Is Stress Tanking Your Relationship?

As the research continues to grow, we are realizing how much impact stress can have on our lives. Stress not only affects our minds and emotions, but it also affects us physically. Headaches, muscle aches, digestive problems, and more have been shown to have high correlations with stress levels.

A Stressful Time to Live

We also have more to stress over than we have at any other point in history. The other day I overheard a couple of kids in my local coffee shop stressing out about their “brand” because of something that happened to them on social media. I am not even sure I know what they were talking about (haha), but I know that is not something kids have always stressed over. With stress being so pervasive, it leaves us asking questions about what we can do to relieve stress. The first step is to look parts of our lives and assess how much stress is affecting these areas. This very short article from PsychCentral is one example of how we can evaluate different areas of our life for indicators of too much stress. This article lays out different signs of stress in relationships. Our interactions with other people are significant places we see stress pop up in our lives. How many of you have yelled at a spouse after a bad day of work?

Stress Out of Control

Unchecked stress will lead us to find outlets in inappropriate places. If we hurt the people around us we care about because of stress we are not equipped to manage this only breeds more stress in our lives. Before you know it, you could be stuck in a cycle of stressful behaviors that seem impossible to escape. It would be wiser for us to take some time and identify stressors in our lives and make a plan to begin removing some of these stressors before we mismanage the stress we are experiencing. Our relationships could depend on it!

So, how do you identify and relieve stress in your life?

Kyle Purcell is a counselor based in the Conway, Arkansas area, specializing in helping those who struggle with shame and other kinds of relational issues.

(501) 358-7607 Ext 104
kyle@riversidecounseling.com