April 14, 2025
Tips for Managing Stress
April is Stress Awareness Month. Stress can significantly impact health and well-being, so it's crucial to understand and manage it.
Stress affects how people think, feel, and act. How individuals handle stress, relate to others, and make choices are all affected by their mental health. Mental health is more than just psychological well-being; it includes emotional and social well-being too. Stress can cause various health problems, including hypertension. Managing stress is essential for mental and physical health.
Here are some tips for reducing stress and improving overall well-being:
- Recognize and counter signs of stress. Your body sends signals that say "I'm stressed out!" These can include difficulty concentrating, headaches, cold hands, tight muscles, a nervous stomach, clenched teeth, feeling on edge, fidgety, irritable or withdrawn. Knowing how your body communicates can help you handle stressful moments. Learn to not only recognize when you are experiencing stress, but also to act to combat their effects.
- Take time for yourself. Take care of yourself every day. It's not selfish or self-indulgent — and it might require saying "no" to requests or prioritizing yourself along with your responsibilities. Start with small changes in your routine to help build resilience to stressful circumstances. Work in time to exercise, eat healthy foods, participate in relaxing activities and sleep. In fact, including a regimen of exercise, which for some may include yoga or meditation, can be very important when feeling stressed. Also, take time to notice the "good minutes" in each day and focus on the positive rather than the negative.
- Try new routines. From scheduling down time to blocking off time to plan and prioritize tasks, additional structure can provide a daily framework that allows you to attune to your body's signals. Then, you can take steps to potentially manage stress earlier.
- Stay connected and make new friends. Stay in touch with family, friends and groups in your life — technology makes this easier than ever. Having or being a person to talk with can be reassuring and calming. For some people, video features and online communications can enhance the sense of connection.
- See problems through a different lens. Experts call changing the way we think and respond to stress "reframing." View sitting in traffic or around the house as an opportunity to enjoy music, podcasts or pleasant views. Reduce anger in response to rude or aggressive behavior by imagining what might be happening in that person's life. Keeping situations in perspective is an important way to boost stress resilience.
- Seek help with problems. Many people experience the same day-to-day strains related to caregiving, relationships, health, work and money. Look to friends and family, as appropriate, or other trusted individuals or resources for tips and information.
- Talk to a health professional if stress is affecting your well-being, you feel you cannot manage the stress you're experiencing, or stress has caused you to engage in or increase substance use.
Let’s Talk About Mental Health How much effort do you focus on your mental health? Do you talk about it with your family and friends as easily as you do about your latest annual physical? May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so maybe it’s time? Mental Health Is More Than Psychological Your mental health includes your emotional, social and psychological well-being. Together, they affect how you think, feel, and act, says SAMHSA , the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. How you — and everyone — handle stress, relate to others, and make choices, are all affected by your mental health. Ripple Effect of Mental Health Issues While your mental health is as important on its own, you may not realize how else mental health issues can impact your life, such as: • People with depression have a 40% higher risk of developing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases than the general population. • A third of U.S. adults with mental illness also had a substance abuse disorder in 2021. • High school students with significant depression symptoms are more than twice as likely to drop out compared to their peers. Healthy Well-Being Begins Early You may be surprised to learn that half of all mental health disorders show before a person turns 14 years old and three-fourths begin before age 24, says SAMHSA. Signs to watch for in adults and adolescents may include: • Changes in appetite or sleep patterns • Not performing daily tasks or handling daily problems • Not wanting to hang out with friends or family • Fighting a lot with family and friends; not controlling emotions • Having low or no energy, or feeling hopeless • Feeling confused, forgetful, edgy, angry, upset, worried, or scared • Wanting to harm yourself or others • Smoking or drinking excessively If you feel or see one or more of these signs, you may want to discuss with your primary care doctor or contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) for resources near you. You can contact them directly by calling 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), texting "HelpLine" to 62640 or emailing them at helpline@nami.org . Self-Care Tips for Improving Your Mental Well-Being When struggling with your mental health, in addition to seeking outside help, here are some actions to take: • Stick to a treatment plan; don’t change it without a doctor’s guidance, and keep your primary care physician updated. • Control stress with activities such as meditation or yoga; eat healthy and exercise; and get enough sleep. • Reach out to family and friends for support and help. • Get closer to nature as it can have a calming effect. Take a walk. • Plan things to look forward to doing or people to be seeing. If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis, please chat, call or text 988.
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Orthopedics is a specialized branch of medicine that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system. This system includes bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and nerves—essentially everything that helps the body move and function properly. Whether it's a sports injury, arthritis, spinal disorder, or a congenital condition, orthopedic care helps people maintain mobility and live pain-free lives.