the problem no longer exists.

Not really, folks, but you get the drift that I do enjoy the great outdoors!

[paulie jay]

I find there are two kinds of stress in my life - the stess that I can do something about and the stress that I have no control over.

I find that certain kinds of stress can increase my performance. It steels my concentration and I can really knuckle down and get the task done. The stress of an important musical performance can be a beneficial thing to me because I thrive in that kind of situation. Like snabald I find that I can relieve the residual stress by thrashing about at the gym. I have, on occasion, been known to deliberately buy into a confrontation with a passenger* just to blow off steam :whistle: . Generally I won't get sucked into arguments so when I do argue it is by choice.

Then there is the other kind of stress where it becomes an all consuming, desperate "what the heck am I going to do?" kind of thing. At times like that I really need to sort things out in my head and prefer to be left alone. Once I've gone through that process things usually don't seem so bad.



(* for those who don't know I work for Australian Customs as well as being a pro-musician, an odd and sometimes confusing mix of work!)

[Swift]

<snip>
I find that certain kinds of stress can increase my performance. It steels my concentration and I can really knuckle down and get the task done.
Very good point. I am a very comfortable public speaker and do it quite a bit for both work and the rest of life. Because of that, a fair number of people come to me for advice about public speaking, particularly when they are nervous or terrified about it. One thing I tell them is a little nervousness is actually good; a little adrenalin is as good as a cup of coffee and gets them "sharp".

[farmerjumperdon]

I jump out of a plane - as often as possible (which means as often as the family will tolerate my absence and the funds for jumping hold out). There is nothing as cleansing as a full-blown adrenaline rush and the concentration required to participate in a sport that demands the ultimate focus.

When, for one reason or another, I don't go to the DZ, . . . I garden. It's a totally diffeent kind of release.

That's my personal approach. What is interesting about stress is that it is an internally generated state of mind. What is stressful to one person is no big deal to another. With that insight, it should not be a big leap to the realization that YOU control what stresses you based on what you believe about certain things. If a person carries a belief that changing jobs is BAD - they are going to be super-stressed if that situation confronts them. On the other hand, changing jobs might be GOOD news for others; seeing it as opportunity, chance for more pay, prestige, etc. They will experience far less stress.

I will admit that changing personal beliefs is not easy - you do not just will yourself to change. You must live a new experience to create a new belief. But change you must if you expect a different result.

I love the line someone is using as their signature about continuing to do the same thing but expecting the results to change. It's my number one line for new clients who can't understand why things don't improve. It hits the nail on the head. It's THE human dilemma - we resist change, but complain about the status quo.

[HenrikOlsen]

For simple stress, where it's possible to resolve the problem by working on it, working on it does the job:)
When I'm in a situation where I'm stressed about thinsg I can't do anything about, I've found that the best solutions is to spend some time not thinking about it at all.

I either fire up the forge and pound metal into interesting shapes, or start doing something very simple and repetitive that still requires concentration, such as making chainmail or patterned tabletweaving.

Being forced to concentrate on something else tends to bring me to a point where I can look a bit more realistically on the original problem, and my relationship with it.

Once that made me realise that I was in a badly planned project, where unrealistic expectations of results were grinding everyone down, so I quit before it imploded.

[long live the queeb]

Hi all, first post here, ,looong time lurker. My work is in the Aerospace industry, high levels of stress, with tight deadlines are an accepted part of this employement. Its as much a part of modern life as mobile(Cell) phones, and it aint going to get any better in the near future. IMHO its just something we all have to learn to live with.

[Maksutov]

Me- not good- somedays it gets so bad that I feel like crying...I get short tempered and try to avoid people...it's funny people, (co-workers can tell right away)...Crying? Short-tempered?

What's your occupation?

Having been in the Quality profession since the early 1970s, I can tell you that stress in all its degrees is part of the job. As the mediator between the needs of the company and the contractual requirements of the customer, it can get pretty hairy.

A primary component of handling this is knowing where corporate management is at. As long as they have some kind of glimmer about the importance of customer requirements, then the stress is reduced to explaining to the production, engineering, and logistics personnel why a certain lot may not ship.

But when corporate management hasn't a clue re the role of customer requirements, then the stress factor can be huge. It's like one is fighting against one's own company in order to assure the survival and success of that company.

Unfortunately, most of American industry has devolved into the 1950s syndrome of "We know better than the customer what is needed, and what's important is getting the product out the door."

Being a quality professional in management in such circumstances is about as stressful as one could imagine, within the confines of American industry.

Meanwhile, what's your occupation?

[Chuck]

My attention span is too short for stress to build.

[farmerjumperdon]

I find there are two kinds of stress in my life - the stess that I can do something about and the stress that I have no control over.


I'm curious to hear what kind of stress it is that people feel they have no control over. Other than a meteor hurtling toward Earth (WHERE?!) or other such calamity (and kids or the mentally infirm who do not have the authority to make their own decisions).

My position out on one of the extremes in the spectrum of believing people are personally responsible for their station in life makes this an easy philosophy for me to live by.

I know people who do not have a phone at all, much less a cell phone. Yes, that is rather extreme - but my point is you can make decisions that will eliminate stress, or at least very thoroughly control the stresses you experience. Anyone who so desires can retreat to a horse and buggy life. My guess is most would not be happy, and would complain about "stress" and how they are a victim of it no matter what.

[Moose]

Anyone who so desires can retreat to a horse and buggy life.

I have to say it's been tempting at times. I've never felt quite so content as I've been sitting in a comfy folding chair in the middle of nowhere watching the river flow by, and completely out of touch with the rest of the world.

Of course, I suspect I'd get bored of that after a few days.

[Gillianren]

I'm curious to hear what kind of stress it is that people feel they have no control over. Other than a meteor hurtling toward Earth (WHERE?!) or other such calamity (and kids or the mentally infirm who do not have the authority to make their own decisions).

well, I'm not mentally infirm, but I'm mentally ill. that's a huge source of stress I can't control. when I'm told that you can always control your stress, that's another huge source of stress I can't control. I can't. my brain is set up to randomly produce it. what I need is sympathy; what I frequently get is "it's all in your head."

how 'bout breakups? while you can tell yourself that you're better off without the (insert expletive of choice), you will still be emotionally entangled, and there will still be stress. or when someone you love dies. or when someone you love moves off the continent. or when you have an unanticipated move. or medical emergencies--or financial emergencies, which can be tied into medical emergencies.

I also consider family to be a huge source of uncontrollable stress. on the one hand, I don't talk to the sister with whom I don't get along. on the other hand, the sister with whom I do get along is always on my case about it.

another large source of uncontrollable stress for me right now is the Social Security Administration. my financial/health insurance status is out of my hands right now, and that's pretty stressful. I'm neither physically nor emotionally capable of holding a job, and I've spent the last year trying to convince them of such with no end in sight.

[JMV]

Does anyone here enter into this weird state of almost like euphoria when stress exceeds a certain limit? I remember from school years a few times when school projects and difficult exams piled up on a short time span and it seemed as if I was not going to get all the work done I was expected to do, I got irrationally happy. Nothing bad mattered anymore and it was all good. Well, bliss is a good word to describe the state I was in.

I didn't use any intoxicating substances and the feeling lasted for a few days. Could be some sort of psychological defense mechanism.

[paulie jay]

I'm curious to hear what kind of stress it is that people feel they have no control over.


snip
I think Gillianren has touched on what I'm getting at. A quick example is when I split up with my ex-wife. It was enormously stressful even though it was something that I wanted more than anythig in the world. I actually hated her and thought that I would feel instant relief and it was quite the opposite - and I had no control over it (the stress that is). The only way to avoid the stress was to not separate - but that wasn't an option.

Then there are other situations which can be stressful over which I have no control - being stuck in gridlock when I'm supposed to be perfoming on stage is a good example. I can't control it, but I can't be cavalier about it and say "oh well, it doesn't matter" either. It does matter - it means that I have disappointed people, it means I may not get paid, it means I may not get booked at that venue again. I agree that we are responsible for most of the pickles that we get ourselves in - but I can't keep saying to myself "well I should have left an hour earlier". You can't always leave an hour earlier just in case - you end up sitting around a lot doing nothing!

[Mosheh Thezion]

I used to do drugs... but they don't help...

nowadays i scream and yell...

-MT

[Archer17]

I used to do drugs... but they don't help...

nowadays i scream and yell...

-MTExercise is better MT. My wife and I jog on a daily basis (weather permitting). When we can't run we take long walks. It's good for more than keeping physically fit IMO as I can honestly say neither one of us get stressed too often. In those cases of stress that one has no control over - an example being my brother-in-law dying of liver cancer 6 months after his diagnosis at the age of 43 - the best thing to do is to vent. Not by drugs or alcohol, but by letting it out all out with someone that's willing to listen. I think one of the reasons stress takes its toll on many people is that they keep their stress bottled up.

[genebujold]

My attention span is too short for stress to build.

You're blessed!

[Candy]

You're blessed!
I'm stressing right now, and I'm not exactly sure why.
1. Co-worker recently got fired.
2. We now have 3 employee's working 24/7 in Operational Management.
3. Shifts are sometimes 12 hours in length.
4. The work week is 6 days (pay is still based on 40 hours a week).
5. We are training 2 people to help with shift coverage.
6. Position for a new employee has been approved (not yet posted).
7. A second job is not an option due to constant shift changes.

I could go on and on, but I won't. This has been my life for the past few years. I've grown accustomed to it. Do you see why getting my Bachelor's was so difficult? Not because school is hard, but because life is harder.

That's why I'm not exactly sure why I am stressing now. Nothing has changed. Hmmmm.