Stress: Can’t I Just Ignore You? (Why Stress May Not Be The Best Thing to Suppress) By Nina Hemphill

Stress - a word we all know well. Also a word almost all of us dread. There’s different kinds of stress; the kind that makes us feel a bit sparkly with excitement and happiness when something good happens (also known as eustress), and the kind that makes us want to crawl in bed and nap for the next millenia (more commonly known as distress). 

There are so many ways in which we handle our not so great stress. Sometimes we may exercise to get all of the tension out, or, we may read a good book. There are times, though, when we may try to ignore our stress, and pretend it’s not there. I’ve struggled a lot with suppressing my stress because sometimes it may seem easier to just ignore it to get everything done and deal with it later. What I’ve been finding, however, is although we may think we’re doing a good job at ignoring our stress, that stress may be coming out in other ways - ways we may not expect them too. 

For me, when I’ve been suppressing my stress for way too long, I noticed that one of my eyes will twitch. It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get, if I’ve been stressed out and have been ignoring myself and my needs - annoying and obvious eye twitch ensues. 

Ignoring our stress can also come out in how we react to others. Maybe the amount of frustration we had with someone doesn’t quite match the situation? Or, maybe we start crying for seemingly no reason at all. Or, maybe we aren’t sleeping enough or sleeping more than usual. Stress, when ignored, can appear in our lives whether we want it or not. There are ways to navigate stress, and feel empowered to tackle whatever obstacles come your way, but first we need to be able to take a pause and notice when we are stressed. 

What does stress look like for you? How can you tell when you are stressed? Does it show up physically, emotionally, or mentally? These are just a few important questions to ask yourself when planning out how to handle stress. 

Remember, it is totally okay to not have it all figured out in managing stress or in life. It’s the small, mindfulness things that we can do each day that can help us feel better!