Hugs to you!
I understand overwhelming stress very well. Sadly, my DD27 has really put me and my DH through a lot (I got it the worst though, because I was always the one the got the brunt of it). Because of me not managing my stress, it took a real toll on my insides by making a very mild Ulcerative Colitis jump into high gear and quickly go to severe. I am now in remission and I try my hardest every day to keep it that way. Sadly, one of the reasons I’m in remission is because my daughter and I rarely speak now, which helps keep my stress level down.
During that horribly stressful time, I really focused on things that would give me some peace like….
*taking a deep dive into my faith like I’ve never done before.
*working on puzzles to take a break from life. If my mind started to wander, then I’d watch something happy and familiar while working on the puzzle.
*Watching positive movies & shows - nothing negative and violent
*reading positive things - for me this was religious material
*looking my best regardless how I felt. This is a big one for me. If I dress nice, do my hair and makeup real nice, then I feel like I can handle what life throws at me more.
*Listening to positive things - nothing negative
*Go to bed at a reasonable time. Life is a little easier when you aren’t sleep deprived. This was hard for me for awhile, so I talked to my doctor and i was given a prescription to help.
I take stress management very seriously because stress is so unhealthy. My DD22 currently has a lot of stress with her going through her doctorate program, and I’m always suggesting different things to her. Since she saw everything I went through, she takes her stress management seriously and tries her best to manage it the best she can. She takes a low dose anxiety medication, which helps her. She’s doing a paint by number when she needs a brain break and she enjoys that.
I hope you are able to find ways to manage your stress. Take it seriously, because stress can be relentless on your mental and physical health . But also remember, we all have storms in our life that seem like it will never end, but it does end eventually, and that storm does make us stronger. Then when the next storm comes, we’re able to handle it a little better than the last storm.
Take care and God bless
