What is stress?

Stress is a normal human reaction that happens to everyone. In fact, the human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. When you experience changes or challenges (stressors), your body produces physical and mental responses. That’s stress.

Stress responses help your body adjust to new situations. Stress can be positive, keeping us alert, motivated and ready to avoid danger. For example, if you have an important test coming up, a stress response might help your body work harder and stay awake longer. But stress becomes a problem when stressors continue without relief or periods of relaxation.

What happens to the body during stress?

The body’s autonomic nervous system controls your heart rate, breathing, vision changes and more. Its built-in stress response, the “fight-or-flight response,” helps the body face stressful situations.

When a person has long-term (chronic) stress, continued activation of the stress response causes wear and tear on the body. Physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms develop.

Physical symptoms of stress include:

• Aches and pains.
• Chest pain or a feeling like your heart is racing.
• Exhaustion or trouble sleeping.
• headache dizziness or shaking.

• high bp
• Muscle tension or jaw clenching.
• Stomach or digestive problems.
• Trouble having sex.
• Weak immune system.

Stress can lead to emotional and mental symptoms like:

• Anxiety or irritability.
• depression
• panic attacks
• Sadness.

How is stress diagnosed?

Stress is subjective — not measurable with tests. Only the person experiencing it can determine whether it’s present and how severe it feels. A healthcare provider may use questionnaires to understand your stress and how it affects your life.

If you have chronic stress, your healthcare provider can evaluate symptoms that result from stress. For example, high blood pressure can be diagnosed and treated.

What are some strategies for stress relief?

You can’t avoid stress, but you can stop it from becoming overwhelming by practicing some daily strategies:

• Exercise when you feel symptoms of stress coming on. Even a short walk can boost your mood.
• At the end of each day, take a moment to think about what you’ve accomplished — not what you didn’t get done.
• Set goals for your day, week and month. Narrowing your view will help you feel more in control of the moment and long-term tasks.
• Consider talking to a therapist or your healthcare provider about your worries.

What are some ways to prevent stress?

Many daily strategies can help you keep stress at bay:

• Try relaxation activities, such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, breathing exercises and muscle relaxation. Programs are available online, in smartphone apps, and at many gyms and community centers.
• Take good care of your body each day. Eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep help your body handle stress much better.
• Stay positive and practice gratitude, acknowledging the good parts of your day or life.
• Accept that you can’t control everything. Find ways to let go of worry about situations you cannot change.
• Learn to say “no” to additional responsibilities when you are too busy or stressed.
• Stay connected with people who keep you calm, make you happy, provide emotional support and help you with practical things. A friend, family member or neighbor can become a good listener or share responsibilities so that stress doesn’t become overwhelming.

How long does stress last?

Stress can be a short-term issue or a long-term problem, depending on what changes in your life. Regularly using stress management techniques can help you avoid most physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms of stress.

When should I talk to a doctor about stress?

You should seek medical attention if you feel overwhelmed, if you are using drugs or alcohol to cope, or if you have thoughts about hurting yourself. Your primary care provider can help by offering advice, prescribing medicine or referring you to a therapist.

Tips to come out from stress

Talk yourself through it

Sometimes calling a friend is not an option. If this is the case, talking calmly to yourself can be the next best thing.

Don’t worry about seeming crazy — just tell yourself why you’re stressed out, what you have to do to complete the task at hand, and most importantly, that everything will be okay.

Eat right

Stress levels and a proper diet are closely related. When we’re overwhelmed, we often forget to eat well and resort to using sugary, fatty snack foods as a pick-me-up.

Try to avoid sugary snacks and plan ahead. Fruits and vegetables are always good, and fish with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce the symptoms of stress. A tuna sandwich really is brain food.

Laugh it off

Laughter releases endorphins that improve mood and decrease levels of the stress-causing hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Laughing tricks your nervous system into making you happy.

Our suggestion: watch some classic Monty Python skits like “The Ministry of Silly Walks.” Those Brits are so hilarious, you’ll soon be cracking up, rather than cracking up.

Drink tea

A large dose of caffeine causes a short-term spike in blood pressure. It may also cause your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to go into overdrive.

Instead of coffee or energy drinks, try green tea. It has less than half the caffeine of coffee and contains healthy antioxidants, as well as theanine, an amino acid that has a calming effect on the nervous system.

Be mindful

Most of the tips we’ve suggested provide immediate relief, but there are also many lifestyle changes that can be more effective in the long run. The concept of “mindfulness” is a large part of meditative and somatic approaches to mental health and has become popular recently.

From yoga and tai chi to meditation and Pilates, these systems of mindfulness incorporate physical and mental exercises that prevent stress from becoming a problem. Try joining a class.

Online meditation options

Read our review of the best online meditation options to find the right fit for you.

Exercise (even for a minute)

Exercise doesn’t necessarily mean power lifting at the gym or training for a marathon. A short walk around the office or simply standing up to stretch during a break at work can offer immediate relief in a stressful situation.

Getting your blood moving releases endorphins and can improve your mood almost instantaneously.

Sleep better

Everyone knows stress can cause you to lose sleep. Unfortunately, lack of sleep is also a key cause of stress. This vicious cycle causes the brain and body to get out of whack and only gets worse with time.

Make sure to get the doctor-recommended seven to eight hours of sleep. Turn the TV off earlier, dim the lights, and give yourself time to relax before going to bed. It may be the most effective stress buster on our list.

Breathe easy

The advice “take a deep breath” may seem like a cliché, but it holds true when it comes to stress. For centuries, Buddhist monks have been conscious of deliberate breathing during meditation.

For an easy three- to five-minute exercise, sit up in your chair with your feet flat on the floor and hands on top of your knees. Breathe in and out slowly and deeply, concentrating on your lungs as they expand fully in your chest.

While shallow breathing causes stress, deep breathing oxygenates your blood, helps center your body, and clears your mind.

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Learn more about stress relief

Stress is an unavoidable part of life, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Too much untreated stress can cause potentially serious physical and mental health problems.

The good news is that in many cases, stress is manageable. With some patience and a few useful strategies, you can reduce your stress, whether it’s family stress or stress