Stress - How Do You Deal With It?

[Defiant Noquisi]

Alrighty everyone, now that my self-imposed personal introspection hiatus is coming to a close shortly, I have one lingering problem/question that I have had difficulty in resolving. It is simply.....

How do you deal with stress?

I actually didn't conciously decide to work on this although a major reason for taking a break was because I really needed one. I wasn't managing my anger anymore, it was managing me.

I've accomplished alot in the way of personal goals, set new ones, tackled some obstacles I hadn't had the time to tackle, etc. etc........ however...

.......in each instance stress played a major factor in what I decided and how I decided going about doing what I decided to do. Although anyone with half a brain cell functioning would recognize this, stress can be so "quiet" that I know for myself, I completely overlooked it until this morning.

In about 3 hours I'm going to be interviewing for a position I have wanted for years. From the way things sound it won't be a walk in the park but I most likely will not have too much of a problem getting in. Once in I'm going to have a hell of alot of options as to what direction I'd like to go in. Top that with having the best bennies and being the highest paying employer in the area.....outstanding package and work is only 6 short miles away. I'm beside myself in glee and have been since I realized they called me 2 days after my app was mailed.

I'm also so damn nervous I barely slept. =(

Anyways... I posted my question here because some person's ideas of how to deal with stress may not exactly be "moral" or acceptable to another. I'm curious.

My main way to deal with stress has been by simply doing alot of walking. For whatever reason I just drop whatever I am doing and walk and keep walking until I'm satisfied I've resolved whatever the issue was that compelled me to walk in the first place. This isn't exactly the best way to deal with some things....like things that require me to "be there" for extended periods of time but I have gotten I nicer set of calves out of it so, just sayin'.

Of course my preferred methods to handling stressful things would be to become impaled to a mattress by some young stud and/or smoke a bowl the size of a hubcap. Obviously not "moralistic" ways according to dominant culture...... Yes indeedly dooo..........

What are the ways you utilize in dealing with stress?

[donniedarko]

Meditation. Not the hardcore introspective kind but the breath easy, relax and chill kind. Like smoking a bowl without the bowl :wink:

I also go to the park with my dog. She's pretty dumb and makes me laugh, so it helps take my mind off things until I can think about them more clearly.

I find that people instead of dealing with stress, just push it aside. Bury it. I am guilty of this all the time. It's a great coping mechanism until it becomes too much to handle. Then you have to deal with all of it at once, instead of in little bits as it comes.

Alot of people take their stress out on other people. This is CAN be wrong. I am not saying you have to "solo" it every time. What are friends for anyway? But, you need to recognize when and when not to use that crutch. It's a tough call.

peace

[Assassin X]

Well I consider myself happy and everyone says I am verry funny and fun to be around! Yet doctors and even "psychs" that doctors insist I see beacuse they think I may be stressed or depressed can't believe I am happy! I'll ignore the "sad" details of my life but the psychs all tell me that honestly people in my situation usually go off the deep end, go off on a killing spree or or severly depressed or extremely sad.

So I think maybe I am happy because I somehow "destress" and all that and don't even know it? I play video games which I just love and probably gets out agressions. I love music and arts which is good for you and calms the mind. I don't really get "pissed" or stay mad at all about anything. I have only been in one major fight in my life and that was when I was 8 and I beat the crap out of some kid after I accidently knocked over his brother and he pushed me around.

So I guess I am just really happy or I just deal with stress easily.

[Defiant Noquisi]

Heh, thanks for responding guys. Interesting ideas/concepts, especially being "happy", something that seems to escape me quite often these days...

Did the interview and gee whizzers I get to go back for a second one. YIKES!!

[Marajadex]

The Stress Monster....

Since I really do not drink much, sometimes I'll take a shot or 2.
A long hot shower helps sometime... Others it is a good book... If the stress gets really bad I feel like I retreat into myself. Vision becomes almost tunnel vision... Generally do not hear people talking... Thats when I head to bed and sleep. Years ago when I was young and frivolous... I would save any broken or chipped glass. When I would get really stressed I would throw them and really break them. Somehow when the glass would crash I would feel like some of the stress was relieved.

Walking sounds like a much better idea!!!

Good luck with interview number 2.

[panzerfaustt]

Hmm stress Relief.. haha, I myself when i am facing a problem or i am angry or just need time to ask myself i go straight to Meditation even at work, well not any more almost got fired. but i just visualize myself somewhere that makes me happy be it Home in a meadow or even in the fiery pitts of hell, i recently came across Meditation and i enjoy it a lot calms the nerves even on those really bad days.
hope i could help! and congrats on the interview!

[uki]

one of the best ways to allieviate stress is to cut down on caffine, quit cigarettes, and begin to exercise. personally i practice qigong, kung fu, and other forms of martial arts meditations... also juggling has been proven to relieve stress aswell. other ways to relieve stress are simply to aquire fun hobbies such as landscaping your yard(if you have one), walk in the woods, look for mushrooms, play with your kids(if you have any), practice throwing knives or hatchets... stuff like that work for me.

[Build More Nukes]

I would say there are 2 types of stress; stress from things you have control over and stress from things you do not.

An example would be getting bogged down in school work or final exams. It is stressful, but you have control over it. I deal with my stress during this time by actually doing the best I can, whether it is getting all the work done or studying all night. When it comes to exams you may still worry about getting a good grade, but you will be less stressed knowing that you have done what you could to prepare for it. As for school work, etc., simply finishing it will get rid of the stress (for now :p ).

Then there is stress from things you cannot control. I place little weight on things I cannot control. I do my best to not worry, not be stressed out about things I cannot change. If something happened in the past that you are stressed about, there is nothing you can do about changing that now, so do not stress about it - merely do what you can to be less stressful in the future. Now, stress and worry are different things and probably should not be confused. If you crashed your car and do not have the money for a replacement you will definitately worry, but you can do something about being stressed about it. Being stressed does not relieve stress, you must do things to allievate that stress and to prevent that particular stress from happening again.

No one ever became less stressed by being stressed.

:)

[Build More Nukes]

A helpful peice of advice I picked up about being stressed about things that happened in the past is as follows:

Who you are right now is dependant upon what you did in the past. You cannot change the past, so stop worrying about it. Who you are tomorrow is dependant upon what you do in the present. You can change everything right now.

[Perfectionist]

The greatest stress buster in the world = ......... PUSSY !! :D

Get laid dude, and you will chill out pretty fast :)

[Ningishiddza]

How do you deal with stress?

You have to define stress and differentiate between what is really stress and what isn't.

To do that, ask yourself these 3 questions:

1) Will anyone die?
2) Will anyone suffer serious bodily harm or injury?
3) Will there be economic losses in excess of $1 Billion?

If the answer to all 3 of those questions is "No," then it is a non-event, and by definition, a non-event is not important in the grand scheme of things, cannot be stressor, and isn't worth spending time worrying about it.

If the answer to one or more of those questions is "Yes," then follow that up with:

4) Am I responsible or can I take action to prevent it?

If the answer is "Yes," then deal with it accordingly, if the answer is "No," then it is beyond your personal purview and not worth spending the time worrying about it.

In all situations, you can always ask yourself: "100 years from now who will care, or who will even know?

If the answer is "No one" or "I don't know," then it's time to move on to something else, since there's no point in worrying about it.

The majority of things people "stress out" over are irrelevant and meaningless. If you can be objective and look back maybe 3 months or so after "all the stress" ends you'll see that you were stressed out and worried over nothing.

There are some people who are dependent on stress and can't function without it, mainly because that is a learned trait, they learned to live that way, and they don't know how to unlearn it so they can live without it. Those people need professional help from a behavioral psychologist to undergo a behavior modification program (and no, there's no magic pill).

[Assassin X]

Actually I'll admit the truth, after a day of stress I go on long murderous rampages through town. Then I go home and have a nice warm cup of joe and watch Wheel of Fortune.

:eek: hehehe :eek:

[Perfectionist]

You have to define stress and differentiate between what is really stress and what isn't.

To do that, ask yourself these 3 questions:

1) Will anyone die?
2) Will anyone suffer serious bodily harm or injury?
3) Will there be economic losses in excess of $1 Billion?

If the answer to all 3 of those questions is "No," then it is a non-event, and by definition, a non-event is not important in the grand scheme of things, cannot be stressor, and isn't worth spending time worrying about it.

If the answer to one or more of those questions is "Yes," then follow that up with:

4) Am I responsible or can I take action to prevent it?

If the answer is "Yes," then deal with it accordingly, if the answer is "No," then it is beyond your personal purview and not worth spending the time worrying about it.

In all situations, you can always ask yourself: "100 years from now who will care, or who will even know?

If the answer is "No one" or "I don't know," then it's time to move on to something else, since there's no point in worrying about it.

The majority of things people "stress out" over are irrelevant and meaningless. If you can be objective and look back maybe 3 months or so after "all the stress" ends you'll see that you were stressed out and worried over nothing.

There are some people who are dependent on stress and can't function without it, mainly because that is a learned trait, they learned to live that way, and they don't know how to unlearn it so they can live without it. Those people need professional help from a behavioral psychologist to undergo a behavior modification program (and no, there's no magic pill).


Very well put :)

[me+three227]

medication...good medications :headbang:

[Skynet12]

The fantasy: Goin' for 10mile walk through the highlands whilst a massive thunderstorm is going.

The partial fact: Wanderin' to the newsgents'.

The entire reality: Sleepin' ma brains out on the couch.

[Jupiter]

When I am feeling severely stressed out (like now!) ("weight of the world" and "massive intray") I find the best policy is say f*ck it, and drop everything - do nothing except sleep, and usually I am de-stressed the following day. Plus a quick visit to AO like now to calm me down a bit.

[Demonskates]

you handle stress much like me ,except im the impaler :yummm: not the impalee,and a bowl works rather nicely,i too enjoy walking,a good burbon is also nice,i dont see anything morally wrong with any of those things.Im also a Bass player in a band, :jamn: and that is one hell of a stress reducer for me,i think doing anything you really enjoy doing is helpfull in that respect.