How you can overcome stress and use it productively

In today’s busy lives, stress can feel like a tough opponent, but it also has the power to bring about positive change. Overcoming stress doesn’t mean avoiding it altogether, but rather it’s about mastering the skill of transforming its energy into a driving force for productivity and personal growth.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Ayushi Shukla, consultant psychiatry at SRV Hospital in Dombivali, shared, “Stress is like a constant companion in the journey of moving forward. It serves as a sign, a constant reminder that challenges require our attention. Instead of letting it overwhelm us, we can choose to see stress as a catalyst for growth. Embracing stress means understanding its subtle signals and uncovering the messages hidden within them. Flexibility becomes our most valuable ally. One must believe that every challenge holds an opportunity, and every obstacle is a step towards personal and professional growth.

He suggests, “By fostering awareness of our thoughts and emotions, we gain the clarity to respond thoughtfully, rather than simply reacting to stressors. Mindfulness serves as our guiding lighthouse and opens avenues of creative problem-solving, transforming stress into a medium for innovation. Overcoming stress does not mean making it disappear; It’s about reshaping how we interact with it. This involves recognizing stress as a powerful force that, when acknowledged and thoughtfully channeled, turns it into the driving force behind productivity.

According to Dr Ashutosh Shah, consultant psychiatrist at Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai, however, the term “stress” is used to characterize significant events at multiple levels of brain structure (molecular, cellular, circuit level, cognitive, emotional and behavioural). Is done for. within the body (immune, metabolic and endocrine); It is difficult to give a comprehensive and rigorous definition of the term “stress”. He explained, “When a person’s brain and body are unable to meet the excessive demands placed by the stressor, the person begins to experience “distress.” Many harmful chemical byproducts are produced within cells that cause physical damage and destroy brain and body cells. If this process continues uncontrolled for a long time, many health risks can occur (anxiety and depressive disorders, addiction, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, cancer, dementia).

He elaborated, “The brain is the organ that is responsible for ensuring one’s survival. By design, it is designed to detect and respond to any potential hypothetical or real life-threatening incidents. Since the brain is not designed to judge the accuracy of information, each person may have different perceptions of the same stressor. Genetic protective and vulnerability factors vary between individuals as well as their past experiences that shape their brain’s perception of the world. So there is always inter-individual variation in experiencing stress (aka stress threshold).

What is stress, how does the extent of stress vary from person to person, and what can a person do to thrive in stressful situations?

Dr. Ashutosh Shah answered that individuals can develop a health buffer to deal with stress and this buffer can be developed by adopting a lifestyle that promotes mind and body health. Contains –

• Eat well: Traditionally cooked balanced meals that are healthy for the heart, eating at fixed time intervals, eating to satisfy hunger, not for taste, fasting for at least 12 hours between dinner and breakfast Keep. Hydrate yourself well, avoid excessive consumption of tea, coffee or stimulants. Ideally one should not consume tea, coffee or stimulants after 2 pm.
• Proceed well: Children should get at least an hour of intense physical activity every day; Adults should walk briskly for at least 30 minutes every day. Sitting for long periods of time has the same health risks as smoking. So stretch and move your body with periodic breaks once every hour to prevent neck, back, arm and eye fatigue.
• sleep well: Sleep is an active process that repairs and restores your brain and body and prepares it to face the challenges of the new day. At least 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep is recommended for children starting 3 hours after sunset. At least 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep is recommended for adults. Sleep removes many of the toxic chemical byproducts produced during the day in the brain and body. Any interference with this cleansing process will impair brain and body functioning and compromise a person’s ability to deal with stress. Limit screen exposure (TV, mobile, computer) 2 hours before bedtime.
• Stay away from substances that harm your brain and body: Alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, opioids, amphetamines and synthetic designer drugs, sleeping pills (Alprax, Restyle, Calmpose, Zolfresh, Nitrest and other benzodiazepines).
• Maintain good health: Get medical checkups done from time to time as recommended by your age. If you have any chronic medical conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes, maintain optimal control of these medical conditions.
• Divide your time and activities: Ideally daily – 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work, 2 hours of household chores, 2 hours of time for family and friends (have a meal together with the family at least once a day), 2 hours of commuting and 2 Hours for yourself (hobbies, sports, exercise, homework). Take vacations from time to time and don’t work during holidays! Set realistic and achievable goals in life and work. Know your limits well and don’t overextend yourself. Break down the task structure and target the easier tasks first. Prioritize your tasks using a grid of urgent and important activities. Focus on tasks that are important and not urgent that will fuel your professional growth. The representative is unimportant and essential. Ignore tasks that are unimportant and not urgent. Seek help for tasks that are urgent and important. If any problem arises, accept it instead of worrying about it. Then figure out what the controllable factors are/are and focus on these controllable factors. And don’t forget that solving problems in both work and personal life requires teamwork!

They concluded, “Despite following the above lifestyle, if a person feels distressed in stressful situations for more than a month, and it interferes with their productivity or social functioning, such a person should consult a psychiatrist.” Should not hesitate. There are effective and safe medications that can gradually help restore a person’s health and later help the person deal with the same stressful situation without experiencing discomfort. Remember that stress is not your enemy, how you react to a stressful situation determines your success.