Situational Stress And Some Tricks To Handle It!

Situational stress cannot be put into a definition. It is the stress you deal with on a daily basis. We all experience situational stress and most of us cope well with it. It becomes a problem only when you lose the ability to fight back, when you fail to produce a resilient response to the daily stressors that you face.

We all know that stress is a natural response to any kind of threat (perceived or real). Situational stress is one of the most common types of stress experienced by us. It’s the worry, tension, stress or anxiety we have about things that happen either to us or around us.

Everyone has a different threshold and there is a high chance that people who can easily get anxious about random stuff, situational stress can interfere with their normal day-to-day functioning.

Let’s understand situational stress better…

What Is Situational Stress?

Situation stress in a short lived stress that you experience during a tough situation. It usually occurs when things happen unannounced. Situational stress in presence of a temporary threat is born out of that thought – “if i don’t find a solution to this problem right now, something bad is going to happen”

This is an example of catastrophic thinking. We aren’t always in the best of our states and in our vulnerable state, experiencing situational stress is quite natural. You’re basically caught off guard and that’s one of the reasons your body experiences a burst of adrenaline causing situational stress.

You experience situational stress when you find yourself in a situation that’s not in your control. Even though situational stress is temporary, your thoughts and feelings during that short period of time are so intense that the impact stays a lot longer than the actual stressful period.

Also read: Can You Get Addicted To Stress? Exploring The Link Between Stress And Addiction

Signs And Symptoms Of Situational Stress

Identifying situational stress is important because it has long lasting effects on your mental and physical health. Once you are well aware of all the signs of situational stress only then you will be able to identify whether you are experiencing situational stress or not.

Let’s have a look some physical and mental signs of situational stress;

• Concentration issues
• Body aches, headaches, etc.
• Increased heart rate
• Hives
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• Lightheadedness
• Irritability
• Muscle spasms

Also read: The Impact Of Psychosocial Stress On Your Life And How To Cope With It

How to Manage Situational Stress On Your Own?

Situational stress is experienced by a lot of people but only a few know how to manage situational stress. Therefore, here are 6 tips for you to learn how to manage and overcome situational stress;

1.Avoid Unnecessary Stress: you will have to choose your battles. You cannot be paying attention to every problem that is thrown at you. There are a few ways you can avoid unnecessary stress – 1. Learn to say No, 2. Avoid stress causing people, 3. Eliminate stressful events from your life, 4. Filter your to-do list

2.Adapt according to your needs: sometimes our stressor is beyond our reach and having to change it is not possible. In such situations you can mend your ways. You can do that by just changing your outlook towards your stressor, focus on the bigger picture, focus on the positive, etc.

3.Alter your stressful situation: sometimes you have the power to change the situation to work in your favor. How can you do that? Don’t bottle up your emotions, be flexible, be assertive in exchanging your thoughts and learn some time management skills.

4.Know that not everything will be in your control: develop an acceptance of the fact that there are and will be some things that won’t be in your control. There’s no point beating yourself up for something you can’t change.

5.Take a break:you are not a machine, you need to take a break once in a while. It’ll help you relax your mind and trust me you’ll be more productive.

6.Adapt a healthy lifestyle: having a healthy lifestyle can help you build resilience so that you don’t succumb to the pressure of situational stress. Go for regular exercise, have a balanced diet, have a good sleep routine, etc.

Also Read: Types Of Stress: Eustress v/s Distress

That’s All Folks!

That’s all about situational stress. Although sometimes these situational stressors don’t seem as threatening because of being short lived, let me tell you it has long lasting effects which can hamper your routine activities.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and stay safe.