Practical suggestions for managing stress
Practical Suggestions for Managing Stress
Recognising Emotions
Helping children recognise their emotions is crucial for emotional regulation. Resources like emotion wheels or emotion trees serve as excellent visual aids to develop this skill.
Importantly, this work needs to take place during calm moments, not emotional storms. Regular practice helps children become familiar with their emotional landscape, enabling them to respond constructively when stress arises. This process fosters resilience—the ability to navigate life’s ups and downs more easily. Journaling about emotions is an effective way to train oneself to recognise them.
Developing strategies to manage emotions after gaining awareness can help cultivate emotional agility. Susan David, in her TED Talk, encourages us to recognise that recognising emotions will help us understand that they are not directives, but rather data to inform our response. Recognising emotions can help us reframe thoughts from “I am angry” to “I am noticing that I am getting angry.” That allows children to realise that they are not their emotions.
Reframing stress—Kelly McGonigal, in her TED Talk “How to Make Stress Your Friend,” encourages us to view stress in a different light. A fast heart rate prepares the body for action, and a rapid respiratory rate allows it to take in more oxygen. Reframing stress can help individuals better cope with it. Therefore, changing our relationship with stress is essential for managing our responses to various situations. This will require training and assistance from a psychologist, which would be beneficial.
Maintaining a healthy level of stress is crucial for staying motivated and achieving our goals. This type of stress, known as adaptive stress, supports our progress in life and careers. Healthy stress can foster resilience. For instance, learning to ride a bike may have been a struggle in the early days and at times stressful, but once learnt, it becomes a straightforward task.
Seek social connection—The body can modulate its chemicals in response to various challenges. It releases stress hormones due to stress but is also capable of releasing antistress hormones, such as oxytocin, to alleviate stress. Social connections facilitate the release of oxytocin and dopamine, helping counteract the effects of stress hormones. Oxytocin promotes relaxation, and studies have shown it also relaxes blood vessels, thereby reducing the cardiovascular side effects associated with stress. This shift can enhance stress resilience.
Ways of Communicating Stress: Stress scores are available for doctors to monitor the progress of stress. This will also help foster communication regarding the level of stress.
One effective way to communicate stress is by using the fist analogy to represent the thinking and reactive parts of the brain. This analogy helps convey the stress that occurs when emotions override the thinking brain. To demonstrate, make a fist with your thumb tucked inside the palm. The four fingers cover the tucked thumb, symbolising the cortex, or the thinking brain, while the thumb represents the reactive brain.
Encourage children to recognise when their “lid is open,” meaning they cannot think due to heightened emotions. A simple hand signal can indicate the need for quiet time. Training to understand and question emotions before acting is valuable for developing effective response mechanisms to stimuli.
Shift your brain state: Engage in calming activities to transition from a reactive brain to a thinking brain. Suggestions include exercises such as walking, practising mindfulness, singing, listening to music, or narrating a calming story.
Using strategies such as stop and breathe. Using this strategy throughout the day can make a huge difference.
Shift of thought process: Our brains are most affected by uncertainty. Unfortunately, the only sure thing in life is uncertainty. Therefore, shifting from “what if” to “what is” presents a powerful way to ground ourselves in the present moment, rather than worrying about future events that may or may not occur.
Explore the trigger: Once a child is calm again, gently investigate what led to the emotional reaction. Understanding the child’s perspective may assist in reframing the event and lessening future distress.
Mindfulness techniques—such as ‘sticky feet,’ a practice in Tai Chi —can be beneficial. The principle involves being present in the moment. Mindfulness helps train the brain and harness the power of neuroplasticity.
Conclusion
By understanding how stress affects the brain and body, we can support children with greater compassion and effectiveness, helping them become emotionally resilient and confident individuals.
Disclaimer: This blog is intended for general informational purposes only. Please follow the advice of your primary physician for all treatment decisions.
Suggested resources
“The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog” by Dr. Bruce Perry.
How to make stress your friend. TED Talk by Kelly McGonigal
https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend
https://youtu.be/RcGyVTAoXEU?si=ldhMWFJSwsMxPz0U
Aditi Nerurkar. Feeling stressed? The answer isn’t just to relax.
Susan David. The power and gift of emotional courage. TEDWomen 2017.
