Stress was essential to survival at the beginning of mankind, but nowadays it is often a health burden. Therefore, reducing stress in everyday life is extremely important for optimal well-being. We show you important methods of how you can effectively reduce stress.
Stress is a biochemical state of emergency. If a person is threatened and has to decide and act quickly, a chemical cocktail is created in the body that enables it: stress. He can now either fight or quickly evade the situation, the effect is also known as flight or fight.
What is stress However; evolution did not interpret stress as the permanent state in which we live today. Once the threat was over, it subsided again – nowadays we stress in the office every day and mostly in our free time with the family. Stress reduction must be actively pursued so that the stress does not make you sick at some point.
Witnessing a parent in a state of anxiety can be more than just momentarily unsettling for children. Kids look to their parents for information about how to interpret ambiguous situations; if a parent seems consistently anxious and fearful, the child will determine that a variety of scenarios are unsafe. And there is evidence that children of anxious parents are more likely to exhibit anxiety themselves, a probable combination of genetic risk factors and learned behaviors.
Mothers are permanent fixtures in one’s life, and it’s sad when some people don’t get to experience having one. A female figure, like a mother is important to build love and affection. While a father can give teach you those things, growing up with a mother is just different. And because growing up without a mom is really difficult, and it can also cause a low stress tolerance.
Why does stress have to be actively reduced?
The body does not evolve as quickly as society. We fall in love and bond, suffer lovesickness and fear of loss, although we don’t have to anymore these days – everyone can take care of themselves. We are afraid of dark corners, even though we no longer have natural enemies. It is the same with stress – the biochemical processes in our body originate from a time when people experienced stress when they needed it to survive.
Today it is more the job, a stressful situation in the family or one’s own inner fears that trigger stress, as a permanent state rather than a temporary survival mode. This can cause the immune system to suffer, we get sick frequently, and over time, develop worse conditions like heart disease. In addition, there are sleep problems or an increased risk of burnout. Once permanent stress has arisen, it is not easily reduced again, but only through active stress reduction.
How is stress relieved?
Stress reduction takes place when the threatening situation has changed. Once the saber-toothed tiger has disappeared, there is no longer any need to react stressed. The saber-toothed tiger would of course have to be replaced by the boss, the nagging spouse or the screaming children. But it’s not that simple after all, because our body knows the unique, spontaneously created stress and constant stress.
If the boss yells at us, a high level of stress arises, but it subsidesagain the more time has passed since this happened. Constant stress arises when, for example, one strenuous day follows another in the office and nothing improves for a long time.
The stress then arises again and again and there is hardly a time span in which it could be minimized to a healthy level again. Active stress reduction is especially important now. From an evolutionary point of view, stress always meant that humans would either fight immediately or flee, i.e. they would move. Therefore, sport is still the best way to reduce stress today – stress hormones decrease and people relax.