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Tuesday's Health Report: How stress affects your health, how to handle that stress
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BATON ROUGE — Stress can have an impact on both your physical and mental well-being. A clinical psychologist says stress management education is essential.
"We have to remember that stress, while it's inevitable, is not something that we can't control. We have effective coping tools to manage stress, and we have to remind ourselves of that,” clinical psychologist Adam Borland said.
Borland says it's important to get a good night's sleep and then focus on prioritizing healthy lifestyle choices throughout the day.
Exercises in breathing and guided meditation can be useful in managing any unavoidable stress. These strategies let us concentrate on the now instead of worrying about the past or the future.
Another successful way to manage stress is by journaling and using positive affirmations. It can help divert your attention from the negative.
"Positive affirmations are really important because, frankly, we're very good at speaking, kind of, unkindly to ourselves. And it's important that we recognize our accomplishments, we recognize the hard work that we're putting forth, even if we're not perfect,” Borland said.
Staying social and tapping into your support system, when needed, can also improve your overall mood. If stress begins to interfere with your day-to-day activities, you may want to see a mental health professional.
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