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Coping With Stress

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BECOME A BETTER

HUSBAND, DAD, AND LEADER.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body. 

Stress. How Are You Coping with It? Is it Killing You?

Life and stress–go hand in hand. There is no getting around it; you and I will experience lots of stress in our lives. I believe that the degree to which you effectively manage and cope with the stress in your life will, to a considerable extent, determine the degree to which you are healthy. When you turn to unhealthy behaviors to cope with the stress, your physical and emotional health will suffer. As well, your body’s immediate reaction to stress can cause physical symptoms. 

When you are unhealthy or engaged in unhealthy habits, it prevented you from being your best! 

There are many things and circumstances that can be stressors for a person. Inconveniences such as weather, traffic, and unexpected emergencies are a category of stressors. Chronic issues like relationship conflicts, job insecurity, financial strain or uncertainty, work problems, and long-term health issues can all be stressful. Things like a death of a loved one, a job change, a divorce, and a relocation to a new town can all be unsettling. 

Early life trauma, and its associated memory, can be a unique source of stress for a person. Medical research shows that negative experiences from decades past can be underlying issues that impact a person’s health-related behaviors in the present. Recurrent emotional, sexual, or physical abuse, an alcoholic parent, and a single-parent home are examples of childhood trauma that might cause health problems in adulthood. (Read more about the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study) 

The Impact of Poorly Managed Stress on Physical Health

Stressors like those previously mentioned and other challenging life circumstances can affect our behaviors. For example, many men turn to food to cope with stress. Others turn to the use of drugs, alcohol, or pornography. Still, others light up a cigarette. Some burn the midnight oil surfing the Internet and pay for it the next day because they have a night of inadequate sleep. There are innumerable unhealthy ways in which a person might attempt to cope with the various stressors in their life. 

Poorly managed stress, especially chronic stress, can also adversely affect your physical health.  

If you recognize that your life is spiraling out of control because of excessive or chronic stress, you may benefit from seeking and receiving help from a professional. 

Seeking Help and Faith as Resources for Coping

Your faith can also be a resource, an anchor, which keeps you steady in times of stress. If embraced and practiced, many biblical principles can be a cornerstone for your life and enable you to live a life that is less affected by stressful circumstances. Read more about stress and health from a faith perspective at this link on my website–Stress, Health, and Faith. 

Stress can even kill you if you don’t manage or cope with it adequately. For example, many fatal heart attacks stem from a stressful event or series of stressful events. 

Uncommen men make a regular habit of taking time to reflect on their life and evaluate how they’re managing their stress. And they also practice habits to cope with their stressors effectively. Because when they do a good job managing their stressors, they create an environment within themselves to be healthier. 

 

Uncommen Questions

  • How do you cope with your stress?  
  • Is it a healthy or unhealthy way?  
  • Could poorly managed chronic stress be taking a toll on your mental, emotional, or physical health? 

Uncommen Challenge

I challenge us all to address our stress management better. When Uncommen men are healthier, they’re better able to do what God put them on earth to do.

5 Comments

  1. Eli

    Simple but very good read.
    I am the living proof that stress that it’s being let to spiral out of control can damage your health very very badly.
    Guys, look for help…it’s no shame to admit that we don’t have everything together, nobody has! We need to be transparent, open, honest and to support each other in life.

    Reply
    • Woodbridge, VA

      I am on a hamster wheel in my number 1 stress. Financial Maturity. I tithe, I pray, I daily read my word. I believe in and pray about the Holy Spirit who is my comforter and I know I have a Guardian Angel. I still feel inadequate and not being a good steward.

      This article is very good at outlining the traps the pitfalls. Now I need to find a cure a treatment. I want off the hamster wheel. I think that is where men in whatever situation they are in need to find help. Most self help cost $$$$.

      I am just talking out loud here right now this morning. I have asked the Lord to strengthen my faith cause what I have is NOT enough to get my family where I need to be.

      Thanks I appreciate this reading. May it bless not just me but all who read it as well.

      God Bless.

      Reply
  2. Joseph Carter

    Amen. This came at a perfect time for me. I’ve been dealing with some of the issues mentioned and it has taken a toll on my health physically and mentally. The challenge to manage stress better is something I need to give more thought to.

    Reply
  3. Michael Ahmadi

    Ever since the pandemic my stressors have manifested in less patience and increased anger. I am finally taking a class tomorrow to begin finding coping strategies and healthier ways to deal with its. Please pray for me brothers.

    Reply

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