In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, and the accompanying pandemic fear and stress, we thought a look at some stress and anxiety management basics was in order. In our frenetic society with demands being placed upon people in the workplace, school, community, and home, it is more important than ever for people to find creative ways to cope with and maybe even eliminate distress in their lives. Distress is different than eustress (a name for good stress), which is the helpful type of stress, one that is a burst of energy, telling one\u2019s body what to do. It is the type of stress that can help one accomplish tasks, goals and projects, motivating one to move forward. Eustress becomes distress when it is overdone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emotional\n<\/strong>\u2013 Emotional wellness is a deep sense of happiness that comes from understanding\npersonal own feelings and the feelings of other people, accepting personal strengths\nand weaknesses, and attaining a sense of emotional stability. It is also the\nability to maintain effective personal and interpersonal relationships with\nothers. Emotional wellness is the ability to express feelings in an appropriate\nmanner, adjust well to change, and cope with life despite its frustrations and\ndisappointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cognitive\n<\/strong>\u2013 Cognitive wellness encompasses the ability to think clearly and\ncreatively, willingness to continue learning throughout life, ability to apply\nthe things learned in a variety of settings, and readiness to engage one\u2019s mind\nin interactions with the world. People who are cognitively well are able to\nabsorb new ideas and concepts, understand how thinking affects behavior and\nemotional reactions, and are to remain steadfast in the face of challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Physical\n<\/strong>\u2013 Physical wellness is associated with living a healthy lifestyle\nand includes eating a well-balanced diet, sleeping enough, engaging in plenty\nof physical activity and exercise, maintaining proper weight, and restricting\nintake of harmful substances such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and caffeine.\nPhysical wellness encompasses taking measures to protect one\u2019s physical health,\nprotect against illness and disease, and remain active throughout the lifespan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social <\/strong>\u2013 Social wellness is the ability to feel at ease and comfortable with oneself and with others. It is the ability to relate well to other people, be outgoing and friendly, and develop and maintain intimacy. Social wellness means one has the ability to handle conflicts while being true to one\u2019s own ideals and beliefs. It is being tolerant of others, especially those who are different. Social wellness means loving oneself in order to be able to love others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We live in a\nworld fraught with stress. Stress has many sources and can be generated from\nwithin a person through self-imposed thoughts and feelings, while others\nstressors come from the environment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress\ngenerated from within a person <\/strong>– Stress can be\nself-imposed through low self-esteem, anger, feelings of hopelessness, feelings\nof helplessness, anxiety, perfectionistic tendencies, jealousy and hostility.\nFor example, people who are perfectionistic often bring stress upon themselves\nby being too careful and worrying about tasks being perfectly accomplished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress\ngenerated from the environment <\/strong>\u2013 Stress can be felt\nfrom the results of environmental catastrophes such as severe storms,\nearthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and acts of war. For example, people\nwho are trying to rebuild their homes and lives after a hurricane find\nthemselves struggling to meet their most basic needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress\ngenerated from conflicts <\/strong>\u2013 Stress can be the result of situations\nin which people are faced with an incompatibility with people, needs, demands,\nopportunities or goals. For example, a person who does not get along with a\nco-worker will experience stress on the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress\ngenerated from daily hassles <\/strong>\u2013 Stress can be the\nresult of minor irritating annoyances that occur in daily life. Some of these\ndaily hassles may be losing keys, car breaking down, waiting in long lines at a\nstore, waiting for appointments, and getting stuck in traffic. For example, a\nperson having to sit in traffic going to and coming home from work will\nexperience stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress\ngenerated from economic factors <\/strong>\u2013 Stress can be the\nresult of economic factors such as losing money in the stock market, not having\nenough money in retirement, growing inflation, and amassing too much debt. For\nexample, many people have to work later in life because of a lack of enough\nmoney to live on in retirement. People may struggle with overcrowded housing,\ninadequate heating or air-conditioning, dangerous neighborhoods, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress\ngenerated from changes in families <\/strong>\u2013 Stress can be the\nresults of changes in the family such as parents\u2019 separation, divorce, blended\nfamilies, loss of loved ones, change in residence, birth of a child, adoption,\nchanges in health of family members, and caring for aging parents. For example,\npeople who are forced to care for aging parents often feel guilt, and are\nstressed because it takes time away from work and other family obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress\ngenerated from changes at work <\/strong>\u2013 Stress can be the\nresult of changes on a job, loss of work, changes in a role played at work,\nuncomfortable physical demands in the workplace, a lack of safety,\ninterpersonal demands such as an abrasive supervisor or co-worker, and having\ntoo much work to complete. For example, a person who must work with an abrasive\nsupervisor will feel uncomfortable most of the work day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Developing good coping skills is an important component to living a wellness lifestyle. The following exercise fosters laughter, and excellent mood lifter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Write a letter to one of your fears describing your feelings about this fear and how much time you devote to worrying about it. Describe how this fear affects your life and the lives of those around you. Describe what you will do to stop being afraid of this situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You, __________________________________________________________________________________________<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>, are my fear. Excerpted from Coping with Anxiety<\/a><\/em> by Ester Leutenberg and John Liptak, EdD. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Talk To Your Fear<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
My feelings about you are_______________________________________________________________________<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>.
I spend ___________time worrying about you because _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>.
This affects my life _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>.
It also affects those around me by _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>.
This is what I am going to do about my fear of you ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHave a Good Laugh<\/h2>\n\n\n\n