Thriving in stressful environments: causes and approaches to stress

We know the world isn’t going how many would like it to right now, however, there’s ways of thriving in a stressful environment, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 

We spoke to an extremely, inspiring and experienced psychiatrist based in London to learn about the differences between simply coping and actually thriving.

Dr Sunil Raheja, shared with us some insightful examples to help shift our perspective, so that we can react more appropriately to stress in the future. Here’s part one of ‘Thriving in stressful environments’.
 

When and why do people become stressed by their environment?

The first thing that comes to my mind is that your environment can repel or invite you. The environment we may repel may feel overwhelming, then that would obviously have a negative impact both consciously and subconsciously as you will know there are lots of things to be done.
 

It's easy to get distracted by things in your vicinity that you haven't completed. Subconsciously your mind is running on loops trying to resolve things that aren't complete, or your mind is trying to keep reminding you of things that need to be done.
 

Our mind can't distinguish between small tasks and big tasks for people. We can spend as many calories on thinking about buying bread and thinking "I need to complete that big task and reach the deadline for the company I work for".
 

If you haven't got trusted ways of dealing with tasks it can become overwhelming. For example, if I asked you to remember a few products to purchase, from the moment you write it down you close the open loop, but if I spend the rest of the afternoon trying to remember, I can waste many calories. Something so minor can actually take up a lot of energy and time.
 

Write reminders in a trusted place your mind will know it can get to, not on scraps of paper amongst many other scraps. Otherwise, intuitively your mind will know it can't necessarily find that paper. It has to be personal to you.
 

What's the difference between coping and thriving in stressful environments?

Not all stress is bad. There's a bell-shaped curve, too little stress you won't get out of bed. Too much stress, you will get in your own way. You need an optimum level of stress. You want just enough that challenges you beyond your comfort zone but not too much that you can get overwhelmed and end up in fight and flight mode.
 

Thriving means to relish and to not have trepidation. Olympians often break world records because they condition themselves to relish the performance, a world-class tennis player plays a mediocre game, it's mediocre because the opponent is but when they're not it gets more intense and they 'raise the game'.
 

An example is thinking of a pond that is completely clear, the ripples and splashes of the pond will vary depending on the size of a rock thrown at it. We must think of life's challenges like this. We must react appropriately and accordingly to life's challenges, in an appropriate way.
 

Things are bad if you're just surviving, thriving means you can react appropriately to the challenges, not underreacting or overreacting but giving an appropriate response that is equal to the challenges itself. We must prioritise and distinguish rather than getting in catastrophic thinking and delaying action.
 

A pond always reacts appropriately to the challenges. If you take a human example, we act disproportionately. Being aware means, we have an equilibrium.
 

I have a podcast that goes into more detail, it’s worth having a listen to: https://www.drsunil.com/podcast/podcast-003/


For more information about dealing with stress, you may like to book an appointment with a leading psychiatrist such as Dr Sunil Raheja. Visit his profile today for more information on appointment availability and his services such as coaching for emotional intelligence.