Stress and anxiety: Impact and ways to cope

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Stress and anxiety is something everyone deals with at one point or another. When it’s happening it can be overwhelming. Figuring out how to deal with it is hard especially when it feels like one is in the middle of a crisis. Shawn Mendes and Gisele Bündchen are two celebrities who have talked about their mental heath. Following are ways to cope and the impact of stress and anxiety.

A celebrities experience

Mendes has a song that came out in 2018 called “In My Blood” which is about anxiety. Some of the lyrics include the following:

“Laying on the bathroom floor, feeling nothing / I’m overwhelmed and insecure, give me something / I could take to ease my mind slowly”

“Someone help me / I’m crawling in my skin / Sometimes I feel like giving up / But I just can’t / It isn’t in my blood”

“I’m looking through my phone again, feeling anxious / Afraid to be alone again, I hate this / I’m trying to find a way to chill, can’t breathe, oh”

These lyrics show how hard and overwhelming it is when one is experiencing anxiety. Moreover, according to BBC, Mendes canceled his Wonder tour in 2022 due to his mental health. On Instagram on July 27, 2022 he told fans in a post that after postponing some parts of his tour he had to cancel it. This is part of what his post said:

“After speaking more with my team and working with an incredible group of health professionals, it has become more clear that I need to take the time I’ve never taken personally, to ground myself and come back stronger … We were hopeful that I might be able to pick up with the rest of the dates after some much needed time off, but at this time I have to put my health as my first priority,” Mendes said.

In another post Mendes made on Instagram on Jan. 2, 2024, he talked about singing in his caption and he also stated the following:

“The biggest lesson for me this year has been to accept and welcome the lows of life… not to constantly need to change or fix something in order to feel high again, because i know if i really slow down and listen when i’m low there’s always something to hear,” Mendes said.

Furthermore, Bündchen has a cookbook called “Nourish,” and in her book she talks about her experience with mental health as well as in an interview she had on the talk show “The View.” She discussed what her habits were like: she worked a lot, she wasn’t getting enough sleep, she was not eating right, she consumed caffeine and alcohol and she also smoked. Bündchen had severe anxiety, depression and panic attacks by age 22. During a panic attack one day, she considered suicide.

Impact on physical health

Tami Kadera, a NCC lecturer in health science, talks about the physical and psychological impact of stress and ways to cope via an email interview.

She states that some stress and anxiety is good because that can be a source of motivation. It turns into an issue when it’s chronic and isn’t controlled. According to American Psychological Association, stress can have an impact on a persons entire body, from the respiratory system to the reproductive system. For example, regarding the musculoskeletal system, ones muscles get tense when one is dealing with stress. When ones muscles are tense continuously ones body can have additional responses.

“Prolonged periods of stress and anxiety can cause headaches, sleep problems, a weakened immune system and cardiovascular issues (high blood pressure and heart rate). Long term stress and anxiety can even cause heart disease and result in heart attacks or strokes,” Kadera said.

Impact on psychological health

Kadera says if stress and anxiety isn’t managed, one can become depressed or even turn to substances to alleviate what they’re feeling. According to GoodRx, if someone has stress in their life then they have a higher chance of having an addiction. Ones chance increases when they experience constant stress or as a young child they experienced stress.

Prolonged or chronic stress and anxiety can have detrimental effects on one’s psychological or mental health. If someone doesn’t learn how to cope with the stress and anxiety in their life, it can result in an anxiety disorder or depression. Someone also may resort to substance abuse for relief of their symptoms,” Kadera said.

How to cope

Kadera talks about how people can manage their stress and anxiety by implementing self-care. According to Calm, there are a variety of ways one can implement self care. Some examples include: reading, journaling and taking a break from your devices.

“Self-care includes getting a good night’s sleep, regular exercise, a balanced diet … ,” Kadera said.

Further, she says one can do activities that they like that won’t have a negative impact on oneself. According to Mayo Clinic, if one is consuming things in excess such as alcohol, caffeine or food this can have a negative impact on their health and it won’t help ones stress.

Additionally, one can meditate and can also do breathing techniques. She also discusses that one should try to figure out where the stress and anxiety is coming from. If one can figure out what is creating their stress and anxiety, that can help determine if something in their life needs an adjustment.

Hopefully, one can start implementing these tips even before feeling anxious or stressed. If someone hasn’t done any of these things before, now is the time to start. Knowing that other people, including celebrities, have gone through something similar can help people feel less alone. Mendes and Bündchen are two celebrities of many who have talked about their mental health. Maybe reading “Nourish” can give someone additional ideas on how to change their diet. It also gives one the chance to hear Bündchen’s story and listening to Mendes’ song can make one feel like the aren’t alone.

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