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Stress and Ways to Manage It

Donna Nichols • September 9, 2024

What is stress? Stress is a state of worry or mental tension caused by a demanding situation. It is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges and threats in our lives. Everyone experiences stress to some degree. But the way we respond to stress makes a significant difference to our overall well-being (who.int).

 

How does stress affect us? Stress affects both the mind and the body. A little bit of stress is good and can help us perform daily activities. Too much stress can cause physical and mental health problems, such as headache, sleeping troubles, feeling unwell or lack of focus at work. Uncontrolled stress can lead to more serious issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and diabetes.

 

We must all find ways to manage our stress, and medication isn’t always the answer. There are many ways to help manage your stress that do not involve medication. You might think that you are destressing and relaxing while watching TV or playing a video game, but did you know those make your stress go up over time? Those are examples of idle time; they don’t get you moving; therefore, you’re not releasing the endorphins needed to relieve those nasty stress bugs!

 

Some healthy ways to fight stress are:

 

1.    Get regular exercise as many days as you can. Exercise helps you feel more relaxed, and it also helps you sleep better. Regular exercise releases the endorphins that combat stress and aid in elevating your mood.


2.    Try relaxation techniques; deep breathing, meditation, yoga, or get regular massages. Deep breathing lowers your heart rate and blood pressure and increases your oxygen intake. Meditation can help by allowing you to focus on your breathing and forgetting about the hectic day you may have had. Yoga calms your mind and releases stress through the various poses and stretches. Massages are good for everything! You must practice deep breathing when you are having a massage and your entire body relaxes, so a massage is always an effective way to de-stress.


3.    Maintain a sense of humor. Laughter helps with everything; if you can laugh at yourself, then you can laugh at anything. Laughing releases those endorphins again which helps reduce your stress and improve your mood.


4.    Spend quality time with friends and family. Friends and family can offer a place to share your thoughts and concerns. Sometimes all you need is an ear to listen to what is going on and having someone you can confide in is a wonderful way to get things off your shoulders. They can also remind you how special and important you are.


5.    Read a book, listen to music, or go for a walk. These are more ways to relax and lose yourself for a while. Get lost in your book or your music; take that walk and make it a little longer each time.


6.    Set aside some time to write in a journal. Try to write something each day. Write about what stressed you out; go back to it after about a week or so and see if you are having the same triggers. If so, see what you can do to change things to remove that trigger.


7.    Make sure you get plenty of sleep. You get stressed so much easier when you’re tired. You feel that nothing is going right, and you could just curl up and go to sleep. Try to get 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night.


8.    Try to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Eating a lot of junk food will cause your blood pressure to go up, which causes your stress level to increase. Please try to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet to maintain a healthier stress level and blood pressure level too. I’m not saying you can’t splurge and have that burger or ice cream every now and then, just in moderation.


9.    Stay away from alcohol and drugs. Drugs and alcohol only make us numb and put us in a state of depression, which what? You got it, increases our stress! Stay away from them! You can have the social drink or two, but don’t drink to forget your problems, they will only be enhanced by the alcohol or drug.



10. Stay away from the TV news. Watching the news on TV these days is enough to stress anyone out; just don’t do it! Watch a game show, or a comedy; remember laughter helps release those endorphins!!!

 

You can manage your stress without medication. Just making some minor changes in your life can make a big difference! If you are a caregiver and need ways to cope, we at Assisted Living Made Simple hold 4 Alzheimer’s caregiver support groups a month. If you’re trying to cope with the grief of a loved one, we have two grief support groups a month. If you need to find placement for elderly loved ones, we can assist you with that as well. Just give us a call on 386-847-2322 to learn more about our services, which are all free!

 

Make Valentine’s Day Special for Seniors

By Donna Nichols • February 5, 2025
Valentine’s Day tends to zero in on romantic love, but what about our seniors? They too often get forgotten. We have some ways to make Valentine’s Day special for them too. Spend the day with your loved one. Spending quality time with a loved one is more important to a senior than anything else. There is no greater gift than time and please make sure you have enough, so you are not rushed. Do your elderly loved one have a favorite meal? Perhaps you can prepare it for them, or if they are able, you can prepare it together. How fun would that be for you both? Be sure to discuss the enjoyment it brought you while you are sharing the meal together. How about a game of name that love song? You could prepare a playlist of love songs from the generation and play them to see how many they get correct. Or, if you can sing, you can sing some for them and see if they can recollect them. Take some time for reminiscing, go through old photo albums, or ask about old times. Ask them about when you were young and what trouble you caused; this will give you all something to laugh (or cry) about. Has your loved one been cooped up all winter? Take them out for a nice lunch, or weather permitting, a picnic in the park. Go for coffee and a donut, then head out to see a movie. Make a “date” of it. Maybe your senior is into crafts. You can design special Valentine’s Day cards for other family members. This way your senior can express their love for them and send it to them in their own unique way. You can create other greeting cards as well. Bake some special treats together. Does your senior have some favorite cookies or cake? You could bake it together, or you can bake it for them. Then you can enjoy it after you have the meal you prepared together. Yummy, delicious!! You can watch some romantic movies together if they prefer to stay in the house or the weather isn’t so good. If they like to color, you can buy them some of those large coloring books and you can color together. Don’t forget the decorations and the flowers! Make the house or apartment as festive as possible. Even if they live in as assisted living community, you can still decorate their room to the nines! Make it as festive as possible! If you live in another state or can’t be close to your senior for Valentine’s Day, how about sending them a specially crafted care package. You can hand make some gifts, add some photos of family and friends, and send a personally recorded message. You can bake some homemade treats and incorporate some things that are of personal interest to them. This will show how much you care for them and make their Valentine’s Day extra special even if you can’t be with them.  There are so many ways to make Valentine’s Day special for seniors. Let’s not forget about them; make sure to show them they are so loved too!

February is National Heart Month

By Donna Nichols • February 4, 2025
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Hydration Tips for the Winter

By Donna Nichols • January 8, 2025
I’ve written many blogs about the importance of staying hydrated in the summer, but did you know it’s just as important to stay hydrated in the winter months? I’ve shared some important tips on how to stay hydrated in the winter and why. Cold, dry air can dehydrate you easily and quickly. Even if you don’t feel thirsty. Proper hydration can help regulate your body temperature, maintain healthy organ function, and prevent fatigue, dry skin, and headaches. In the colder months, you do not feel thirsty, that’s why it’s so important to make sure you drink plenty of water. Why is winter hydration so important? Colder air tends to be drier causing moisture to evaporate through your breathing which can cause dehydration. In colder weather, you may not feel as thirsty, causing you to become dehydrated quickly. Also, wearing more clothing traps sweat inside your clothing causing more fluid loss. What are some of the benefits of staying hydrated in the winter? • Drinking enough water helps keep your skin hydrated and prevents dryness. This will help with that dry, itchy skin feeling we all get in the winter. • Water helps your body maintain a regular core temperature. Which is so important to maintain in the winter. • Drinking plenty of water supports your immune system, which helps fight off winter colds and the flu. We all want to fight those germs off! • When you are dehydrated, you become tired easily, so drinking plenty of water helps keep your energy levels up. How do you stay hydrated in the winter? • Make sure you drink plenty of water. Set reminders if you must; you probably won’t feel as thirsty in the winter, but you need to keep drinking that water! • You don’t have to drink cold water; room temperature water works. You can also drink tea or water with lemon, as long as you’re getting your water. • If you’re going out, carry a water bottle with you to ensure you have water to drink. • Eat fruits and vegetables that contain water. Tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries, watermelon, cauliflower, mushrooms, cucumber, apples, and pineapple are just a few that contain high water contents. • If you think you’re dehydrated, check your urine; if it’s a darker color, that can suggest dehydration. Urine should be a pale, yellow color. As you can see, staying hydrated in the winter is just as important as staying hydrated in the summer, if not more. In the winter you don’t realize you are thirsty therefore you tend not to drink as much water as you should. This has the potential of wreaking havoc on your body. Please make sure you drink plenty of water in the wintertime as you do in the summertime. We have rebranded our company, we are now Assisted Senior Services! Call us for ANYTHING SENIOR!! 386-847-2322!
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