The family under pressure

 

There are many things that put stress of families including work, social life, finances and children. As a young couple my husband and I have already had many financial difficulties, and social stressors and work problems. But it is comforting knowing that most all young couples have these new experiences when they first get married. As we continue to grow and mature, we are exposed to new kinds of challenges like graduating college, having children, and trying to settle down. I cannot begin to name all the things that cause stress in our family lives. That’s why it is such a good idea to have things that help you unwind and relax. In class we talked about the human response to stressful situations and that is the fight or flight response. The example my teacher shared with us was that one day you went hiking in the woods with your friends and a bear pops out and starts acting defensive, what happens to your body? Maybe your breathing speeds up, your eyes get wide and then a different response kicks in instead of run or fight and that response is freeze. You freeze where you are, your thoughts are racing and then the bear calms down and walks away. You are stuttering to get your words out and you probably wouldn’t feel safe again until you were out of the woods and in your car again. Another result of stress is anxiety and depression. This is also why we need to take care of ourselves. Anxiety is stress that comes when it shouldn’t and or stays for a long time. My teacher said everyone has a level of anxiety and this is ok. It is when the anxiety becomes overwhelming and constant that it does damage. Its similar with depression. Everybody had their ups and downs but by definition depression is a constant feeling of sadness and loss of interest which stops you from doing your normal activities. As some one who has both anxiety and depression, I can confirm that I experience a lot more stress than is needed. This is unnecessary stress that impacts my daily life, like when I am in the car with my husband.  I sometimes cannot be in the car for 15 minuets without feeling my anxiety kick in because of a pothole in the street or a car that’s merging beside us. This all leads back to the stress we feel at home. Now, like I said earlier, Stress is a natural feeling that we get and anxiety is too, to a certain level is normal. One of the things I listed that can cause stress are children. I can imagine that it is stressful being a parent and have to divide time between you, your children and your spouse. And if that child has a sort of disability it becomes even more difficult to balance time and attention and plus there is the worry that we have to add in. When life feels like you are drowning in it, its time to take a step back and see what you need. That could be a visit to the therapist, a vacation, a hot bath or a nap, but through all this chaos that is life it is important to remember to take care of ourselves first because if we are not in a good place how do you expect to help others. I guess the moral of this is that stress is going to be present all through out our lives, we need to grow a healthy relationship with it.