Stress can cause mental health issues if allowed to go untreated. You might become depressed or anxious. Plus, you can find it difficult to concentrate. If you do not find ways to de-stress it can lead to burnout.

Living with someone who has experienced burnout can be very hard. They can become resentful and cynical. The person you thought you knew so well suddenly changes, both their moods and behaviour can become challenging. It does impact family life, unfortunately I know first-hand.

Nowadays I keep a watchful eye for stress building and incorporate easy ways for us to destress as a family. If someone suddenly stops being interested in things they would normally enjoy, they are experiencing racing thoughts or becoming irritable or overwhelmed they might be feeling stressed.   You might have physical symptoms for stress like a stomach ache or head ache.

Below are some ideas you might want to try so you can get things back in check before they impact family or work life. You might be tempted to eat the wrong food or drink alcohol as they temporarily make you feel better, bu t they won’t help in the long run.

Exercise

When you exercise you produce endorphins which help you feel good! Plus exercising also helps reduce the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. It doesn’t really matter what you do either which is great! You don’t have to join a gym, you can walk, ride a bike or go for a swim!

Have A Steam Shower

Steam showers are great for helping you unwind and boost your mood. Steam also helps with improve with blood circulation and eases aching muscles, so you start to feel better physically. When you are in pain and uncomfortable its easy to feel more stressed.

Learn To Say No

It’s hard we are programmed biologically to be people pleasers so we are accepted and not kicked out of the “tribe”. But you can say no, if the stress is mounting up, look at your workload or commitments and see what you can reduce either by delegating or just accepting you cannot do everything.

Write A Journal

Putting words in your journal can help you deal with emotions. It can be a way to explore your feelings and release pent up tension. Writing it down helps get it off your chest. It can be very effective at helping you go back to sleep if something is playing on your mind. You can write it down and then go back to sleep with a more restful mind.

You need to make sure you don’t just write negatively in your journal. Also make sure you have plans and ideas to counter those difficult feelings you are experiencing. Otherwise, journalling will not be a useful method to de-stress.

Start A Hobby

It can help distract you from your negative thoughts starting a new hobby. They can also be a good way to also connect with other people, so you start to have a stronger support network around you. Keeping focused on learning something new is a mental distraction you might well need at the moment.

Speak To A Counsellor

If you are finding it hard to talk to your family about how you are feeling it can help to speak to a counsellor. If you are experiencing burnout, you can put a negative spin on most things but talking to a person who is more objective can lead to a breakthrough. You can speak to them without fearing judgement and criticism, they will just give you methods to deal with what you are experiencing.