Feeling Stressed this Summer?

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By Alicia Del Prado, PhD, Resident since 2014

Stress is like a thumbprint. We all have it, but each person’s response to stress is unique. I have my favorite comfort foods to get me through tough times. My mom, on the other hand, can barely eat a bite when she is very stressed out. We are both stressed, but our bodies react differently.

Knowing how you tend to typically respond to stressful situations is a very powerful tool that can help you prevent longer term problems like anxiety, depression, and even burnout! Building this self-awareness will help you learn how to identify your stress before it snowballs even further.

When working with clients, I like to offer a quadrant approach for thinking about stress. The 4 sections include: (1) Feelings (such as worried, sad, angry, irritated), (2) Behaviors (for example, overeating, staying up too late, binging on the Internet), (3) Physiological sensations (such as a pit in one’s stomach, sweaty palms, headaches), and (4) Thoughts (self-talk like “This will never get better”, “I can’t handle this”). By breaking down our unique stress patterns in smaller parts, we become more empowered to see the stress as something we can change.

Coping effectively with stress is both challenging and necessary for living a healthy life. Below are some suggestions for trying to build a productive way for preventing and managing your stress level.

Quick Tips for Stress:

• Write down your own stress thumbprint. How do you know when you’re stressed? What do you feel, think, and do when you are stressed? What happens in your body?

• Find or create a safe space that is your designated stress getaway. Could be a coffee shop, a favorite park, a yoga studio, or even the library? This space needs to be easily accessible and does not need to cost money.

• Practice taking deep breaths. Visualize inhaling calm, exhale out that unwanted stress.

Alicia and her husband love raising their two children in Danville. Alicia is a counseling psychologist who has a private practice in downtown Danville. She recently co-authored a book, “It’s Time to Talk (And Listen)”