So, how do YOU handle stress?

[desertgrandma]

I like!!! Very happy, springy, happy!

[mtravellerh]

I handle stress very poorly. Tend to close down like an oyster. Get all defensive. Don't want to communicate anymore.

I have tried to change that. To no avail.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

I can't take prescription sleeping tablets either - they make me sleep, but I really don't feel like I'm rested the for a few days afterwards.

Valerian tablets do help me sleep, but I have to have a reasonably calm brain for them to work - if it's racing, nothing helps. On the plus side, if I'm up most of the night with a racing brain I don't suffer as much the following day than if I stay up late just because...

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

I can't take prescription sleeping tablets either - they make me sleep, but I really don't feel like I'm rested the for a few days afterwards.

Valerian tablets do help me sleep, but I have to have a reasonably calm brain for them to work - if it's racing, nothing helps. On the plus side, if I'm up most of the night with a racing brain I don't suffer as much the following day than if I stay up late just because...

I thought the valerian pills stank too much for me, so I switched to this valerian root tea with chamomile (no stinky). I found it worked even better than the pills.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I thought the valerian pills stank too much for me, so I switched to this valerian root tea with chamomile (no stinky). I found it worked even better than the pills.

The smell is a problem! When we had cats, they used to love the smell though and would try and shove their faces through whichever hand I had held the tablets in!

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

The smell is a problem! When we had cats, they used to love the smell though and would try and shove their faces through whichever hand I had held the tablets in!

Man cats are weird.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

I handle stress very poorly. Tend to close down like an oyster. Get all defensive. Don't want to communicate anymore.

I have tried to change that. To no avail.

Laugh a little, guy. Go on, stick your nose in those flowers, breathe deep all those colors, and chuckle. NOW!!

[Wetdogeared]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

I awake about 2 a.m. and lie there desperately trying to get back to sleep for several hours as the anxieties over tasks not accomplished and things done poorly and failures yet to come have their way with me. And then I get up at 5 or 6 and go to work and try not to think about it until the next night. Works for me.

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

You too?? I go over and over conversations and things done during the day I could have done/said better.

Almost always, when I wake up, things look better.

Almost always, when I wake up, things look the same. (someone bring the colour back)

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

Staying alone for a while, reading or killing people (on the computer ), has always been a good way for me to calm down.

hm, often when i am stressed i wish i could kill some (specific) people, but i'd rather skip the intermediary of the computer.

when i'm stressed i have the urge to smoke, which i am trying to control since i stopped smoking. if i'm just a little stressed i read something very lightweight and not too gloomy, like agatha christie. or maybe watch something funny on television, like monty python. sometimes music can help too. sometimes going out for a drink and a bit of complaining to a friend. but when i'm really really stressed, not much at all helps, and i just have to grit my teeth and hope it passes quickly.

[desertgrandma]

Here ya go! Enlarge if necessary............

[Over]

Stress? What stress? I just don't worry too much about things. It doesn't accomplish anything and just adds weight to your back. Above all, I don't try to change what or whom I can't control.

[Wetdogeared]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Here ya go! Enlarge if necessary............

Thanks grandma, I needed a little colour today.

[desertgrandma]

Hows this?? Definitely needs enlargement..........

[Wetdogeared]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Hows this?? Definitely needs enlargement..........

Even more colourful, although it reminds me of all the threads my mind weaves at 2 am. Your first choice, more pastel, is the one I needed. Thanks again.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

Even more colourful, although it reminds me of all the threads my mind weaves at 2 am. Your first choice, more pastel, is the one I needed. Thanks again.

Anytime.