Manage Stress with Susie Elelman

The Oxford Dictionary defines stress as; A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. 

For years many believed and some still do that there is no such thing as Stress. In fact, back when I was a regular on TV’s Beauty & the Beast, my fellow panellists and I would often debate long and hard with ‘Beast’ Stan Zemanek about it.

Stan stubbornly refused to believe that Stress actually existed. I’ve lamented this with his divine wife Marcella on more than one occasion since Stan passed away in 2007 and will always wonder if he had recognised and managed his Stress, whether he would have developed a brain tumour in the first place.

I certainly agree with some of Stan’s arguments; Stress is not tangible and the symptoms could easily be attributed to any number of other conditions or ailments.

While you might not be able to physically touch Stress, there is no doubt in my mind that it has an enormous adverse effect on our health and well-being.

To be on the safe side, be sure to seek medical advice to ensure there is nothing underlying health wise that could be contributing to your Stress and please don’t ever be embarrassed to talk with your health professional about how you’re feeling both mentally and physically as they go ‘hand in glove’.

What’s most stressful is that more often than not you have no control over what or who is creating and fuelling your Stress.  Therefore, unless you learn to manage it, it’s going to manage you.

Here is My Top 6 Tips to Managing Stress;

• Identify the Stress; if you know what and/or who is causing your Stress, then you can start to make changes to eliminate, alleviate or help minimise the effects.
• Get Organised; if you’re so busy that it’s overwhelming just thinking about where to start, or you feel like you’re working very hard but not getting anywhere, then I suggest you begin each day with a work list. Write down everything you need to do, in no particular order, just get it out of your head. When it’s on paper in front of you it’s much easier to prioritise the tasks and add new ones and very rewarding to see what you’ve achieved as you mark each one you finish off the list.

• Get a good night’s sleep – our body repairs itself in so many ways as we sleep and if you spend your waking hours in a state of high anxiety and then toss and turn all night, it’s easy to understand what damage that’s doing to our mental and physical state. Too many years of midnight to dawn talkback radio on 2GB & the Macquarie Radio Network have given me an even greater appreciation for sleep and 1^st hand experience of the enormous impact sleep deprivation has on your mind and body.
• Orgasm – the best stress-reliever ever, no matter whether it’s with a partner or self-induced. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
• Massage – A good deep tissue massage to release the knots and tension in your muscles is also a great way to relax and relieve Stress.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff…because it’s all small stuff! I try my hardest not to let a problem, issue or negative people take up too much rent-free space in my head…but that’s not always easy!

We too often take our good health for granted until we get sick. Ask yourself this question;

If you don’t look after your body, where will you live?

I’ll leave you with the Serenity Prayer in the hope it helps put things into perspective. I trust my tips bring you some peace and calm in this stress-filled world.

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can

And the wisdom to know the difference

Susie Elelman AM

TV & Radio Broadcaster

Ambassador – Australian Menopause Centre