Main Menu

Hello

Sign in with Facebook

Latest Members

Latest Discussion

Active Groups

Twitter   
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
 
Home Addiction Support For those in Recovery Stress Management During Your Recovery Process
PDF Print E-mail
Article Index
Stress Management During Your Recovery Process
Listed below are some of the most common of these thinking errors
All Pages
Page 1 of 2

Stress Management During your Recovery Process

Stress can be a major side effect during your recovery process. Below are links to some tools for managing stress. Learn how to recognize and reduce stress in your life, and see how to spot stress induced thinking errors.

Recognizing Symptoms of Stress
Definition of Stress
What is Stress?
Stress is what a person experiences as the result of difficult or upsetting events, especially those that continue for a period of time.

Stress is the experience people have when the demands they make of themselves or those placed upon them are greater than what they feel they can handle.

Symptoms of Stress
Sometimes we are unaware of this emotional state until the stress is producing physical symptoms. Have you experienced any of these symptoms in the past 30 days?
  • Sleep problems including:
    • Difficulty falling asleep
    • Waking up off and on during the night
    • Nightmares
    • Waking up early and being unable to fall back asleep
  • Headaches
  • Stomach Problems
  • Chronic illness
  • Fatigue
  • Moodiness
  • Irritability
  • Difficulty Concentrating
  • General dissatisfaction with life
  • Feeling Overwhelmed
If you have experienced two or more of these symptoms, you need to think about reducing stress immediately. By becoming more aware of stress and its symptoms and learning appropriate ways how to deal with stress, you can further ensure your ability to maintain and enjoy a clean and sober lifestyle.

Reducing Stress: Questionnaire on Stress Management
The following stress management questionnaire should be answered as honestly as possible to help identify which parts of your daily living are most stressful. Recognizing stress triggers and taking steps to minimize these problems will help reduce stress in your life.
  1. Your time, energy, and money are all you have to give. Are you investing them in work that you enjoy and that satisfies you?
  2. Focusing on the present means giving your attention to the task at hand without the past and future crippling you. Are you usually able to stay in the here and now?
  3. Do you appreciate things like music, reading, nature, and personal relationships? Or are you overly focused on having money and things?
  4. Are you forcing yourself to do things that increase your self–confidence?
  5. Do you tackle large goals by breaking them into smaller, more manageable task?
  6. Are you careful to make your environment peaceful?
  7. Can you and do you say “No” when that is how you feel?
  8. Do you know how to use self–relaxation techniques to relax your body? Do you allow time in your day to do it?
  9. Are you careful to avoid large swings in body energy caused by taking in excess sugar and caffeine?
  10. Are there specific ways you deal with anger and get it out of your system physically?
Stress Inducing Thinking Errors (Cognitive Distortions)
Our thoughts play an influential role in our perception of the stress we are under. Some of these stress inducing thoughts are referred to as cognitive distortions. These stress inducing thinking errors can exacerbate any stress we are under and it is important to identify and challenge them.


Prev - Next >>