When we are under stress of any kind, our nervous system is under duress and our ability to handle all of life’s challenges therefore becomes impaired. Our depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses, along with our addictions, wreak havoc on all of our systems, affecting us not only mentally and emotionally but also physically and energetically. How does stress block our healing?
Stress can present itself in our lives in various ways. We feel anxiety, worry and other manifestations of fear. When we’re stressed, we might become restless, uneasy and irritable. We feel easily overwhelmed and confused. We might be more sensitive to stressors and triggers than usual, feeling more reactive in response to them than we normally are. We may experience heightened mood swings and have a harder time managing our emotions. Our thoughts might feel scattered, out of control, and all over the place.
We handle our stress in different ways, many of which are unhealthy and toxic for us and which contribute to our addictions and mental health issues rather than helping to alleviate them.
We might take our stress out on the people around us, causing additional conflict and turmoil in our already strained relationships. We might be more volatile, hostile, unkind, even abusive with the people we care about.
All of these different manifestations of our stress block our healing because we’re usually more focused on them than we are on the pain and fear fueling our addictions and mental health issues. We’re focusing on the symptoms rather than the causes, and we’re so distracted by them that we’re not working towards healing. On top of that, stress wears us down making us so exhausted that we can’t function normally or approach our healing with the energy it requires. We feel worn out and broken down. We feel totally depleted of our energy and motivation. We feel defeated and hopeless. We experience breakdowns in our mental health, as well as our overall health, with severe depressive episodes, spikes in our anxiety levels, debilitating panic attacks, insomnia, high blood pressure and even cardiac arrest all being attributable to excessive stress.
Stress is a normal part of life, and we’ll never be able to live entirely stress-free lives, but how we cope with our stress can make all the difference in how well we’re able to heal ourselves. Do you give yourself time to decompress after a long, hard day? Do you make time for meditation, exercise and other natural stress relievers? Do you get enough sleep? Do you have a support system, and do you allow other people to help you? Do you make time for self-care and spiritual practice?
The stresses of everyday life, along with all of the chaos and turmoil in our lives, and even the extreme difficulties and crises that arise, can all be managed in healthy ways that promote healing rather than detract from it.
The caring, compassionate staff of The Guest House is here to support you as you start your journey to recovery and healing. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.