OT: Stress

Some tea, a little annexation...works every time.

Stress is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s more about how you handle it and deal with it. Stress is natural and our body has natural reactions to it. 

https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend/up-next

Trauma Releasing Exercises.  Look them up.

My stress relievers include:

Playing with my kids.

Taking a nap.

Having hot passionate sex with my wife.

Watching Michigan football relieves stress?  Please tell my wife.  She thinks I'm going to have a heart attack.

I've seen articles about studies that suggest that people that think they perform best under pressure are not physiologically impacted the same way by stress. If you think stress is bad for you, you're right. If you think stress is good for you, you're right.

I read the OP’s  title as being about our tackles being a point of stress and just came here to agree.   

Talking to my therapist helps.  It's good to have a nonjudgmental person listen to your thoughts and concerns.  When you hit a certain age and a certain point of your career and in your personal life, sometimes that question, "is that all there is?" comes up.  

Greg Harden - Control the controllables (advice to Tom Brady, Nick Stauskas, Desmond Howard)

Unfortunately watching Michigan football has caused MORE stress the better part of the last 10-12 years.  

All of the aforementioned activities are great. Especially exercise.  I’d try and focus in on that one more if you are able. If not, certain medications can help with anxiety if it is a chronic problem. Sometimes people just can’t help worrying. 

Disconnect. Do something away from technology. I brew beer and go camping. Sometimes I brew beer while camping, other times I just drink beer while camping and fishing. 

SIAP - but I think a key to keep stress down is to keep your financial house in order.  I know easier said that done.  But, you need to build up the nest egg so that a downturn in the market, a one time/two time financial expense or even a loss of job is not such a marked issue/stress causer. 

Make saving a top goal in your life and invest wisely which doesn't mean too conservatively.

So to pile on what everyone else is saying... For me, M-Football is not a stress reliever. In a season where we are undefeated or will achieve a big goal, that is often the most stressful

Over the past 2 years my life has nearly turned upside down and I had to learn very quickly a lot about stress, dealing with it and understanding actual mental health issues as my family was going through quite a lot. This doesn't make me an expert on anything as one of the first things you learn is that shit is different for everyone, haha go figure. There is no single answer or explanation.

Almost a year ago someone I met told me "Anxiety is a form of stress from thinking about the future, and depression is a form of stress from thinking about the past". Those may not apply to someone reading this on mgb, but I thought that was a very elegant way to describe a cause for many stressors people handle throughout life.

The biggest hurdle most people have to manage, especially if you are stressed about someone else's situation is that "don't sweat what you cannot control". It doesn't mean you give 0 fucks. It just means that you have to also live your life and you can't force a situation or illness into being better or cured. That isn't some hippie balogna either, I just feel that's just a good way to view life.   

For any stress, day-to-day work stress, life stress, etc... just find what can put a smile on your face. It's a very important reason to have hobbies. They distract and bring joy, or simply distract; which can often be all most will need. Recently, I've found yard work to be very relaxing. Being productive, and seeing something go from ugly to less-ugly. It's tougher when you don't find a way to "escape" for a bit. All your mind wants to do is focus on what is stressing you out. My wife recently learned a way to meditate that worked for her. I immediately told her that I wanted her to show me. Also if you can share the experience with others and you like hanging with your friends then that is even better.

Drugs and Alcohol... for the first 30 years of my life...

then I had kids.

For me, I try to take my kids somewhere everyday.  And if we can't go to a park, or their grandmothers (my mother), or the rink, then we just take a walk...

Life got a lot better once I created a routine and insisted on taking time each day with the wife and kids...

It's kinda like Curly's 'one thing' in city slickers...

Connect with people (this includes, you know)

Exercise, walk, yoga, yard work, something to get your blood flowing and body happy

Spend time in nature, and view a horizon/offing. 

Also more drastic measures (if you must) like:

Change jobs

Move to Bolivia

Ignore the news/market/social media

For me it's all about unplugging.  Sitting on the deck with a cold beverage, maybe some grilling, fire in the backyard, and finding time to do the things that you truly love and enjoy.  If I don't make time for myself to do some of these things, then I just end up being stressed out and pissed off all the time.

Try to avoid those stress inducing things as much as possible.  Driving (other drivers mainly) tend to stress me out and make me crazy...especially first thing in the morning on the way to work.  To diffuse that I make sure to leave early enough so I don't have to rush or take a back road or two.

Life's too short to stress and worry about things that are out of your control.  Do you and the rest will fall into place.

Much of what I would say echoes what others have mentioned. I'll add a couple of things that I have found helpful. Exercise is great for many reasons, and one is that it is something you do entirely for yourself. Sure being healthy allows you to do accomplish much more and be around for family and friends. But for the motivation to get up and at it I always return to the idea that I am spending time helping myself feel better. And although I may go to the gym or take a class or run in a group, ultimately working out is a personal effort where I get my mind and body in a better alignment and I spend some time with myself working on myself. Others can put a lot of demands on us and it's essential to put time aside for yourself. 

Meditation is helpful. Not because it trains you to "control your mind." But rather, in understanding that thoughts and worries will come and go. A metaphor I picked up that I like to share is: "watch the parade, but don't march in the parade." 

Finally, in the workplace I always try and knock off a few easy tasks first thing. Give yourself a feeling of accomplishment to power you through the rest of the day. 

I hope some of this is useful.

I just accept being miserable and the cause of others' problems.  Not good for self-esteem, but at least there's no stress involved.

A recent study showed that it’s not stress itself that causes health issues, rather that our views on stress have more to do with it. 

If you see stress as something that can be useful you are less likely to have a health problem. 

Look up “How to make stress your friend” on YouTube. Kelly McGonigal will change your life. 

Riding a motorcycle quickly on a twisty road is a great mental health aid. As speed increases so does the required level of concentration. As the level of focus increases, it crowds other things out of your mind. You are quickly processing a lot of visual and tactile inputs, but on a visceral level the world slows down and melts away. The occasional shot of adrenaline keeps your mind locked. At the end of the day you have a few beers with friends and talk about the ride. I take weekend day rides into the hills of WV with a few good friends and I feel amazing after those weekends. Thinking about and planning those rides is also a decent stress reliever.

Besides motorcycling, I have a cat. Studies have shown that petting a cat or dog can decrease blood pressure. Besides helping me relax, the cat also has a similar effect on my wife. Having my wife be more relaxed also has a seriously positive impact on me. ;)

I dance, man. I just F’ing dance. 

A lot of people have said it, but being in nature, and specific to me fishing, is my stress relief. I love being in a stream in the middle of nowhere, maybe catching fish but definitely trying. I also enjoy tying flies to try and catch the aforementioned fish. Being focused on tiny details to make a nice looking and fishable fly seems to not let me worry about mundane things. Also as other people have said, my faith life is definitely the number one. Realizing not many things are in my control anyways and choosing to make the best of a situation is the best stress relief there is. 

Coincidence?

We were planning to relocate next fall.  I've been procrastinating like hell on some things around the house that need done to sell.

This morning I arrived at work 10 minutes early.  I sat in the parking lot because I could not bring myself to go in early.  Once inside, after logging into work systems I started job searching on my phone.  I found one that really interests me and decided I am going to apply now rather than wait.

I think a lot of my misery is a result of no garden this year.  I work in telecom and coming home to work in the garden is where I find peace.  With the potential move at hand I decided to focus on that instead of a garden.

I see now it was probably a mistake.

The last 10 years, Michigan football has become the most stressful thing in my life. I love watching and attending Michigan games but growing up in the late 60s-70s you always expected Michigan football to be great and it was through about 2007. Having Harbaugh as our coach is like a dream come true, now I'm getting stressed out since I want Harbaugh to start winning big games and B1G championships and make it to the playoffs. I can wait, since I know it will take time but you never know, this could be the season where Harbaugh wins the B1G. No stress at my job, since I've been working at it so long and I'm so good at it, my job has become so fucking easy! Once I retire in 9 years, I'll need a bigger challenge.

As a doctor, I love statements such as, ”90% of all illness can be attributed to stress.” Should say, “90% of hyperbole is created to get a point across that you think is important to people who don’t give a fuck.”