Invisible stressors are not clearly noticed or perceived. However, they can generate stress in you that affects you on a daily basis.
Can’t identify the cause of your stress? You are in good health, at work you have everything up to date and your relationships are better than ever. In spite of everything, you feel tense, moody at times and you can’t stand yourself. Perhaps, what is happening to you is that you are suffering from invisible stressors.
In our day to day there are these invisible stressors that we do not know how to detect. However, if you feel tired, nervous, irritated, distracted and start to sleep badly, it is very possible that something is causing that tension that has suddenly appeared.
Information overload creates stress
Perhaps it happened to you during the pandemic and it is very possible that the same thing is happening to you with the current war conflicts. When you open any newspaper or click on the TV remote, your favorite news channel bombards you with information. Everything seems to be negative.
In the article Digital media and COVID-19: information overload, polarization and misinformation They explain that during the pandemic there were processes of moral panic due to the excess of data. This affects mental health. What can you do?
To avoid this stressful factor, it is advisable to filter the information well. Sometimes there are articles with malicious headlines or unsubstantiated social media comments.
Not everything that circulates on the internet is true. Sometimes, more than informing yourself, you are doing the opposite. Therefore, this is a first point to consider.
Beware of the imposition of positive thinking
Phrases like “you create the opportunities” or “Smile at life and it will smile at you” they can make you feel bad when you perceive negative emotions. You will not always be fine and nothing happens.
Being forced to see the bright side of what happens to you can frustrate you and make you feel guilty for not smiling or not accepting that you are wrong and embracing that discomfort. We are surrounded by positive messages, but reality is not always shaped as we wish.
These messages may be the invisible stressors that affect you.
perfectionism in the workplace
Do you consider yourself a perfectionist? Maybe not, but you have to telework, it is likely that a lot of stress has been generated by being able to reconcile family life and catch up on new programs. This is another of the invisible stressors.
It is impossible for the results of your work to always please and, much less, that it is perfect in its entirety. You are not a machine.
Make sure you don’t take those worries home so you can rest outside of your working hours. This way stress will not end up affecting your health. Well, when this is maintained over time, it causes sleep problems, cardiac and digestive disorders.
Stimuli can also affect you
The noise of the cars passing by on your street, the neighbor’s music, those people talking loudly every time you take a walk, television and mobile screens… You find yourself surrounded by an overstimulation of which you are not aware. Even if you meditate or do yoga, it is impossible for you to avoid invisible stressors. What can you do?
One piece of advice is to take advantage of the weekends to disconnect completely. Travel to a beach or natural environment where you only hear the sea breeze, the song of the birds, the noise of the dry leaves when you step on them. Turn off your mobile and get away from the screens.
Identifying invisible stressors is not easy. Even sometimes it is difficult to escape from them. However, there are always possibilities to improve. Going to a therapist can be a way of overcoming.
What are the invisible stressors that you think affect you? Have you identified them? A psychologist will help you do it and will give you a series of specific guidelines so that you can deal with this problem in the best possible way.
You might be interested…