How to Stop Mental Stress Now!

 

Frustrated?

Feel like a victim?

Lots of things bother you?

All these annoyances are reversible. A little knowledge of how and why this happens to you will go a long way toward helping you stop mental stress, clear the decks and feel free.

 

What you will learn in this article:

• How a negative thought can trigger the cycle of stress

• What determines how you respond to stress — this may surprise you!

• How to stop your mental stress quickly with a brief little exercise

What’s the Stress Cycle?

If you have been reading this blog from its very first post, you may remember there is a progression of stress phases that lead to physiological stress. This represents a sequence from negative thoughts and emotions to physiological stress. Ultimately, they manifest as physical symptoms. Most people are unaware of the effects on the body until this point. Graphic by Stress Buffer

This is how the cycle of stress is triggered by a negative thought:

1. A person experiences or thinks of something stressful. Negative thoughts and emotions combine at this phase.

2. The emotions trigger psychological stress. The person may begin experiencing signs of mental stress.

3.  If left unregulated, psychological stress triggers the physiological stress response. At this point, this person may experience physical symptoms, such as clammy hands and an elevated heart rate.

So, a negative thought or emotion can set off a pattern of distress. It is like the seed of a weed that takes root in the mind to cause mental stress. Then, if left unchecked, it grows progressively to take actual physical form as an

Now, should we just treat the physical symptoms and move on? Take an aspirin for the headache? Maybe.

Perhaps you can tolerate an occasional inconvenience and take an aspirin to carry you through a minor ordeal.

But Wait: We’re more concerned about chronic stress:

This is when you sustain the stress response over a prolonged period of time.

For example, you may experience regular migraines or develop some medical problem. (In an earlier post, we discussed the effects of stress on body health. You can check it out here: Stress and Your Body.)

What’s the Best Way to Stop Mental Stress?

In order to stop the mental stress, wouldn’t we best consider the causative agent – our thoughts?

Listen: Control the causative agent and you control the resultant symptoms.

In order to control your thoughts and free up that underlying mental stress, you need to know this:

Why do we think the way we do?

Question: Why are some people prone to endure the agony of mental stress, while others are able to stop mental stress in its tracks?

Many individuals get stressed-out over their reaction to stress. They rebuke themselves over the way they think, feel and act when common stressors arise. Result: Layer upon layer of stress, or compound stress! But why?

Answer:  Three interlocking factors determine your habitual responses to stressors:

Factor #1: Your DNA

Your parents’ genes are partly responsible for your tendencies and general temperament.

In addition to your upbringing, your parents have bestowed you with their chromosomes. This means you’ve inherited at least part of their personalities.

Do you think either or both of your parents are aggressive or hotheaded? Well, you might have the same inclinations. The disposition is implanted in your DNA.

If you feel you have this tendency, do not be down on yourself. And please do not lash out at your parents!

Be glad you are now aware of the probable cause. Your self-awareness will enable you to stop the negative mental distress cycle.

Factor #2: Your Childhood

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, analyzed people’s childhoods to get to the bottom of strange neuroses.

It turns out that Freud was spot on when he determined that early childhood experiences have a lot to do with how we fully develop and mature as adults.

Our individual responses to stressful situations develop from early conditioning: the way we learned to respond when we were young.

So, keep this in mind when you are raising your own children.

The tots and teens are absorbing not only the world at large but also your behavior and thought patterns! Once you’re self-aware, you can put the brakes on mental stress for yourself and the lifelong tendencies of your children.

Factor #3: Your Life Itself

Our DNA and early childhood experiences comprise part of the totality called the self. Your experiences as you grow older are also strong determinants of your behavior. They largely influence your response to stressful situations.

We can’t do anything about past experiences. However, we can do something about our beliefs and values at the present time.

Look at the positive qualities inside the letters of “present” above . . . and make them yours.

A major key to dissolving negative thinking:

Try not to allow negative experiences in your past dictate how you live in the present time.

Let go of the past and replace it with the promise of the present.

How can you control negative thought patterns?

Now that you are familiar with how the mind works and why it responds in particular ways to stressful situations, it’s time to focus on what you can do to control stressful thought patterns.

Thought patterns are powerful, but they are never more powerful than the person. A thought, no matter how destructive, does not have free will. It does not have a life of its own.

REMEMBER THIS: All negative thoughts are vulnerable and extinguishable!

Help Yourself with This Easy
Stop Mental Stress Now exercise

1. Find a quiet place to perform the  Stop Mental Stress Now exercise. Get a piece of paper and write down 5 of the most horrid thoughts you’ve been having for the past few months.

2. Below the first 5 items, write down 5 beautiful thoughts, memories or ideas that directly contrast with the first 5 items you wrote.

3. Focus your mind’s power on each of the undesirable thoughts and, as you do, give your mind a firm command to remove the thoughts. You can say, “Cancel Cancel” or “Delete Delete” or “Let go Let go.” 

4. Visualize a blank space where each of the undesirable thoughts had been. 

5. Begin replacing the blank space with pleasant thoughts.

6. Repeat the exercise until you are satisfied or until you find yourself smiling. Good —  practice it again tomorrow.

Let Your Sun Shine

You see, your mind is just as vulnerable to its customary negative thoughts as it is to your new more desirable thoughts. It’s really as simple as that. Don’t over-complicate it. You’re in better shape to deal with situations around when you are not suffering from the feeling of stress.

Pearl of Wisdom: Whenever you want to extinguish a bad habit, always replace it with another. If you don’t plant the seeds, it is likely the weeds will catch hold.

Where the weeds were growing, you are now planting gorgeous flowers. You are in control.

♦ → You possess the power of control. As you experience the preferred results, you will naturally form a new habit. Negative thinking is just a habit and it will fade away.

Practice this little Stop Mental Stress Now exercise every day. Get into it and enjoy it. You will feel the difference!

You can also clear restrictive negative thinking with

my FREE E-Guide

Don’t miss out on this:

10 Stress Habits and Alternatives!

Click here

 

 

Now the Takeaway:

A major component of mental stress is negative thinking. This can be either an inherited or acquired tendency. You possess the ability to control and replace this tendency with a more rewarding experience. Be good to yourself: indulge yourself with the Stop Mental Stress Now exercise and enjoy the results!

Would you like to …

Talk about a transformation — major or minor?

How about right here!

We would love to celebrate it with you.

Just jot it down below in the Comment box.