What to Do When Your Methods to Overcome Stress Stop Working

In today's world stress and anxiety are inevitable, so a “toolbox” of ways to cope with it is a must-have. Over time, some may lose effectiveness: meditation doesn't bring peace, or heart-to-heart talks with friends don't make things any easier. You may feel helpless in the face of a “stress storm”. 

In the article, we will explain why this happens, and what other new strategies you can try to manage stress and anxiety.

Why Coping Strategies Stop Working

Before jumping to solutions, here are three possible reasons why your old methods are becoming ineffective:

Emotional Fatigue. Too many things happening in a short period that require your reaction can lead to emotional or psychological exhaustion. When your body and mind are drained, it is challenging to allocate resources to maintain the usual pace of life, let alone use any stress reduction methods.

Evolving Life Circumstances. Career or relationship changes, for example, even if they are positive can be a tricky tightrope walk and cause lifestyle shifts. So it is natural for your stress levels to increase, and coping strategies that worked at one point in your life may not work now. You have to deal with more complex or intense cases that require more effective solutions.

Burnout or Deepening Anxiety. Your usual methods of coping with stress and anxiety may not be enough in a state of severe anxiety or are in the burnout stage. They can be weak at this point. Long-term solutions (like building a healthy lifestyle or even mental health therapy) will better address the root causes of anxiety and restore harmony to your life than just meditation.

9 Strategies to Ease Anxiety and Stress

Here are nine techniques that you can try and use when old ways to reduce stress and anxiety no longer help:

Reevaluate Your Stress Triggers. Take a fresh look at the situation. Triggers that caused the stress reaction may have changed. Therefore, old methods that helped you deal with it may no longer be valid. Identifying current sources and reasons for stress will help you develop new strategies for relieving it.

Practice Mindful Acceptance. Refuse to try to stop stress or anxiety immediately. Acknowledging and living with difficult emotions will help you achieve long-term peace of mind more quickly than trying to fix them. Focus on being aware of and accepting the emotion. Meditation or breathing techniques may help.

Seek Professional Help. Recognizing the early signs of burnout or chronic stress is crucial for maintaining personal well-being. Don't ignore the symptoms of anxiety attacks or severe fatigue, it may be time to seek professional help, especially if this influences your overall functioning.

A specialist can help you identify the thought patterns contributing to stress and learn how to manage them effectively. Additionally, he can assist in determining whether cognitive behavioral therapy or other approaches, including your methods to deal with stress, would be sufficient in addressing the issue. 

Try New Physical Activities. Any physical activity is the key to wellness and among the best stress relievers. You don't have to buy a gym membership, enough is to find an activity you enjoy. Try activities that combine healthy exercise with mindful movement, like yoga, swimming, or dancing. It can provide relief and a reset for both body and mind. 

Incorporate Journaling with a Twist. If writing about your feelings is more stressful, shift your focus to positive things and try to approach the problem in a structured way. For example, try writing gratitude lists or doing cognitive restructuring. These techniques allow you to actively challenge negative thought patterns by reframing and changing them in a positive or realistic light.

Learn to Say No. The approach to yes to everything is overwhelming and stressful. Reviewing your commitments and setting priorities and boundaries can help. Reduce workload to make space and energy to deal with stress effectively and get back on track faster. 

Engage in Creativity. Art and other creative activities can be a constructive outlet for the release of repressed emotions. Try to compose music or write stories, these will provide mental distraction and a sense of fulfillment and so be a great way to get rid of stress. 

Build a Support Network. You don’t have to get through this alone and there is no shame in seeking emotional support from the closest people. If that does not work or this is not enough, you may try to expand your network. Joining support groups or making new friends can help you gain new perspectives, share experiences, and accumulate emotional resources.

Establish New Routines. Chaos or unpredictability enhances anxiety. It is crucial in moments of uncertainty to have something constant. Daily or weekly routines that include relaxation, self-care, and leisure time can provide emotional stability and reduce feelings of being overwhelmed. It's natural when your body and mind need moments of recovery.

Time for a change

If your tried and tested methods no longer improve your stress tolerance, it might be time to make some changes and find new ones. Use the strategies listed in the article as a starting point to find stress-reducing techniques that work for you. Go at your own pace and experiment until you discover the best ones.