In the initial stages after a traumatic experience it is often most helpful to use the SEES rule to help the initial acute stress response begin to lower (see ‘Recovering from Distress’ section).
After a few days, once the initial intense reactions begin to ease, you can begin to expand what you do, building on your initial recovery so far. These follow and expand on the SEES principle – but by now you will likely have more ‘head space’ and energy to take some larger steps forward. Below are some key areas to consider:
Diet
Stress hormones cause us to use more energy, which means we also feel fatigued more easily. A combination of these two means it is very common for people to reach out for high fat, high sugar foods along with stimulants such as caffeine. Because our digestion is also impacted it can be difficult to eat a normal meal. Poor nutrition can impact our concentration, our performance and reduce our stress tolerance – so it is an important aspect to manage in recovery. Key things to consider here are:
Eating perhaps a smaller quantity of food but on a more regular basis
Aiming for nutritionally balanced food over a day (think of eating a rainbow …. just not the sweeties Skittles!)
Monitoring and managing the amount of stimulants we have, such as caffeine, nicotine etc.
Managing the volume of alcohol we consume
Exercise
Exercise is great when it comes to managing stress. It lowers blood pressure, increases blood flow through the body, improves sleep, lowers weight and improves cholesterol. And as long as exercise is not overly intense it also lowers stress hormone as well. When deciding to exercise:
Enjoy what you do – and be active!
Start slowly and build up
Aim to progress to 30mins a day every day, and know that walking a mile a day has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease
Rest properly – and do not overstrain yourself
Follow your doctors advice always, when it comes to exercise.
Relaxation
Relaxation in this context is to deliberately and purposefully calm the mind and body. It can be done whilst sitting or resting, or it can be done whilst moving. The aim is to help the nervous system balance itself out, lowering stress hormone and boosting happy hormones.
The Wellbeing Hub > Skills area has a host of different techniques for you to try out. A sample mindfulness track is below for you to try out here:
Mindful Pause
Creating a few minutes to pause, breathe and ask yourself what is needed in this moment
Mindset
Know that stress is manageable – you are able to control it. There are certain choices you can make that can help to manage your thoughts, and your stress levels:
Humour – laughter and seeing the humour in things is a superb way to keep well.
Pause – think first, before you act. Responding rather than reacting completely changes the experience of the moment.
Know when to walk away – avoid getting embroiled in petty issues. Decide which battles are worth fighting – those that are important enough to distress you, and move away from the rest.
Acknowledge emotions – emotional reactions are part of being human, no one can avoid them. Acknowledging the emotional reaction you are having to yourself is the important first step to be able to manage them. Practicing this helps you learn to control them not them control you.
Realistic optimism – remind yourself any situation involves multiple factors, of which you are only one. Look for what, in a situation, can be changed and seek out specific ways where you can influence that change.
Moral compass – stay true to your own values and beliefs. Follow your conscience.
You are enough – always remember that.
Spirituality
Spirituality or personal beliefs can be highly effective in managing stress. In this way people discover what gives life meaning and a sense of purpose. Three key factors to consider:
Moral compass – what are your values and beliefs?
Meaning and purpose – what gives your life meaning? What to you hold dear in your life? Where do you feel a sense of purpose? This might be through family, your contribution at work, support to your community or causes you care about, for example.
Bigger picture – do you consider the ‘bigger picture’ – life beyond yourself? That might be family, community, faith – what is it you consider most?
Work-life balance
It can be difficult to balance the demands from and expectations of what a healthy work life and personal life should look like. Only you can know how healthy your current balance feels. Consider the following, and if the balance seems off to you, then find small manageable ways to create a shift:
When at home – how ‘present’ and focused on personal life am I?
When at work – how ‘present’ and focused on work am I?
Do I have realistic expectation for what I can achieve in the next few months – at home and at work?
Do I connect with good friends enough?
Do I have friends outside of work, who support me?
Do I feel I balance my time well between my work and personal commitments?
Do I have ‘personal down time’, and spend time doing something I enjoy just for me?
Self-disclosure
Talking it out is a highly effective way of decompressing from the physical and emotional tension created by stress. However, it is important to consider who you talk to. Waiting until the internal pressure builds up and feels too much, and then venting to whoever may be available can lead to feelings of regret later on. Instead, expect to need to talk or vent and plan ahead for who that could be. Things to consider:
Expect to talk to some degree in order to stay healthy
Talk to a trusted person – that could be a friend, family member, Chaplin, doctor or other professional
With family, share your reactions and concerns
Avoid describing gory detail to friends and family – that is best shared with someone who has training to support you with that type of intense detail
Know that venting safely -in a way that does not harm others – is healthy and normal
False choices!
When recovering after an acute stress experience it is easy to reach out for common short-term ‘quick wins’ that seem to have an immediate helpful impact yet they actually delay recovery and prolong the discomfort:
Excessive use of alcohol
Recreational drugs
Denying any experience of pain or difficulty
Avoiding anything that may cause upset or distress, hoping one day it will ‘just be gone’
Playing mind games and seeing threat everywhere
Acting in an aggressive or arrogant way to disguise how you feel
Becoming so fearful of making a mistake that paralysis takes over and you withdraw
Becoming so on-edge and reactive that you make rash decisions.
