Much like taxes, stress is a fact of life, especially now in the age of the online meetings, multiple jobs, and of course the pandemic. Pre-pandemic stress levels were already disturbing, but now it’s almost unthinkable how the amount of overall stress found in people have risen to even higher levels, what is also hard is thinking of how people can manage all that tension.
Funnily enough, there are a large majority of people that tend to dismiss the seriousness of the effects stress puts on them and the people around them. Well, let’s look at how hard stress can affect people.
First, let’s talk about where stress comes from. Most people encounter stress through their jobs, with deadlines, changes in workflows, pressure from their boss, unprofessional colleagues, etc… stress is universal when talking about work. Then add to that life stressors like mortgages, taxes, bills, personal issues, health, everything seems to give people stress.
It can show itself in several ways. Headaches and/or migraines are some of the most common manifestations of stress. It can often be devastating especially in more severe cases. Anxiety and sleep deprivation are two others that are pretty common.
If you notice though, the three mentioned are either symptoms, or things that may lead to even more dangerous conditions, as it has long been documented that continuous and recurring stress may lead to heart attacks, strokes, and even suicidal thoughts.
So are the effects of stress always that serious? Well not really, but they can have major impacts on your life. Take being irritable, it’s accepted that stress makes people irritable, so what’s so bad about that? Not much, a lot of people are irritable, but the effects of irritability on your home, personal, and even professional life can actually compound the feeling of stressfulness you experience.
Imagine for a minute that you’re at work, and being irritable and all, you lash-out at your co-workers. If that goes on, inevitably people aren’t going to like you, or like working with you anymore. And if you’re the boss, people aren’t going to like working for you.
Being anxious is another one, it isn’t life-threatening on its own, but it can be draining for some people.
To cut the story short, at best stress can ruin the quality of your life, and at worst, yes stress can kill. But don’t fret we can do something about it!
So, what’s the solution? You may ask.
Well, doctors have been saying that it is not the stressful situations that can kill you, it is how you deal with the stress from those situations that do. The best option to fight stress is to make time to relax and unwind. As we’re often busy, we tend to forget to actively destress, thinking that sleep is enough. Purposely letting go of all the tension built up will go a long way in fighting the symptoms and the reappearance of stress, which will result in better health and avoidance of the more serious effects of being stressed.
Now the better question is what can we do to unwind and relax? Here are some of the top things you can do.
- Some people use running or exercise as a form of relaxation, it does work well and give you more energy, and may help release any frustrations. Now and then it’s nice to sweat the stress out.
- Reading has been a pastime that is well documented to reduce tension. Curling up with a good book before bedtime is a stress relief habit that many people use to great effect.
- A lot of other people play music. Having an outlet to express your emotions is a sure way to relax and unwind.
- And of course, many people play games. Board games, video games, and one of the most popular engrossing forms of games is gambling, can all be used to destress.
Wait a minute, gambling can relieve stress? Yes! The distinctive excitement of stakes-based gaming is undeniable, and being so thrilling and absorbing, gambling has been observed to be beneficial and reducing, even removing stress effects in people. Moreover, just the fact that you get to disconnect yourself from the things that stress you out is in itself a form of stress control and a good one at that.
But with high stakes doesn’t it put more stress on me? Well, games like slots are purely run-off luck, where you don’t have to think of how to get the jackpot. Meaning, you don’t have to strain over every pull of the lever, you can just sit there and enjoy the game feeling all the tension melt away in the process.
On a more scientific note, playing games like gambling may actually lead to endorphin production. For those who are not familiar with that, endorphins are the “happy” hormones people have in their bodies that fight pain and stress. Like whenever the slots are about to stop, and you are flush with excitement, even if you don’t win, the happy hormones go through your body and combat the stress that has built up.
But with social restrictions in place, it’s become difficult to play slots and the like. That’s where the internet helps us out a lot. Online casinos are offering the same enjoyment in the comfort of your own home. If you’re skeptical about whether playing online is beneficial for you, think of playing games online for a few hours as you going on a mini-vacation, disconnecting from everything, and just be focused on relaxing. What’s even better you can also play on specific free-to-play just like Ekstrapoint where you can win loads of prizes, and even get chances to win real-life-cash, surely that will wipe the stress out of your life quick.
So, you don’t have to let stress get the better of you! Go run! And get your sweat-on, read a good book, play some music, play online, you may even win some awesome prizes while you’re at it.