Stress is not something that can be avoided. Even when they are at rest, not doing anything, a lot is going through their minds, which counts as stress. In fact, some people cannot imagine life without stress, and if they are not in a state of stress, they would feel something is wrong somewhere.
You probably know about how bad stress is for your mind and body. It can lead to physical problems such as headaches, digestive issues, skin problems, and chest pain.
According to research, stress could also make one more temperamental, increase blood pressure levels, and even affect digestion. It can also produce mood problems such as anxiety or sadness. However, stress can also have a serious effect on your brain.
Stress affects the brain in so many ways. It could cause a temporary loss in concentration or forgetfulness or even affect the quality of your thoughts or reasoning. These may start as temporary symptoms, but they could become permanent if care is not taken.
Stress increases the risk of dementia, as well as other problems that affect the brain. Research has also found that stress can cause a wide range of negative effects on the brain ranging from contributing to mental illness, shrinking the volume of the brain, and killing brain cells.
To put it simply, stress reduces the quality of life. This is why you have to look for ways to manage the stress.
In today’s article, we will be looking at ways in which you can protect your brain from stress so that it does not have so much effect on your everyday life. Read on to find out how to protect your brain from stress.
Get Enough Sleep
How long do you sleep? The chances are that you barely get four hours of sleep every day. Not getting enough sleep can add to the stress, as your brain would not get enough time to relax. Sleeping helps to offload your mind and allows your brain to take a break. When you wake after a good sleep, your mind would feel refreshed, and your brain will be in top condition to deal with tasks for the day.
Many people purposely postpone sleep just to complete a task or two, but this is not ideal. Use the night to sleep and recoup the energy lost during the day so that you can wake up the next day feeling refreshed.
Get Regular Exercise
Physical activity may help increase the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. These neurotransmitters can keep your brain healthy and combat stress and anxiety. Furthermore, exercising also reduces the risk of developing dementia.
Therefore, find a physical you enjoy, such as hiking, bicycling, swimming, aerobics, jogging, cycling, water aerobics, weight training, or stretching, and get regular exercise.
Do Not Take On More Than You Can Handle
One thing that contributes to stress is that people often take on more tasks than they can handle. At the end of the day, they put themselves under a lot of pressure just to deliver. This puts them under a lot of stress, which affects their performance. At the end of the day, they may submit a poorly done job or not even finish it at all.
Try as much as you can not to take on more than you can confidently handle.
Engage In Fun Activities
Using all your time to work and do very serious or tasking activities would only contribute to your stress. You can engage in fun activities that would ease your stress. This could mean spending a day at the beach or engaging in art and craft. It could also be dedicating a full day to seeing your favourite TV shows/movies or playing a video game. Just do something you do not normally have time for and see how relaxed you would feel at the end of the day.
Take Your Off-Day Seriously
This is similar to the point above. When it is your off day, or you have nothing to do, do not bother to look for what to do. You could spend all day resting or just being as lazy as you want. This period of minimal activity would do your brain a lot of good.
Stay Organised
Organizing your day and your environment would reduce your stress. You no longer have to spend minutes thinking of what next to do or hours looking for something around you. Once you have your day or week planned with everything you have to do, you will find it easy to carry out your tasks without being under a lot of stress.
Conclusion
Stress can adversely affect not your your physical and mental health, but can also impact your brain. Thus, knowing how to protect your brain from stress is vital to your overall health and wellbeing.
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Collins Nwokolo is a human physiologist, writer and health enthusiast. He loves writing helpful articles on health and fitness, which he enjoys sharing with everyone.
