The first Wednesday of November was recognized as National Stress Awareness Day, a day to identify and reduce stress factors in our everyday lives. Stress plays a huge role in our overall physical health, but can also contribute to mental health and substance use challenges.
Stress is a part of normal life and can be productive, as it can improve performance, motivate us to tackle challenges, provides us with a burst of energy, and can empower us to grow physically, emotionally, and mentally. Our stress levels are something we should be aware of every day, especially as we roll into the holiday season where we can see additional stressors.
Things like planning travel to visit family for holiday activities, finding alternative childcare for days when school/daycare are closed, crunching finances to purchase gifts, deep cleaning the house, or creating holiday magic for your children to name a few, all add to our stress. Excess stress can cause headaches, chest pain, fatigue, and sleep problems. These physical symptoms could lead to restlessness, angry outbursts, drug or alcohol misuse, or avoiding friends, family, and activities we usually enjoy.
It is important that during times like these, we take care of ourselves. Self-care is an important part of making sure our gas tank stays full because it does not feel good to run on fumes. When we talk about self-care, it should not be something that adds to your stress. For example finding time to get a 90-minute massage can sometimes be more stressful than beneficial. If that is the case, look for those quick activities that can help you regain a little bit of control such as 10 deep breaths, listening to your favorite song, or going on a walk around the block (or down the hallway at work.)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed the Eight Dimensions of Wellness.
There are eight areas of our lives that we should promote self-care to keep our tanks on full.
- Emotional wellness – gain an understanding of the emotions you are feeling and acknowledge them.
- Physical wellness – check in with your nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and alcohol/tobacco consumption.
- Occupational wellness – check in with your work/life balance, create a relationship with your coworkers, and find things in your career that make you feel accomplished.
- Social wellness – find supports in your community, meet new people, and set aside quality time to spend with the people you care about.
- Spiritual wellness – explore what you believe and value that has meaning and purpose to you.
- Intellectual wellness – explore your personal interests, expand your education, or do brain exercises like Sudoku.
- Environmental wellness – take care of the space you occupy or change your scenery.
- Financial wellness – budgeting can be a great way to keep your financial wellness in check, but also educating yourself on financial processes and resources.
SAMHSA has a step-by-step guide to wellness that can help you create a healthier, low stress life. You can find this guide at
www.store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma16-4958.pdf.
Local resource: You can also check out
www.humanserviceagency.org/glsafe to find additional resources to take care of your mental wellness.
If you find yourself in need of extra support, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 988, is available 24/7 - even on holidays!
This article is by Codington Connects Member:
Stephanie Kinnander
Northeast Prevention Resource Center
For more information, contact the NE Prevention Resource Center at 605-884-3516 or visit
www.humanserviceagency.org. Like us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/NEPRC.HSA to stay informed.