It’s pretty fitting. Since your taxes are due in April (usually, at least — this year is an exception), the month comes with some stress. Perhaps to acknowledge that, organizations and individuals have commemorated Stress Awareness Month every April since 1992.
No, this isn’t just a time to realize, yep, I feel stressed. It’s a time to look at the pervasiveness of stress in our society and, more importantly, what we can do about it.
In 2021, the theme for the month is “Regaining Connectivity, Certainty, and Control.” Sounds pretty good, right? But what does it mean, in practice? The Stress Management Society has a challenge for this year’s Stress Awareness Month. Each day of April, pick one thing to do that improves your mental, physical, or emotional wellbeing. We’ll give you some options for things to do below. But first, let’s take a minute to look at the seriousness of stress.
Why stress matters
All of us feel stress at some point in our lives. In fact, low, controlled levels of stress can help you focus and drive productivity.
The problem, though, is that we live in a world where constant, major stress is considered the status quo. So many of us walk around under a cloud of stress, worried about our jobs, money, our loved ones, the state of the world — it’s a lot.
The American Psychological Association recently published their 2021 Stress in America report. Year after year, that study has shown that Americans are stressed but this year, we’ve got something new to worry over: the pandemic. This last year has taken its toll, with 25% of essential workers and 24% of parents getting diagnosed with a mental health condition.
We’re stressed. So what? Stress Awareness Month seeks to heighten awareness about stress not just so we can identify that we’re feeling tension, but so we can do something about it. That’s important because chronic stress takes a toll not just on your mental wellbeing, but also on your physical health.
Stress can cause:
- Headaches
- Stomach problems
- Sleep problems
- Overeating
- Substance overuse
- Irritability
- Muscle tension
All told, it’s not a pretty picture. Stress is hard on your body and your mind.
During Stress Awareness Month, we get the chance to take a pause and evaluate our stress. And if you’re walking around with continual stress, it’s an opportunity to do something about it.
Tips to reduce stress during Stress Awareness Month
We’re going to do this rapid-fire style. Here are quick and easy ideas to help you reduce stress over the next 30 days. Remember the challenge: pick one thing a day and act on it. If you set aside just 10 minutes every day to participate in a stress-busting activity, you’ll probably feel markedly better by the end of the month.
- Get moving: go for a walk, hike, run, bike ride — pick your preferred activity
- Try yoga
- Try meditation
- Try a breathing exercise
- Establish a consistent sleep routine
- Try any of these five things
- Say no to things when you’re feeling overwhelmed
We have one last tip: talk to us. Our team of therapists has lots of experience helping people identify what’s stressing them out and developing techniques to manage those stressors. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, Stress Awareness Month is the perfect time to get in touch.
