March Mindfulness: Navigating Stress & Making Healthy Choices

Psychology experts recognize stress as a normal human reaction to the changes and challenges we experience in life. Stress is a natural response and can be beneficial in certain situations. According to the Cleveland Clinic, stress can help keep you motivated, alert and ready to avoid danger.1 However, stress becomes a problem when those feelings continue without relief or periods of relaxation.

Let’s break down the three types of stress¹:

• Acute stress is short-term stress that comes and goes quickly and can be either positive or negative. It's the feeling you experience while riding on a roller coaster or having a fight with a loved one. Everyone experiences acute stress from time to time.
• Episodic acute stress is when you experience acute stress on a regular basis. Those who suffer from episodic acute stress find it difficult to achieve and maintain a calm, relaxed state. Episodic acute stress frequently affects people who work in high-stakes industries such as health care, emergency services, and education.
• Chronic stress is long-term stress that can last for weeks or even months. It can be caused by marriage troubles, issues at work, or financial problems. Managing chronic stress is essential since it can often lead to serious health issues if left unchecked.

People often wonder if the feelings they are experiencing are due to stress or anxiety. While both impact your mind and body, they have different health definitions. Stress is caused by an existing factor called a “stressor” while anxiety is a continual feeling of dread or discomfort after the stressor in your environment is gone.¹

For example, let's say your manager just assigned an important project with a tight deadline to you. You feel stress while working on the project due to the restrictive turnaround time. You manage to finish the project and submit it to your boss two days early, but now you feel worried that you rushed through the work too quickly and your boss won't be satisfied with the results. This lingering feeling that remains after finishing the project (the stressor) is anxiety.

Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/sites/default/files/documents/health/publications/so-stressed-out-fact-sheet/Im-So-Stressed-Out.pdf

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) 2024 annual mental health poll, 43% of American adults said that they felt more anxious than they did in the previous year—up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022.²

Stress can cause a variety of physical, mental, and emotional issues that can develop into serious health problems. If you've experienced any of these symptoms and can't quite pinpoint the source, the culprit may be stress:

• Diarrhea or constipation
• Forgetfulness
• Body aches and muscle pains
• Headaches
• Trouble focusing
• Lethargy
• Sexual problems
• Stiff jaw or neck
• Tiredness
• Trouble falling asleep or sleeping too much
• Upset stomach
• Depending on alcohol or drugs to relax
• Weight loss or gain

When you experience stress, your body reacts by releasing two types of hormones: cortisol and adrenaline. Adrenaline makes your heart race and increases your blood pressure while cortisol regulates the balance of salt, sugar, and water in your blood. These two hormones work in conjunction to put your body on "high alert" mode and trigger the symptoms listed above.

These reactions are helpful for short-term situations when your body is protecting itself. However, when you are experiencing chronic stress over extended periods of time, you may become more vulnerable to developing chronic health problems like diabetes, heart disease, and depression.³ Finding healthy ways to unwind can help you protect yourself against serious side effects.

Coping mechanisms are strategies and behaviors to help us manage stressful emotions, feelings, and situations. These mechanisms can vary from person to person, but a good first step is identifying the specific stress relievers that help you stay calm as you navigate stressful scenarios in your life.

The first step is creating healthy habits to take care of your mind. These can include activities such as journaling, walking, listening to music, or talking with a trusted friend or family member.

The second step involves taking care of your body. This includes getting seven or more hours of sleep every night, trying to move your body at least 30 minutes per day, eating healthy foods, and limiting tobacco and alcohol use.

Our physical health is directly linked to our mental health. The National Library of Medicine reports that people who experience mental and behavioral health disorders often have a physical illness as well. A 2023 study on the relationship between physical and mental health states, "Among factors related to the persons with mental disorders, a significant role is played by the presence of comorbid physical illnesses—cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, infectious diseases, cancer and others—all of which are frequently given little attention in ordinary psychiatric practice."⁴

Embracing mindfulness

The APA describes mindfulness as the ability to pay attention to internal feelings and surroundings. Think of it like checking in with yourself. Improving mindfulness can help you avoid negative and destructive behaviors by learning to understand your thoughts and emotions without any fear of judgment from external sources.

There are a variety of ways to improve mindfulness, including:

Technique	Outcome
Self-check-ins	Pause during the day to check in with your emotions and potential triggers to find and restore balance.
Plan activities that hold you accountable	Find fun exercises that force you to make a commitment, such as joining a local community sports team. Exercise is one of the most effective behavioral antidepressants.
Spend more time in nature	Taking time to be outdoors can clear your mind while also giving you a break from technology.
Lean on your loved ones for social support	Researchers have found that social support and positive friendships can protect you from anxiety, depression, and other types of psychological distress.
Understand how you fit into the bigger picture	Look for opportunities to advocate for yourself, especially at work. Create healthy boundaries that promote work-life balance while reducing your stress and boosting productivity.
Flip the pyramid in your mind	Visualize a pyramid, with the base being small stressors and the top being the biggest stressor. Now flip it! Focus on the small things that you can manage short-term and chip away at the biggest stressors at the top of the pyramid little by little.

Research from more than 200 studies of mindfulness-based therapy revealed that this approach helped reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. One of those studies also discovered that mindfulness can improve the lives of people with chronic pain by lowering pain intensity and fatigue.⁵ Try these techniques yourself and pay attention to how they improve your mental and physical health.

It is important for all of us to find positive ways to cope with stress in our lives. Embracing mindfulness through self-care is a great way to navigate stress, especially at work. For more assistance, take this anxiety screener quiz from Mental Health America to help determine an action plan for making healthy choices based on how anxiety and other mental health factors impact your life.

Some people may require additional support when these tools are not enough. Please reach out to your doctor to discuss medication and therapy for managing more complex cases of stress and anxiety.

Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/tips-for-talking-with-your-health-care-provider

If you or someone you love is experiencing chronic stress or mental health issues, please call or text 988 or utilize online resources for crisis support. 988 is confidential, free, and available 24/7/365.

Some of our common stressors are out of our control, but that doesn’t mean that all stress is unavoidable. As we’ve shown, stress can work in a cyclical pattern: stressors can undermine our healthy habits, which leads to more stress, which leads to negative health impacts, which leads to more stress—and so on. You can take control of your stress by implementing small changes and taking incremental steps toward improvement. Over time, you can incorporate new methods of stress management or pivot to alternative strategies that might work better for you.

Financial concerns fit within the stress cycle as well. If you experience an injury, critical illness diagnosis, or hospital stay, worrying about the expenses will only add to your stress and can get in the way of your recovery. Supplemental insurance such as accident, critical illness, or hospital indemnity coverage can help fill the financial gaps left after major medical insurance and provide you and your family with greater peace of mind.

Please browse our website to learn more about our insurance products. If you are an employer, please contact us today to speak with a sales representative about our voluntary employee benefits options.

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