When you think of stress you probably think of the usual, bills, noise, long commute, home or auto repairs, etc. However, there are probably many more sources of stress that you don't really think about. For that matter, all stress isn't even necessarily negative. In order to treat Adrenal Fatigue, however, stress must be reduced. Here are eight things that may be increasing your stress level that you may not even think about.
1. Minor annoyances
You've probably heard that you shouldn't sweat the small stuff, but those minor annoyances can have a major impact on your mood. Calls from salespeople or debt collectors, the rude person at the coffee shop, or time spent looking for a decent parking spot, are all things that can really bring you down over time.
2. Education
Studies show that having a college degree increases the amount of money you can make. With a college degree you may be less likely to stress over money, but that may be replaced by other types of stress. You may find yourself worrying about job pressure and increased responsibility, you might feel overworked, or you may have trouble balancing work and family.
3. Relationships
No matter how happy you are with your partner or spouse, he or she is bound to have some habits that get on your nerves. In the early stages of a relationship, these irritations typically revolve around use of space, time, or personal habits. As the relationship develops, these irritations are usually resolved in one way or another. However they tend to be replaced by other irritations such as conflict over parenting or financial issues.
4. Health
While you would expect major health issues, or even mildly poor health, to be stressful, even good health can be a source of stress. Most people at least occasionally worry about diet and fitness. There are those who become so concerned about their health that they begin to become obsessive. They may follow overly strict diets or become obsessed with working out.
5. Managing stress
Sometimes just the way we manage stress can be stressful itself. If your coping mechanisms include overwork, skipping a workout or working out excessively, eating junk food, or avoiding friends and family, you may find yourself in a downward spiral that can be hard to get out of. It's important to find healthy ways of managing stress such as eating healthy, meditation, moderate exercise, and time with friends and family.
6. Social Media
Facebook and social other social media websites are a great way to keep up with friends and family with whom you would otherwise lose touch. However a recent study from the Pew Research Center found that social media raises your awareness of stressors in the lives of your friends and family, which can increase your own stress level. This study did not find that social media increased stress levels but other studies suggest that it can lower body image and prolong the pain of a breakup.
7. Other people’s stress
The 2014 German study found that people who watched others engage in a stressful task actually showed an increase in the production of cortisol. This phenomenon is referred to as empathic stress. When someone you know is hit with something dramatic, such as chronic illness or traumatic injury, you can begin to worry that it could happen to you. We tend to think of these things is always happening to other people until they happen to someone we know.
8. Your past
If you experienced a traumatic childhood, these situations can impact your stress levels and your health all the way to adulthood. A study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014 found that childhood experiences can actually alter the brain, particularly those areas associated with stress and emotion. Researchers have also found that children whose parents suffered from social anxiety were more likely to have quote trickle-down anxiety". Some of this trickle-down anxiety is due to genetics, but some is due to the adrenal fatigue treatment they received from their parents, which may have included a lack of affection, or excessive criticism.
9. Multitasking
If you think that multitasking is making you more efficient and productive think again. In most cases multitasking actually decreases productivity and raises stress levels. The University of Irvine study conducted in 2012 found that people who responded to email as it came in while trying to get other work done in between had more variable heart rate, which indicates higher levels of mental stress than those who read and responded to email at set times. Unitasking, which is focusing on one thing at a time, allows you to do your best work and minimizes mistakes. If you give up multitasking, you may find that you actually have more time in the day.
Adrenal Fatigue is at its root level, a neuroendocrine impairment in the way the body handles stress. Living in the modern world is stressful for the body. Knowing how to treat adrenal fatigue must first start with learning how to recognize stressors. The tips mentioned here are excellent reminders of how stress can sometimes be hidden. They can be unintended consequences of a productive life and successful career. We are now just starting to learn the damage our body can sustain from an emotional or traumatic childhood. The adrenals are damaged subclinically and this represents one of many physical manifestations from unresolved psychological stressors early on in life. Being grateful for what life brings is an excellent reminder to help our body heal spontaneously from adrenal fatigue. Perhaps the most effective way and the ultimate solution, adrenal fatigue, is simply to simplify your life. In order to treat adrenal fatigue, the body must experience less stress. While there are many supplements that will help, ulitmately to treat adrenal fatigue the overal. physical and mental stress on the body must be decreased. Once the stress is lessened, the body can begin to heal.
When you have symptoms while you are going through menoapuse, you most likely need some help with the adrenals also.
