How to Recover from Work Stress, According to Science

So, instead of eating dinner at the table why not pack it up and head down to the local park or your backyard? If it’s cold out, set up a picnic in your living room.

  • Run on the treadmill for 10, bike furiously for another 10, hit the rowing machine for 5, and then cool down and change.
  • In addition, it involves contacting many acupuncture points; it has been called a psychological version of acupuncture.
  • For instance, you will be able to enter more data values into a spreadsheet faster and more efficiently if you listen to fast-paced music.
  • And, according to Harvard Health, the practice of deep breathing and inward thought has been shown to reduce some heart disease risk factors, including high blood pressure.
  • Working with a therapist can help you better identify the sources of your work stress and help you come up with ways to better navigate them.

Try setting up a priority list at the beginning of your work week by preparing tasks and ranking them according to importance. Long-term exposure to unmanaged stress can take a toll on your body and mental health, and recent research suggests a potential link between work-related burnout and depression and anxiety. Reading a great book can help the mind think of other things and be transported to a new world and time.

Shape your environment for optimal recovery.

For example, taking a bubble bath or doing yoga are both great ways to destress at the end of the week. Taking a nice warm bath can be one of the most relaxing things to do after a long week at work. Not only does it promote relaxation, but it also provides you with an opportunity to unwind physically. Bathing allows all your muscles to loosen up and promotes the release of tension in your body.

Winter can be the ‚busiest, most stressful‘ time at work—here are 3 strategies to cope – CNBC

Winter can be the ‚busiest, most stressful‘ time at work—here are 3 strategies to cope.

Posted: Tue, 04 Jan 2022 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Read — A healthy level of escapism is never a bad thing, so go ahead and indulge in a lighthearted novel. We’d recommend skipping the heavy nonfiction after work, especially if you’re prone to reading about politics or other stressful topics. After a particularly stressful day at the office, you might want to trade in your laptop for a set of paints and paintbrushes. Or you could grab your colored pencils and draw a picture. If you don’t have any of those on hand, maybe you can convince a group of friends to visit a nearby paintbar. An ear massage using a pressure point, dubbed “auricular acupuncture,” has been found to treat anxiety when patients were on the way to the hospital. The researchers found that those in the relaxation group reported “significantly less anxiety” than those in the sham point group.

Walk it Out

Skateboarding—cruising in particular—is a great paradigm shift from my mostly sedentary day hunched over my computer screen and also a great way for me to unwind mentally.“ So, I like to end my workdays outdoors on my skateboard. The simple act of stepping out of the house signals to me that my workday has officially ended which is so helpful to my mental state. With hot yoga, I get to feel connected to myself through my heart rate harmonising with the hum of the singing bowls, to the sweat dripping down my nose and onto my ethically sourced natural rubber yoga mat.“

  • They can also help you develop strategies for decompressing and taking care of yourself.
  • So, if you feel like you’re burning out, what works when it comes to recovering from stress?
  • Making yourself a priority is so important to staying in great health, and so by fitting in these thirteen ways to de-stress after work, you can feel happier and healthier in the longterm.
  • Breathe in the salt air, listen to the waves cresting, and feel the sand between your toes.
  • While keeping feelings bottled up isn’t an optimal answer, when we spend what could be quality time with loved ones focused on all the stresses of the day, we lose more of our day to job stress.
  • Even just stretching at your desk for a few minutes can relieve stress, boost productivity, and, most importantly, improve your mood.

While classical or slow tempo music is proven to be some of the most relaxing genres, any type of music that makes you happy can have a positive effect. We recommend crafting a playlist of your favorite music so it’s readily available for your commute or whenever you need a little pump-up session. De-stressing is a very important part of having work-life balance. Using these tips, or any combination of them, can help you compartmentalize a stressful day from the rest of your life.

Destressing After Work: Tips to Relax After a Busy Week

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Ways to Destress After Work

There are countless benefits of meditation, including helping you focus on the present, increasing self-awareness, and promoting creativity. On top of that, they can seriously help you reduce your stress so that you can mentally clock out from work and enjoy your time at home.

Read a good book

If you have culinary skills, take out your apron when you get home and cook your favorite meal. Any activity that boosts your heart rate and causes you to get a bit sweaty will help relieve some of your stress so you’re better prepared to tackle tomorrow.

Ways to Destress After Work

Difference Between Physical and Psychological Dependence

If you’re concerned that a friend or family member has a problem with drugs or alcohol, it’s important to know the difference between physical and psychological dependence and how both of these factors can play into addiction. Significant advancements have been made in understanding the neurobiological underpinnings and environmental factors that influence motivation to drink as well as the consequences of excessive alcohol use. Activation of the HPA axis and CRF-related brain stress circuitry resulting from alcohol dependence likely contributes to amplified motivation to drink. Similarly, systemic administration of antagonists that selectively act at the CRF1 receptor also reduced upregulated drinking in dependent mice (Chu et al. 2007) and rats (Funk et al. 2007; Gehlert et al. 2007). This new focus is clinically relevant because these symptoms (e.g., anxiety, negative affect, and altered reward set point) may serve as potent instigators driving motivation to drink . Sensitization resulting from repeated withdrawal cycles and leading to both more severe and more persistent symptoms therefore may constitute a significant motivational factor that underlies increased risk for relapse .

What are the 6 causes of substance abuse?

  • Expectations of Masculinity and Self-Medication.
  • Pressure Relating to Life Circumstances.
  • Genetic Predisposition to Substance Use.
  • Health Conditions.
  • Trauma or Adverse Childhood Experiences.
  • Grief.

We are experts at addressing both the physical and psychological parts of addiction and will work with you in your journey towards a clean and sober life. Building and maintaining a strong social support system can also be useful in combatting symptoms of psychological dependence. For those struggling with a physical dependence on drugs or alcohol, we provide medically supervised detoxification programs followed by a wide range of therapies meant to target psychological dependence. These therapies help our patients plan for a life free from addiction, re-build healthy relationships and thrive in every part of their lives. The criteria for substance abuse focused more on the legal, social, and occupational consequences of substance use.

When to Seek Treatment for Psychological Dependence

We understand this struggle, which is why we are uniquely qualified to help. Feelings of “needing” drugs or alcohol to cope with daily stressors, go to sleep, be social, etc. Constipation and diarrhea are two effects that physically manifest themselves. Having diarrhea can cause dehydration which can lead to other health problems.

  • The most common side effects of flurazepam are dose related and include daytime drowsiness, lethargy, and dizziness.
  • There are a lot of terms involved that, while related, mean different things.
  • Not only does physical dependence make it difficult for the body to self-regulate, but psychological dependence affects a person’s judgment, decision-making, mental health, and emotional health.
  • With continued drug or alcohol abuse, the body adjusts its chemical balance to compensate for the effects of the drug.

Treatment for psychological dependence varies depending on the substance being used, the frequency of use over a certain period of time, and the person. Treatment for psychological dependence involves the help of a licensed doctor such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. Many people find it hard to quit and need help and support from others. This change in emotional state is a result of changes in brain chemicals. It can cause cravings, motivation to seek out the substance or behavior, irritability, anxiety, or general dissatisfaction when withdrawing from the substance or activity.

Social Symptoms

Early addiction theories included the “tolerance-withdrawal theory”, which identified the desire to avoid withdrawal symptoms as the cause of addiction. However, some drugs have limited withdrawal symptoms but are still highly addictive, and some addicts relapse long after their physical symptoms have passed. Addiction is also known as compulsive drug use despite harmful consequences. It is characterized by the inability to stop using a certain drug to the detriment of work, social, or family obligations.

physiological dependence on alcohol

Psychological dependence is not always caused by drugs or alcohol. A person may become addicted to skydiving or other behaviors because of the adrenaline rush. The adrenaline rush releases the same chemicals in the brain that make a person feel euphoria. Other behaviors may include gambling, playing video games, extreme sports, and any activity a person becomes dependent on. When the behavior stops, the person has similar symptoms to drug and alcohol withdrawal but without the physical symptoms.

Addictions

Knowing the difference between psychological dependence and addiction can be a valuable tool in recovery. Substance dependencies — both physical and psychological — frequently lead to addiction. By getting the help of a qualified addiction treatment center, you’ll be in good hands when you detox. At a treatment facility, you can have peace of mind knowing that you’re safe.

This classification fails to recognise individual variation in drug use. Alcohol can be used in heavy doses that are gravely disabling and induce severe physical dependence with convulsions on sudden withdrawal; i.e. for the individual the drug is ‘hard’. But there are many people mildly psychologically dependent on it who retain their position in physiological dependence on alcohol the home and society. Important risk factors for addiction include a history of abuse of street drugs, prescription drugs, or alcoholism. It is important for all patients exposed to opioids to undergo careful screening for all these major risk factors. Caring therapists routinely work with people just like you who want to quit drugs or alcohol.

What Are Symptoms of Psychological Dependence?

The truth is all kinds of addictions have a psychological component. Even opiate addiction, alcohol addiction, and meth addiction, which are physically addictive, have a psychological element that perpetuates a substance use disorder. This effect apparently was specific to alcohol because repeated chronic alcohol exposure https://ecosoberhouse.com/ and withdrawal experience did not produce alterations in the animals’ consumption of a sugar solution . While psychological and physical dependence can overlap with addiction , they can also occur on their own. An example is an individual taking prescription opioids exactly as directed by their physician.

  • Enhanced voluntary alcohol drinking in dependent mice produced brain alcohol concentrations similar to those achieved during the chronic alcohol exposure that initially rendered the animals dependent.
  • Chronic alcoholism occurs when there are both physical and psychological addictions.
  • Therefore, if you wake up in the morning and are feeling symptoms of withdrawal, or they happen during the day , then you’ll need to make a change.
  • From a clinical standpoint, this is important because it underscores the value of these models in identifying and evaluating new treatment strategies that may be more effective in battling the problem of relapse.
  • Activation of the HPA axis and CRF-related brain stress circuitry resulting from alcohol dependence likely contributes to amplified motivation to drink.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning and cerebrospinal fluid corticotropin releasing hormone and corticotropin levels in alcoholics after recent and long-term abstinence. Walker BM, Koob GF. Pharmacological evidence for a motivational role of kappa-opioid systems in ethanol dependence. Schulteis G, Liu J. Brain reward deficits accompany withdrawal from acute ethanol in rats.

Dependence Without Addiction

Addiction refers to the combination of both psychological dependence and physical dependence on a substance, object or activity. In other words, when an individual has developed an addiction, they exhibit a chronic psychological need for a habit-forming substance, along with experiencing the physical effects of dependence. In treatment, the difference between physical and psychological dependence matters. In fact, treatment professionals map the course of your programs and therapies according to your type of addiction.