Stress Overload

[ICantSpellDawg]

how do you all deal with the days that your body suffers from a stress overload?

it just hit me today like a ton of bricks
it was amazingly terrible

[Strike For The South]

Chill if even only for a couple of minutes sit back and realize everything isnt that bad think of something you like and take it one day at a time

[Byzantine Prince]

*thinks of something he likes*

Yeah pornography it is!


Seriously though the best way to relieve stress is to spend time with someone that relaxes you or simply lay in bed for a couple of minutes and clear your head.

[_Martyr_]

Have a bath!

Seriously I hadnt had a bath in years, and I rediscovered them recently. Stick on some Floyd, and lie back. As close to sublime that you can legally achieve. Of course if you are really looking for relaxation, you could always dip into the realm of the not so legal, and stick on the Floyd, but I couldnt possibly recomend that here!

[Beirut]

Do what I do.

Have a beer, take a loooooong shower, and sing Celine Dion songs while the water cascades upon you. Then sleep like your dormancy is a gift from God, a washing away of mistakes and stress, an escape from reality into a place that you alone control and you alone have access to.

Bliss.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Try Bacardi.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Try Bacardi.

Problematic as a relaxation tool. Still, less damaging than Celine Dion.

Seamus

[Leet Eriksson]

Don't Smoke it causes a ton of stress, don't play video/computer games, don't shake your leg and clear your mind. Also lie on your bed, sofa or whatever thats soft when doing this.

Also as many suggested think of something else if you can't clear your mind.

Good Luck.

[Red Harvest]

Running or doing a full workout on the heavy bag are one of the better ways I've found to release stress. (You can visualize while hitting the bag...but don't forget to wrap your knuckles good and wear heavy bag gloves if you had a really stressful day...you don't want any broken bones.)

If it was tiring physical stress, then a couple of beers in a nice hot bath does wonders.

[GoreBag]

Red Harvest and Beirut are on the right track. Beer is the key. If I need to blow off steam, I'll meet up with a few friends, have a few pints and listen to metal. If everyone's buzzed, no one cares how much you rock out, and before you know it, everyone's doing it. It's social, it's active, it involves both music and beer.

[Divinus Arma]

I think the answer, for all of you that know me, is painfully clear:

[Proletariat]

T'ai Chi.


And as a fall back, a bunch of cigarettes and booze and whatnot.

[Divinus Arma]

Do what I do.

...sing Celine Dion songs while the water cascades upon you. Bliss.

This is Sooooooooo perfect!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!

Beirut the punisher, singing Celine Dion! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHALOLOLOLOL!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[AntiochusIII]

Stress overload also sometimes overwhelms me. It's painful; fatigue.

What I did when I was overstressed was expressing my anger with violent attitude towards walls, sofas, something that won't break if I throw them, etc.

Which is WRONG.

I suggest lay back at the nearest sofa/bed. Your head will be screaming, true. Pressure yourself to control your body long enough to take a glass of water (cold, if it's a hot day) then lay down and forget everything. Take, temporarily, the "who f***ing cares?" attitude towards the world and whatever is causing you stress and lay back everything. You can clear the mess later. If you can sleep, the better for you. When you wake up, it'll be dizzy and messy and everything; take a shower then, and some snacks, and your head will be clear as day once more.

...I hope.

[Papewaio]

Change of scene and pace.

So if you have been studying or using a PC, go out on an intense hike.

If you have been doing some back breaking labour have a shower, watch something relaxing... nature channel.

If it works for you play a computer game, or read a book.

Main thing is to do something different.

[Samurai Waki]

Grab a 6 Pack of Beer, a lawn chair, and go to the docks, or beach and do some late afternoon fishing. nothing clears my head better. Music helps too.

[Xiahou]

Haven't done it for awhile, but I used to find just sitting out on the porch and smoking a pipe (beer optional) on a nice evening to be terribly relaxing.

[Sigurd]

You will probably not believe this...
When I have had a particular bad day with stress and so forth, and when the sight of my beautiful wife and children does not quite lift my spirit. I slump into a comfy chair in front of my computer, slide Battlefield 1942 into the CD-drive and play a round or two of Desert Combat on the internet...
I do in fact feel better afterwards.

[English assassin]

Make a list.

I tend to get stressed when I have too much to do. And the first thing that goes is my ability to organise my time, or even remember in any detail what it is I have to do. I'll just charge into the first job that occurs to me, with the result that more urgent jobs get overlooked and the sense of a huge pile of work waiting to fall on me grows and grows.

Quite often when I make a list I realise that in fact I didn't have all that much to do anyway, and the feeling of being back in control is a great relief even if the list is quite long.

Exercise is also good. And if you are really stuffed and just quivering like a jelly get up and walk round the block a few times. Take an hour off.

I'm really struggling with the Beruit/Celine Dion thing, I had him down as a George Clinton man for sure...

[Papewaio]

An org member played with the George Clinton band methinks...

[Beirut]

Beirut the punisher, singing Celine Dion! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHALOLOLOLOL!!!!

The point is stress reduction. Celine, idiot that she is, sings like an angel and some of her stuff, while the water runs, reduces what little stress I have. Though honestly, after a day of hard physical labour, you don't have much stress left when you get home.

Until your woman gives you some at least.

Then it's off to the shower!

"Neeeeear... far... wherEver you are...."

[_Martyr_]

I wonder what your lumber buddies would say...

[bmolsson]

Sex.... And if your wife/girlfriend says no, go out and buy a woman just like her.....

[monkian]

See my sig

[yesdachi]

Make a list of all the things you hate the most and then go for a drive at rush hour!

I use to have a lot of trouble with stress until I learned to say F it. If I cant do anything about it right now then F it, worry about it later. If I can do something about it I usually drink a redbull and plow thru it with as much focus as I can just to get past it.

To unwind, seeing my family usually works but if not an option I will stop in to the comic store (the guys there are a riot) or try to see/call a fun friend. A shower and some fresh clothes works too.

[Proletariat]

On a serious note, the key to dealing with stress is identifying the stressors. Stress is the result of demands put upon you, and your enviroment shapes the nature of the demand.

When you've identified the nature of the demands put upon you in your everyday life, then you can begin to sort through them and see where the imbalances are in your life that are causing your stressors to go from eustress to distress.

You must look at the roles you have in your life. Examples of these roles are student, employee, friend, son, father, soldier, etc. In each one of these enviromental roles the demands put upon you differ, and the key is to identify which roles are resulting in distress. Then you can begin to break down why these roles are being met with the stress symptoms, and then you can move forward to finding the solutions themselves.

I hope this wasn't too vague. When I was still on active duty I taught an eight step program for an ASAP (Alcohol Substance Abuse Program) for soldiers focusing on stress.

It's a little easier to teach the class when fielding questions and using a white-board, but I hope this brief explanation may get you started. All the suggestions above only subdue the symptoms of stress, but won't do anything when you have to come back to the real world. There just temporary escapes.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Generally I try to get away from whatever issues are hounding me until I clear my mind. This generally involves music and an FPS, although it can involve a run through the fields behind my house as well. Any activity to get my mind off it for a bit. Then when my mind is cleared I try to figure out what is bothering me, why, what I can do about it and make a plan to deal with it. Doesn't really work with things I can't do anything about, but otherwise it does just fine.

[Goofball]

I tend to go with the "have a good workout" school of thought to relieve stress. It's free, it's good for you, and it makes you feel better.

If you want to be really hard core, try doing Bikram's yoga. I've been doing that lately and it's about the hardest workout I've ever had in my life. But man, does it feel good when it's over...

[Sjakihata]

I put myself in a position so that I will never have stress - and when I have to use more than 4 hours a day for unwilling activities (such as school or family reunions etc) I go fishing the next day

I lead a stressless life

[Red Harvest]

I tend to go with the "have a good workout" school of thought to relieve stress. It's free, it's good for you, and it makes you feel better.

If you want to be really hard core, try doing Bikram's yoga. I've been doing that lately and it's about the hardest workout I've ever had in my life. But man, does it feel good when it's over...

One of the main reasons to do a hard workout is that stress gets your body keyed up for exertion: fight or flight response. Working out is the natural outlet to burn off the excess.

I don't know how many of you have ever boxed, but it is the most intense workout I've ever come across (assuming you are doing it right.) The closest to it is probably swimming. Running or wrestling don't seem to burn as many calories (and keep in mind, I don't "jog", I RUN.)

Muay Thai boxing is an even tougher workout than standard boxing...features the sort of street fighting moves my dad taught me when I was growing up.