How do you know just how stressed you really are?
While working in a so-called "high stress" occupation, where being under stress is a daily routine, for myself I lose track of the "stressmeter", and do not realize that there is a lot of stress present. We can become so enveloped in what we're doing that we do not realize the actual amount of stress, which could indeed be at an unhealthy level.
Are ther any tools that could be used to allow such a person to gauge how any unnoticed stress may actually be having a detrimental effect on them?
I developed a medical problem because I was in so much chronic stress. I knew I was stressed but didn't know how to cope. It was my body that made me cope with it. I ended up taking a year off from teaching. It is so easy to get sucked in. I currently had to drastically alter my hours to deal with stress. Now I realized I have a personal tool to assess my stress. I am a list maker. When I make lists, my life is in order. When I am stressed I start to feel scattered and can't make lists as a result. I don't know how to significantly deal with that knowledge yet, but it is a first step!
Cheryl, Wow, you are balancing a tremendous amount. When caring for 6 children at once, you are managing a lot of moving parts!!! Yes, I do recommend writing things down and prioritizing weekly. Try do to this electronically instead of in your planner so revisions are easier.
Dr. Melissa Read
Thank you for the suggestion of writing down what may have caused the stress. I have a tendency to always overbook my life because there is just so much to do in so little time. My personal life is very consumed with 6 children, 3 still at home, and now 6 grandbabies. Working full time days, and 12 hrs per week part time teaching has been very exhausting. I think I need to do the writing weekly on my planner and then priortize better so I'm not so overbooked.
Jason, Yes, sometimes getting in front of the stress source early is the best approach. It can be nice to attack things early before stress grows.
Dr. Melissa Read
This sounds like a great way to circumvent the stress. As long as you learn the warning signs you can diffuse the effects sooner.
Russell, It's important to be proactive when it comes to medical problems that are associated with stress. Some aches and pains go away and we can wait them out. When they don't, it's time to get help.
Dr. Melissa Read
taking time to understand stress is causing my stomach have acid reflux. I think the reasion is that, I did not make time to get this done earlier. possibly because I was tying to get other work done. stress is stress.
I informally use this tool in my personal life; What was happening when I got angry or what was happening when I felt an overwhelming urge to eat candy. I did not consider applying the same tool to my work environment. I will give this a try.
THIS IS INTERESTING TOOL I AM GOING TO START DOING THAT TODAY. I DID NOT REALIZE HOW STRESSED I WAS UNTIL I STARTED HAVING BAD HEADACHES
That was the same thing I was wondering about. How do you know? I thought I could deal with high amounts of stress. I think stress effects everybody in different ways. As for myself, because of stress i ended up with a common medical condition that can be caused by stress.
Dr.Reed,
such a simple tool to use which I never thought about.I worked in Nicu nights for many years and never realized how stressed I was till I quit.and the reson I didn't realize it is because I really loved what I was doing.
By writing down what you were doing when you first got your headache(or whatever symptom it might be)could give you a glue as to how to modify your stress in your work,family life,relationships or even learn about yourself.
Wow!, I never thought of doing that. I realise that we never really know just how stressed we are at times.
Robert, That's a great question. Yes, there are a lot of tools out there. The most basic though is just carrying a pen and paper around with you and jotting down the moments when you are feeling stressed. Later in the day, you can review this and think about the reasons why you felt that way. It won't take long for you to see trends that show you exactly where your stress is coming from.
Dr. Melissa Read
