You've probably heard, as I have, about some of the negative side effects of stress. If you're like me, you've thought that many of the side effects are largely due to the habits that we pick up when we are stressed. Habits like not eating right, smoking, not exercising, not getting enough sleep, and so on.
New evidence is in, however, that shows that stress might actually damage the brain directly. I found this post, Stress and Neural Wreckage: Part of the Brain Plasticity Puzzle by UCSF researcher Gregory Kellet, at the SharpBrains blog.
The bottom line, according to this article, is that stress lasting more than thirty minutes is directly responsible for damage to the brain. The good news is that the damage can be reversed by relieving the stress.
So, I've decided to give us some tools to relieve stress. I've found a few great posts with tips for stress management, and then I'm going to open the floor to you, the reader, to share your best stress management tips.
From around the blogosphere here are some great tips for managing stress:
- From about.com, Top 5 Picks for Relieving Stress, Body, and Back Pain Naturally. This post focuses on natural stress relief, which is a big concern of mine. I really don't want to take medication to relieve stress.
- From Anne Truitt Zelenka, Stress Management for the Highly Stressed Out. Anne shares some resources to help you manage stress. She also shares how she has managed stress by taking a break.
- From Mind Tools, Stress Management Techniques. A variety of resources to help reduce your stress.
- Finally, From Work From Home Momma (yes, I've blogged about stress before), Stress Management Tips for the WAHM. Just a few ideas to help you relieve stress...
Leave a comment and let us know.
We've learned the negative effects stress can have on brain chemistry the hard way this year. My husband has had three seizures since August where the only contributing factors found were stress and related fatigue. We've been trying to find a way for him to blow off some steam in the evenings.
We used to be big on athletics as a way to relieve stress. Both my husband and I were into martial arts, but due to injuries as well as time and budget constraints now that we're adults with full time jobs, a toddler, and another on the way, it's just not a practical route for us anymore. However, a half hour or so of gaming does help him burn off some of the stress and the aggression that tends to go with it in a benign way.
Personally, I either clean like there's no tomorrow until I've worked off the excess energy that I get with stress, or I take out a notebook and write. Sometimes I use the writing to work through the issue that's stressing me. Other times, I simply escape into a world of my own creation for a while. Still others, I take it out on the characters depending on my mood and what I feel the story needs.
Posted by: Misses E. | February 8, 2008 12:07 PM | Permalink to Comment