Of all the roles you play in the lives of those you love, being a mom is by far, one of the most stressful. You’re “on the clock” all the time tending to the needs of your children with no days off, and sometimes, with little to no help. Though you love being a mother, you’re bound to get stressed out from time to time. Knowing how to keep the stress to a minimum is imperative as a parent as too much of it could ruin your health and reduce your ability to be a great mom.
Unfortunately, however, many women turn to the wrong sources for stress relief. These solutions may provide temporary relief, but essentially worsen their stress and lead to even more problems with their health and their lives. Here’s a look at some common “stress-relief” practices you may be doing that you should probably reconsider:
Drinking Alcohol
Lots of women are guilty of this “stress-relief” practice – drinking alcohol. After a long day of dealing with the kids, your nerves are shot and you’re physically and emotionally drained. So, you grab your favorite bottle of bubbly, create your favorite cocktail, or pour yourself a shot of your favorite liquor and have a drink.
Though alcohol is a sedative and a depressant that works to calm the nerves, it can still be dangerous to use to relieve stress. This is because your body can become used to the amount of alcohol you’re drinking making you crave more to get the same calming effect. This can then lead to dependency or addiction.
Shopping
Here’s another “stress-relief” practice that many moms are guilty of – shopping. These days, it is so easy to purchase anything you want with the world right at your fingertips. When you’re feeling stressed out about your home life, it is easy to pick up your smartphone or laptop and start shopping for things to make you feel better.
Sure, you feel great when you purchase the perfect pair of shoes, a pocketbook, or a new watch you’ve been eyeing for weeks, but it doesn’t feel good later. When you use shopping to ease your overwhelming emotions, it can become an addiction. There isn’t a lot of info on behavioral addictions just yet, but what is known is that like gambling, sex, or the internet, shopping can become a habit you can’t stop. You continue to seek the thrill you get from buying something new no matter how much it costs. This, in turn, however, only heightens your stress and anxiety and causes problems in your relationships.
Eating
Feeling like you need to make some changes yet? If not, this next one is sure to persuade you to ditch your “stress-relief” practices. When you’ve got the kids all tucked in for bed, there’s nothing a mom likes more to relieve her stress than some good food. Snacking on some chips, a candy bar (or two), brownies, a bowl of cereal, or even making yourself a midnight meal seems like a great way to unwind – at first.
Eating for comfort is another behavioral addiction that can get out of hand. You begin to mask your emotions with food. These foods are often high in calories, sugar, salt, and other harmful ingredients. You begin to crave these things more often, and before you know it, you’re overweight. An increase in weight, as you know, increases your risk of developing life-altering diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer.
Overworking
There are some women who know they’re stressed out but still won’t take a break. They become anxious about the laundry list of things they have to do. As a result, they continue working trying to get it all done. This may seem productive and may even calm your nerves about some things, but this is also a bad way to relieve stress.
Working yourself in a hole will do you or your children no good. You become physically and emotionally drained. This can lead to everything from brain fogs and memory loss to mental illness and a plethora of other health problems.
Everyone knows that one of the hardest jobs in the world is being a mom. Since you can’t completely remove stress from parenting, the next best thing to do is find a way to ease your frustrations. Though having a few glasses of wine, eating a sweet treat, buying yourself something, or working diligently on your to-do list might seem like the way to go, each of these “stress-relief” practices will cause issues in your life. If you’re guilty of any of the above, be sure that you eliminate them (or cut back significantly) and find new ways to relax and unwind.