Stresslaxing when resting makes you feel stressed

Does it hard for you to enjoy weekends or the days you have at work? If so, you may be suffering from Stresslaxing, a particular type of stress that is associated with leisure time. In today's society, it is common for people to undergo large amounts of work, either because of their employment or studies. For that reason, it is important that we have moments of rest in which we can do things that we like.

However, there are those who suffer from an inability to enjoy leisure time due to multiple factors. Even for these people, having free time can be even more overwhelming than having to work or study. If you think that could be your case, continue reading this article.

Content

• What is stresslaxing?
• What cause stresslaxing?
• How can we face stresslaxing?
  • 1. Plan activities you enjoy
  • 2. Perform physical exercises
  • 3. Improve the relationship with yourself
  • References

What is stresslaxing?

To better understand this phenomenon, we will imagine the life of an imaginary person. She is called Camila, is 24 years old and is a member of a very important legal firm, so it leads a very busy life. The working days, Camila has the habit of working late and makes multiple tasks at the same time. When the weekend arrives, she feels exhausted and wants to be able to relax a little at home.

However, when he wakes up in the morning and realizes that he has nothing to do, he begins to feel uneasiness. Then he decides to see a movie, but he is unable to concentrate because in his brain he mentally reviews his list of slopes for Monday. Then call one of her friends to go for a walk, but it is difficult for her to focus because she listens to mobile notifications. "It could be something urgent of work," she thinks.

As you can see, Camila suffers from Stresslaxing, the name given to the inability to relax due to stress. This anglicism comes from the terms Stress (stress) and relaxing (relaxation). In other words, it is a phenomenon where the person cannot enjoy their leisure moments because it experiences a lot of stress.

It is important to clarify that it is not a new mental disorder, rather it is an expression that has become popular in social networks. The popularization of the term is due to the large number of people who identify with the situation of not being able to enjoy their free time. Therefore, he has also caught the care of mental health experts.

What cause stresslaxing?

As it is not an official clinical diagnosis, there are no specific investigations in this regard. Consequently, an exact cause for stresslaxing is not known either. Rather, it seems that it is a set of factors that can trigger the problem.

First, experiencing high levels of stress continuously can contribute to the inability to relax. We must understand that stress is a natural reaction of our body that can help us better face certain situations as great workloads. But, if it becomes a continuous state, we could end up getting used to feeling that way. As a result, even when we are not doing anything, we are tense and ready to face any threat.

On the other hand, there is a social factor that we must take into consideration. In recent years, the labor and academic market has become increasingly competitive. For this reason, many people feel the need to go beyond their abilities to be able to highlight. Social networks also contribute to this problem because they tend to promote unrealistic ideas about work or studies. It is also common for them to sell the image of a perfect life that is not possible to achieve.

Another situation that is associated with stresslaxing is the large number of novelties that appear constantly. We are always exposed to new trends in series, movies, music, events, etc. This phenomenon can generate the feeling that we are outdated or disconnected from the rest of the world. Thus, enjoying a series or movie ceases to be fun and becomes another task that we should do to "not miss anything".

How can we face stresslaxing?

The first step to get out of this situation is to be able to recognize them. We must be aware that rest is as important as work or studies. In the long term, work overload will only cause us exhaustion and we will be unable to fulfill our responsibilities. Next, we will know some useful strategies to combat this problem and improve emotional well -being.

1. Plan activities you enjoy

Often, the uncertainty of not knowing what to do with our free time can promote stresslaxing in us. Therefore, it is recommended that you begin to plan more the moments of enjoyment that you have available. It is not about filling the agenda on Saturday with a lot of activities that we would like to do, only choose some and spend time. Pleasant activities can help reduce the stress levels that we accumulate throughout the week.

2. Perform physical exercises

Stress is a reaction that produces a series of changes in our body: we release cortisol, the muscles tense, increase blood pressure, etc. If we want to reduce stress, we must also look for ways to relieve our body's tension. Try to find some activity that implies movement and you can enjoy. It is not mandatory to sign up in a crossfit class, yoga can be just as beneficial or just go for a walk.

3. Improve the relationship with yourself

An essential part of having good self -esteem is to spend time to take care and do things that we like. The fact that we dedicate an excessive amount of time to things that cause us stress, could indicate that there are problems in our personal world. We may want to compensate for how bad we feel with ourselves through work or studies and forget what we like.

In conclusion, although stresslaxing is not a mental disorder, it can be a serious problem because it prevents people from resting. Because of this, we must be attentive to the possible signs that could indicate that stress is surpassing us. Otherwise, we could develop more severe conditions in the future.

Relaxation and emotional intelligence

References

• Habib, k. AND., Gold, p. W., & Chrouse, G. P. (2001). Neuroendocrinology of Stress. Endocrinology and metabolism clinics, 30(3), 695-728.