MENTAL HEALTH 

Stress is inevitable in our modern life, and it originates from different reasons: Financial, job related, relationships, health status and any form of loss or grief.  Chronic stress can prevent you from living a productive and healthy life, and can affect your sleep and eating patterns, and give rise to inflammation, obesity, and gastrointestinal symptoms. The following are symptoms of chronic stress.

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• Fatigue.

• Headaches.

• Loss of concentration.

• Difficulty making decisions.

• Inability to control anger.

• Increased use of alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, or drugs.

• Increased or decreased eating.

• Feeling overwhelmed.

• Thinking often about what you need to do.

 

Recommendations:

• Recognize the signs of stress. Determine the cause and identify any stressor or stressful situation. Finding the source of your stress is the first step to effectively managing it. Look for factors or barriers that impact the way you function physically, mentally, and emotionally.

• Identify unhealthy behaviors and implement stress-reducing activities. Think about the way you react to stressful situations and identify poor coping tendencies. Recognizing unhealthy and negative habits can help you create behaviors to correct them.

• Develop a stress management plan. Create a strategy for managing stress in a healthy way by choosing activities that are enjoyable to you. Daily exercise, praying, meditation and mindfulness techniques can be effective tools for managing stress.

• Make healthy lifestyle choices. Healthy nutrition, adequate sleep, and good exercise habits can minimize the harmful effects of stress. Feeling good about your lifestyle choices will trigger a positive feedback loop that will make you feel happier and more stress resilient.

• Give, share, support and perform acts of service and kindness for others. Compassion and volunteering have significant health benefits. Socialize and engage in healthy friendships and relationships, but always remember to put your mental health above everything else that comes along.

• Ask for help. Reach out to friends, family, or community members. Strong relationships can help alleviate stress by feeling compassion and support. If you continue to feel overwhelmed, seek the help of a health professional.