In his recently released book, Stress Less, Live More, Noel Casiano, associate professor of psychology and human services, shares tips for managing stress and finding balance in life, and a better understanding of the risks it creates to our psychological, emotional, and biological health.
Life is full of positive and negative experiences. Stress is a natural part of life that we will have to manage. On the other hand, managing stress is challenging and we can find benefits on learning positive ways to manage and cope.
It is also important to note that there are three kinds of stress. The three kinds of stress are positive, tolerable and toxic stress. In all three levels of stress, the body releases the stress hormone called “cortisol”.
Positive stress is what motivates us to get out of bed every morning, to achieve our daily responsibilities and keep us focused. Once we achieve these daily tasks, we return to some sense of balance and harmony psychologically and biologically.
Tolerable stress is more pronounced as it can last longer than those short-term based stressors called positive stress. For example, when we experience loss such as a loss of a romantic relationship, a job loss or trying to manage our monthly budget to pay off bills and debts. This type of stress is tolerable because it is buffered when we have positive relationships or connections to other people or support animals.
Now the more serious type of stress is what is called “Toxic Stress.” Examples of toxic stress can be experiences of abuse or neglect, domestic violence, and exposure to ongoing traumatic situations. On top of these very painful, traumatic, and long-term adversities, overproduction of the stress hormone has negative impacts on our body.
While cortisol, in short-term exposure can help us with daily non-traumatic life situations, long-term and ongoing exposure of cortisol in the body attacks the telomeres in our DNA and genetics. When we have shortened telomeres in our DNA and genetic structure, we are more susceptible to many kinds of medical illnesses and inflammation of the body.
Here are some tips to consider when managing tolerable stress and decreasing toxic stress in your life:
- Ask for help: Consider seeking a licensed mental health professional so that you can learn ways to get the emotional support you need, increase your problem-solving skills, build resilience, find validation and empathy.
- Find balance in life: Learn how to manage your time, embrace the outdoors, manage social media and find ways to balance family, work and personal time.
- Manage your nutrition and physical health: Understand how poor nutrition and stress can have negative impact on your overall physical and psychological health. Decreasing caffeine, not abusing alcohol or drugs and reducing foods rich in fats and sugar are key.
This column appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of H, UHart’s magazine.