#InternationalStressAwarenessWeek
Sharing dates with our National Occupational Therapy Week…
International Stress Awareness Week is also taking place this week (from 4th to 8th of November).
Stress is defined by the World Health Organization as a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives. Everyone experiences stress to some degree. The way we respond to stress, however, makes a big difference to our overall well-being.
It can be confused with anxiety. Anxiety is your body’s reaction to stress and can occur even if there is no current threat.
Stress can be caused by experiencing a difficult situation. This can range from having lots of pending tasks at work or having an argument with your family or a friend… to socioeconomic issues, experiencing an illness in yourself or with a family member, or many other kinds of difficult situations in life.
Moreover, our lifestyles have changed so much nowadays, and stress is affecting our health significantly.
All of these situations cause different reactions in our bodies that generate significant changes in our organisms and can really affect our well-being.
When we feel stressed for any reason, our bodies release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are released because our brain notices stress and sends a signal to our adrenal glands, which release them to our bodies. This hormone release produces changes in our bodies, like an increase in our heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. This is helpful for a short time to deal with challenges but not at all in the long term, causing health problems in these cases.
What can help us to live our busy lives with less stress?
Life can be tricky at some points, and it is important to keep the activities that make us feel good.
First of all, learning how to be aware of our stress levels will help us. Getting to know ourselves will help us to do what we need to keep ourselves regulated. It is important to find those activities that interest and motivate us. Each person will need to deepen in herself/himself to find what is healthy for her/him.
A good recommendation would be to maintain a good movement routine. According to Nowacka-Chmielewska M et all., a sedentary lifestyle is associated with stress vulnerability, whereas a physically active lifestyle is associated with stress resilience.
Any physical activity can help, but activities like walking or running,…which are very accessible for all -in terms of not needing any additional equipment-, just going out and walking or running (depending on the person’s condition and life stage)… will make a big difference in our days.
The same happens with mindfulness-based practices like Yoga, including physical postures, meditation and breathing techniques. This can also help maintain good self-regulation but it is essential to be able to listen to our bodies and minds, as for some people who are experiencing difficult times, it can cause the opposite effect. That is why is so important to start with simple practices that we feel better with and ask for support if needed.
It is also important to support others in learning how to cope with stress and help them understand what they need to feel regulated in different daily life situations.
Kath Smith created a clinical tool called Sensory Ladders. It is a tool for self-regulation that combines Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Theory about Sensory processing and integration to address the development of the person’s self-awareness and regulation skills in collaboration with others.
This tool was created in 2001, when Kath Smith needed a tool to support adult clients with sensory integration difficulties in mental health services to assist them finding an adequte state of alerness and arousal in each moment of the day.
This tool can be applied to anyone at any stage of life (children, adults, older adults, etc.) with any condition that prevents them from finding the right state of regulation independently.
You can find all the information about this tool by watching the Sensory Ladders Webinar for free here:
If you are a healthcare professional, please watch this:
Sensory Ladders – For Health
If you are part of an Educational team, please watch this:
Sensory Ladders – For Education
If you are a Social care professional, please watch this:
Sensory Ladders – For Social Care
If you are a mum/dad or a career, please watch this:
Sensory Ladders – For Parents and Carers
References:
Nowacka-Chmielewska M, Grabowska K, Grabowski M, Meybohm P, Burek M, Małecki A. Running from Stress: Neurobiological Mechanisms of Exercise-Induced Stress Resilience. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022; 23(21):13348. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232113348
Lemay V, Hoolahan J, Buchanan A. Impact of a Yoga and Meditation Intervention on Students’ Stress and Anxiety Levels. Am J Pharm Educ. 2019 Jun;83(5):7001. doi: 10.5688/ajpe7001. PMID: 31333265; PMCID: PMC6630857.
Della Valle E, Palermi S, Aloe I, Marcantonio R, Spera R, Montagnani S, Sirico F. Effectiveness of Workplace Yoga Interventions to Reduce Perceived Stress in Employees: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. 2020; 5(2):33. https://doi.org/10.3390/jfmk5020033
Neumark-Sztainer D, Wall MM, Choi J, Barr-Anderson DJ, Telke S, Mason SM. Exposure to adverse events and associations with stress levels and the practice of yoga: Survey findings from a population-based study of diverse emerging young adults. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2020 Jun 1;26(6):482-90.