Psychology Today is the world’s largest mental health and behavioral science destination online.
It is the original and largest publishing enterprise that is exclusively dedicated to human behavior. Its motto is “Here to Help,” and the resources you will access are the worldwide destination of choice for expert*-authored information about psychology and mental health.
That’s why I’m offering you a selection of 10 best Psychology Today articles on stress management, along with my favorite quotes.
1. “The Three Types of Stress”
Understanding stress can help you know more quickly when you need help. Stress is our built-in response to danger, a surge in hormones as we choose between fighting, fleeing, or freezing. The danger may be real or imagined, immediate or farther away; our bodies don’t know the difference. According to the American Psychological Association, the three types of stress — acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress — can all make us feel out of sorts or even ill, but chronic stress is often ignored.
Click here to read the article “The Three Types of Stress.”
2. “How Stress Changes Your Brain”
People are constantly exposed to stressful situations. These may be physical, like participating in marathons or developing an illness. But stress can also be mental, wherein we become anxious and worried over certain events, existing or anticipated.
Whether physical or mental, stress activates a brain network involving most directly the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal cortex to release stress hormones. Such hormones include several cortisone-like compounds called glucocorticoids, and the most prominent one in humans is cortisol.
Glucocorticoids have profound effects on both the body and brain. Regulation of glucocorticoids is accomplished by the brain, and learning experiences have profound effects on this control system.
Click here to read the article “How Stress Changes Your Brain.”
3. “18 Signs That Stress May Be Getting to You”
Chronic, unmanaged stress leads to all kinds of problems, like depression, anxiety, exhaustion, physical illness, and burnout. The first step in managing our stress is to recognize it. It can be surprisingly hard to see how chronic stress is affecting us, partly due to all the different ways it can show up.
When we’re highly stressed, the adrenal glands release stress hormones into the bloodstream that travel throughout the body, affecting every part of our being—mind, body, behavior, and emotions.
Click here to read the article “18 Signs That Stress May Be Getting to You.”
4. “Where Do You Store Stress in Your Body? Top 10 Secret Areas”
“My co-worker gives me a headache.”
“My ex-boyfriend makes me sick to my stomach.”
Often we attempt to push unwanted feelings—such as irritation, fear, and sadness—out of our awareness. We associate such feelings with hopelessness or powerlessness. So, to blot them, we forcefully engage in denial or repression.
We drive them out of our consciousness and deny our emotions. Instead of acknowledging, processing, and releasing these unwanted feelings, we bottle them up in our bodies.
Click here to read the article “Where Do You Store Stress in Your Body? Top 10 Secret Areas.”
5. “7 Helpful Ways to Manage Overwhelming Stress”
Many of us are feeling overwhelmed by stress these days, whether related to the pandemic, our finances, war and suffering around the world, or the day-to-day demands of being alive.
Whatever the source, we lean heavily on three research-based ways to manage stress. They come from mindful cognitive behavioral therapy (MCBT), and we summarize the three components as “Think Act Be.”
Think, the cognitive part of MCBT, helps us challenge the thoughts that drive stress. With the Act component, the “behavioral” in MCBT, we lower stress by doing (or not doing) certain activities. And through Be, the mindfulness part of mindful CBT, we practice being in the moment and letting go of resistance to our circumstances.
Here are seven techniques that I often share with my patients to help with managing stress, and that I rely on myself (adapted from The CBT Flip Chart).
Click here to read the article “7 Helpful Ways to Manage Overwhelming Stress.”
6. “What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?”
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that develops in response to experiencing or witnessing a distressing event involving the threat of death or extreme bodily harm.
Examples of traumatic events that can trigger PTSD include sexual assault, physical violence, and military combat. PTSD can also occur in the wake of a motor vehicle accident, a natural disaster (e.g., fire, earthquake, flood), a medical emergency (e.g., having an anaphylactic reaction), or any sudden, disruptive incident.
Click here to read the article “What Is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?.”
7. “Can Good Things Cause Stress?”
People sometimes wonder if good things can cause stress. The answer is: of course! Think of the excitement of watching your favorite sports team compete, the thrill of a new promotion, or even the delight of a new hobby or relationship.
Stress has come to be associated with such negative experiences that people are often surprised to learn that it can be positive too, both being caused by good things and good for you.
Click here to read the article “Can Good Things Cause Stress?.”
8. “6 Proven Ways to Recover From Stress”
Stress, whether large and small, is a fact of life. At one point or another, we may face financial stress, the stresses of aging (our own or our parents’), loneliness, health concerns, or worries about getting into college or finding a job afterwards.
You may have too much to do in too little time or face stressful conflicts in your personal relationships or parenting role. You may have gone through a breakup or lost somebody close to you. On a daily basis, you may face traffic, a messy house, long hours at work or childcare, or witness terrorism on the news.
Whatever your stress, you need coping tools. The following are six proven ways to reduce stress or recover more quickly.
Click here to read the article “6 Proven Ways to Recover From Stress.”
9. “Seven Steps to Reduce Your Stress at Work”
Our experience of stress at work is directly related to our belief about our skills. For example, if you have to write a five-page report and think that you won’t have enough time and lack the skills, you will likely experience some stress.
The stressor is the requirement to write the report and the stress is your resulting frustration and anxiety. But if you actually have the skills and believe you can do it, then you’ll have less stress. There are many ways that you can think about coping with stress or increasing demands at work.
No one can provide an exhaustive list. But in this post, we’ll describe seven things that can affect how much stress you experience and how you can cope more effectively with the demands that you face at work.
Click here to read the article “Seven Steps to Reduce Your Stress at Work.”
10. “7 Ways Mentally Strong People Deal With Stress”
While stress causes some people to crumble, mentally strong people are able to thrive despite added tension. In fact, they view adversity as an opportunity for growth.
Whether they’re dealing with financial setbacks, health problems, or workplace difficulties, mentally strong people don’t let stress drag them down.
Here are seven ways mentally strong people handle stress effectively.
Click here to read the article “7 Ways Mentally Strong People Deal With Stress.”
Complement with Mindfulness for Stress Management: 50 Ways to Improve Your Mood and Cultivate Calmness and then revisit 10 best Psychology Today articles on mindfulness and 10 best Psychology Today articles on meditation.
I’m a freelance writer and mindfulness advocate behind this blog. What you see here is the combination of my three favorite things: reading, writing, and mindfulness. While you’re here, subscribe to my blog updates and gain access to free mindfulness resources for stress relief.
