Effective stress management isn't about completely removing difficulties, unlike what many people think. We both know that's not possible.
What can we do, then?
Society’s Acceptable Stress “Fixes” – A Tarnished Gold Standard
Emotional energy management is necessary for purposeful stress release if we want to regain control over our hectic life. The typical go-tos, which, shockingly, cause more harm than help, must be released. This includes everything that distracts us or suppresses our emotions, making it difficult for us to cope with stress.
Making the shift from avoidance strategies to proactive actions can be difficult. In reality, stress-reduction techniques that undermine our energy and mood are supported and even encouraged by society.
One of the most popular vices used to dull the negative feelings brought on by stress is alcohol.
Because of the increased fear, wrath, anxiety, and despair brought on by world events, alcohol use has increased dramatically over the past year. A research conducted by the RAND Corporation found that women's heavy drinking days increased by 41% during the pandemic as compared to pre-pandemic levels.
But this isn't a singular occurrence. Prior to the pandemic, there was a noticeable increase in women's alcohol consumption, as evidenced by the 85 percent increase in alcohol-related mortality among women between 1999 and 2017.
“Ugh, I need a drink!”
Have you ever been so frustrated that you blurted out these words? I used to say them a lot when I was under a lot of stress before I stopped drinking two years ago. There are moments when we desire to tune out and temporarily ignore our problems. Drinking cocktails while unwinding was like taking a little mental vacation.
Unfortunately, there is a cost associated with this stress-reduction strategy. After that, I frequently felt exhausted, drowsy, and irritable. And you know what else? The problem that I had managed to avoid the previous evening still needed to be fixed. But now that drinking had further depleted my physical and mental energies, I was even less prepared to handle it.
Drinking to cope with stress is a Catch-22 situation. On the one hand, it lessens the severity of our first reaction to stress. This is also known by the scientific phrase "stress-response dampening."
However, the enjoyment that comes from drinking alcohol is very fleeting. Even when consuming small to moderate doses, this momentary respite is accompanied by a number of undesirable side effects.
Effective Stress Control to Boost Your Energy
Alcohol, in any quantity, not only does not provide better energy and stress reduction over time, but it actually saps them.
Here are five ways that alcohol lowers your energy and stress levels, along with some alternatives.
1. Downward Sleep Spiral
Alcohol's sedative properties are one of the main reasons it's so widely used to reduce stress. At first, we may feel relaxed, even asleep. After falling asleep, this wears off, and our bodies' metabolism of alcohol disrupts restorative sleep cycles, a process known as the Metabolic Rebound Effect (MRE).
MRE increases our sensitivity to stress. The difficulty to get back to sleep can cause anxiety. In our daily lives, we also frequently react more strongly to stress.
Action tip: Tonics without alcohol can promote relaxation and restful sleep. You can relax without unpleasant side effects with a cup of lemon balm tea or a few drops of valerian root tincture.
2. Your Brilliant Brain’s Muddled Mood
Our energy is ruined by funky moods. The reason for the billion-dollar "growth mindset" industry is that emotional energy has a direct impact on our success, happiness, and productivity. However, controlling our thoughts involves more than just rebuilding our belief systems; it also entails controlling our emotions. This is caused by two natural brain chemicals called dopamine and serotonin.
It's difficult to use alcohol to relieve tension. These feel-good chemicals do initially flood the brain in a surge. We believe that the alcohol has improved our mood because of this fleeting feeling. However, the brain starts working right away to restore these neurotransmitter levels to baseline by employing a counterbalancing strategy. These chemical levels consequently fall below what they were before to our drinking. Heavy or problematic drinkers are not the only ones who go through this process; it can happen after just one alcohol exposure.
Take action by using long-lasting feel-good brain chemical enhancers. A few self-loving activities that might help you manage stress and increase your vitality include exercise, spending time in nature, meditation, laughing, spending time with loved ones, and receiving an aromatherapy massage.
3. Naturally Energizing Nutrients Are Depleted
The B vitamin group is one of the most important nutritional groups that our bodies require for energy and nervous system maintenance. It's interesting to note that they support normal levels of dopamine and serotonin, two feel-good brain chemicals.
Additionally, the B vitamins directly aid in the body's and brain's conversion of food into energy. The body does not store these water-soluble nutrients. Therefore, in order to continue to reap their benefits, we must regularly consume them.
However, alcohol prevents numerous nutrients, including B vitamins, from being absorbed and used.
Restore your B vitamin levels on a regular basis. Rich sources of these nutrients for stress management and natural energy boosts include salmon, brown rice, spinach, eggs, lean beef, oysters, clams, beans (black, kidney, and chickpeas), lentils, chicken, turkey, yogurt, and sunflower seeds.
4. Compounding Problems Exacerbate Stress
Have you ever paid a bill after the due date? Your payment was not delivered on time for whatever reason—unavailable cash, misplaced in the mail, etc. Did you try to put the notice in the garbage after learning about this to avoid worrying? Or did you take care of it right away to avoid possible fines, credit damage, and service interruption?
You probably acted immediately, despite how annoying it was at the time, if you're a financially responsible person. The same is true for handling stress. Ignoring our problems won't solve them and will often make them worse, even if it may seem like we're saving energy and improving our mood by diverting our attention from unpleasant situations.
Through is the only way out. This implies that we need to approach our challenges with emotional intelligence and maturity.
Action tip: Ask yourself, "What is one small action I can take right now to remediate this source of stress?" rather of going to the wet bar.
There are alternative ways to resolve the bill example, even if you don't have the funds to pay it immediately. You might set up an installment plan to pay in manageable chunks or give the biller a call and ask for an extension.
Whatever the problem, breaking it down into smaller parts and addressing each one separately can offer a great deal of relief and assist in figuring out the next steps to permanently resolve the stressor.
5. Heightened Stress Response
The "stress response dampening" impact of alcohol was already covered. That implies that drinking reduces stress, doesn't it?
Keep in mind that this relaxing effect is only momentary. Alcohol actually rewires our brains, rendering them unable to handle stress.
Our brains become neurologically incapable of experiencing pleasure from routine things we once enjoyed, such as seeing friends, reading a book, or even having sex, as a result of the artificial "feel good" stimulus that drinking provides. Additionally, each of these is a good strategy to manage stress on its own. These impacts do not only occur when we are drinking.
Our brains develop tolerance to alcohol over time, just like they do to any other drug. This explains why the one or two drinks that used to make you feel better ultimately stop doing so. It's typical to gradually need three, four, or more cocktails to provide the same calming impact over time. Realizing this increase in ourselves can make us even more anxious as we ask ourselves, "Do I have a drinking problem?" The fear of stigma and shame follows. This is just one additional way that drinking alcohol backfires, making us feel more anxious and depleted.
Takeaway: Evaluate your routines and be truthful with yourself. It could be time to adjust your drinking habits if you have anxiety or worry about it or if the effects aren't as pleasant as they used to be. Refrain from "labeling" oneself because this feeds negativity and frequently keeps people from asking for help and assistance. Making the decision to alter your relationship with alcohol does not need you to be an alcoholic.
Self Leadership Is the Solution
Avoiding our emotions is a common and acceptable cultural behavior, but it doesn't work to reduce stress and typically entails actions that make us feel even worse and less energetic. Unfeigned stress relief is possible when we intentionally and immediately confront our emotions. Life will always have its ups and downs, so we can never totally eradicate stress. However, with the information and resources mentioned above, we can take back control of our emotions and energies and live a happy, healthy life again.
Making a few small changes is all it takes to develop self-supporting habits.
Reference
| [1] | ^ | RAND Corporation: Changes in Adult Alcohol Use and Consequences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US |
| [2] | ^ | Wiley Online Library: Using Death Certificates to Explore Changes in Alcohol-Related Mortality in the United States, 1999 to 2017 |
| [3] | ^ | National Library of Medicine: Does Drinking Reduce Stress? |
| [4] | ^ | National Library of Medicine: Serotonin’s Role in Alcohol’s Effects on the Brain |
| [5] | ^ | PNAS: Brain-wide functional architecture remodeling by alcohol dependence and abstinence |
| [6] | ^ | National Library of Medicine: The Neurobiology of Substance Use, Misuse, and Addiction |
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