Here’s How Stress Can Be Contagious

Stress is something we all personally try to avoid. But it doesn’t necessarily have to come within you. Did you know that even being around someone who is stressed can increase your stress levels? Yep, that’s right, stress is contagious, and it can impact you even if you are not the one dealing with something stressful. In most cases, these effects are more compelling when you share a connection with that person. Which influences you to exhibit a stress response while you observe a friend, or partner or beloved in stress. So if you feel exceptionally stressed, and you don’t know why then look around, you may find your environment stressful. Here are a few instances in which Stress can be contagious and how you can cope with it.

Stressful Coworkers :

It’s common to find yourself in a stressful situation when you are with your coworkers. But you can always try to avoid getting into it. If you see coworkers in a heated discussion or arguing about something, it’s always best to walk away from it. This way you can keep away from the drama and not let it bother you. In a workplace, there will be stressful people all around, regarding work stress or even professional problems. But the only way to keep it from affecting you is by focusing on your work. You could even join with the office in a stress-relieving activity, to reduce stress and boost productivity.

Friends Who Complain Too Much :

We all know people in our lives who constantly bicker about things, it could even be a close friend, If you know that they tend to vent their frustration with you often, then that could be stressing you out. If you find yourself near your friends venting about stressful things in their life and workload etc., then the simplest thing to do is to try to cheer them up or motivate them. Motivating someone, or helping them cope with their stress can, in turn, help you reduce your stress levels. As a friend it’s always good to be around when they need a shoulder to cry on. But it makes more sense to try to solve their issue rather than just being empathetic to their stress.

Domestic Drama :

Apart from your social life, you can also find your stress levels, to be easily influenced by the situation back at home. It could be with your spouse, or your parents or even a sibling. We have the misconception that work can always be stressful, but sometimes it could be the comfort of your own home that is responsible for all your anxiety. You can either sit them down and try to calm them, but if nothing works, it’s best to go outside for a breath of fresh air. This way it could reduce your exposure to the stress, and calm the situation down. You can avoid all this stress by not trying to aggravate the person in the first place.

Personal Stress :

Sometimes you are responsible for attracting the stress toward you. Taking upon stressful work, and then affecting everyone around you. If you find yourself frustrated about a certain task, it helps to avoid taking on too much of it. Take someone’s help, or find other ways to achieve it. Just sitting and stressing about it won’t help you and prevent your stress from affecting others. Fill your environment with stress relievers, like some inspiring quotes or some stress-busters. Listen to soothing music and surround yourself with people with positive energy

Unless you remove yourself from a stressful situation, it will continue to impact your peace and calm. Your emotions can be highly contagious, and it can easily trigger a stress response in those around you. While you can’t always avoid stressful situations in life, you can at least control how you respond in such situations.

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