I heard about this crazy notion about being addicted to stress.
When I first heard about it, I thought who would honestly want to be addicted to stress! However, the more I researched the topic, the more I could see how people could be addicted. Stress is like a drug addiction. It can be defined as a constant pattern of behaviour seeking out situations that increase stress.
The chemicals that are related to anxious feelings effect the brain. This includes cortisol and the happy hormone dopamine. This explains, the feelings of surges of dopamine and cortisol in the brain to repeat behaviours. It is a chemical bio-feedback loop.
6 Signs of Addiction to Stress
1. Always overbooking yourself and never leaving enough time between appointments for rest
2. Always checking your phone for messages and texts in the middle of your workday, just in case you miss out on something.
3. Always thinking of the next thing, on your to -do list and when you don’t get to it, you criticise yourself
4. You feel bored unless you have that pumped up feeling of stress.
5. Enjoy the ‘drama’ of things and actively seek them out.
6. Even when your body shows physical symptoms of stress, you can’t stop yourself.
What can you do about it?
Check in with your beliefs around ‘stress’.
Do I surround myself with people who are stressed, who gain their self-worth from being busy and stressed?
Can I stop what I am doing and change my behaviour?
Do I have balance in my life?
Does my life feel, like it is out-of-control?
Is my mental and physical health being affected?
Here are some simple tips
1. Practice a gentle mindfulness meditation (see mine on Insight Timer)
2. Get support from a trained practitioner. (Book in a free 20-minute chat with me)
3. Set boundaries that support self-care, sleep, fun, and time in nature.
4.Do some physical exercise e.g. yoga, gym, walking. This helps your body and mind, and it releases endorphins which make you feel good. Join my free masterclass and learn about these tip.
