You are stressed not depressed!
- Amaranta Penate-Marty
- Oct 9, 2015
- 3 min read
Nowadays, we hear a lot of people saying they are depressed, and prescription medication as Zoloft, Prozac and Xanax are concepts we are all too familiar with.
Depression has become the new millennium illness but in reality most of the people are not depressed, they are in fact, stressed out! Stress makes a person lose or increase hunger, have problems sleeping, provokes mood swings. Chronic stress can disrupt the nervous system, raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system and in the long run can rewire the brain and provoke anxiety and depression for what you then might need medication.
It is important to check your levels of stress since stress symptoms can mimic actual mental disorders as depression and anxiety.
A year ago, a friend of mine visited the doctor because she felt anxious most of the time. She told the doctor that some days; she would check if the front door was locked at least 5 times every night. She explained to him that when she was walking toward her door, she knew the door was locked but for some reason, she would only feel relief if she would check it again.
The doctor asked her if she was engaging in this activity in a daily bases, and after a long conversation, she found out she would only do it on days she was stressed the most. The doctor explained to her that people tend to engage in certain activities or behaviors that provide a sense of relief from stress.
These activities are repeated more often during high stress days because the mind is busy making sure the door is locked; the brain is preoccupied in making sure that the door is locked, therefore other stressful thoughts are dismissed for the moment.
My friend was not suffering from any permanent mental problem, her activity was just mimicking symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive disorder (OCD), in fact, she just needed to control and learn to manage her stress before it was out of control, which could later become an actual mental problem.
I invite you to check your levels of stress. There are many behaviors that you can modify by yourself. Yes, life is in the fast track and stress is just part of it but simple things like: taking some time to stop, breath and think about something that makes you happy can make a big difference in your emotions and behaviors.
There are several ways of self help before needing medication for real mental conditions, you might hear the common ones like: exercise, eat healthy and sleep more but what if your already busy life doesn’t let you do any of that?
I actually think that if your stress comes from your busy life, trying to find time to exercise, eat healthy and worry that you didn’t get the 8 hour sleep would stress you even more!
I am not saying they don’t work, yes, they do! Though, before you try them I will give you 3 simple tasks that will make you feel better:
Be realistic and accept your limitations: you cannot do everything!
Disconnect from everyone: Get some selfish “me” time at least ones a week.
Find one thing to laugh about every day, even if that means to go online and watch a funny video at YouTube.
So, instead of finding excuses to be on Zolof, Xanax or Prozac, start trying a little bit of these stress relief tips and let me know how you feel.
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