Breaking News: does stress get you hooked?

 

What are you doing reading this? Don't you have anything better to do? Are you taking advantage of every last nanosecond of your bathroom break at work?

Is it that…   

Do you suffer from the “busy life syndrome”: that you have time for everything and in the end for nothing? Are every day deadlines for you? Does the feeling of wasting time when you are not doing “something useful” make you panic?   

If you already know where things are going, we have your diagnosis: welcome to the club of addicts... to stress.    

And before you tell us...    

“But let's see, how can I be a stress addict, when if it were up to me I would be watching life go by from a sun lounger in Bali? What are you putting in the creams that you say weirder things every day...?”

stress gets hooked… a lot

It is studied and proven to be skeptic-proof.   

Being busy, to the point that stress becomes our shadow, is a vice more absorbing than the TikTok algorithm on hangover Sundays.   

Because?   

Well, if you ask the experts, they will explain to you in all kinds of strange words that, when you get headlong into a stressful situation, your body releases a burst of hormones (cortisol aka the stress hormone, adrenaline, dopamine...) that They put like a motorcycle (not motomami) and turn you into a Terminator in survival mode:

Now, if you talk about it with your colleagues one afternoon over beers while you complain about this emotional roller coaster that is life, they will give you more commonplace explanations:

  • Because the world is going faster and faster. 
  • Because that infinite loop of stress-pleasure is an emotional reinforcement more intermittent than the toxic one from your ex... and just as addictive.
  • Because they have imposed on us that we are worth as much as the things we do: overtime, weekend hobbies, projects outside of work hours, a social life as a micro-influencer... 
  • Because, even if we are fully aware of this... we do not lower the level of the demands we impose on ourselves.   
And do you know the consequenceof all this endless mental stress? Well, rather, the consequences, in plural:

 

The thousand and one (fucking) faces of living stressed 24/7

The list of consequences of prolonged stress is very long (and size does matter here): heart (and face) problems, digestive problems, headaches, drops in your immune system, memory, concentration, energy, increased risk anxiety, depression, burnout, self-sabotage...

And, be careful, the procession does not always go inside.   

Stress also affects your skin, no matter how many creams you put on your face: deep dark circles , premature wrinkles, treacherous acne, slow-camera recovery from ex-pimple scars...

Wait wait wait. But what did you believe?

What were we going to make you read this far to list all the possible shits of stress like a pharmaceutical prospectus, as if you hadn't already tasted them in your flesh, and see you later Maricarmen?   
 
Anyone would say that you don't know us yet...

How to Say “Sayonara, Baby” to Stress Addiction

 

  1. The first thing of all is to realize that we are hooked to being stressed day in and day out. Is this trite advice? Yes, why? And just because of that it's going to be less #putoreal? No, why?   
  2.  Ignore those super tips that sell you a new hobby as the only solution to all your stress... and for which you will also end up stressed: yoga/mindfulness/crochet/baking/lettering... Yes, they have more benefits than Actimel, but if you already live in a constant "I can't get my life", Less is more.   
  3. The procrastination thing, not so bad. Would it be so bad to spend some time on the couch watching Temptation Island instead of doing the washing, packing the tupperware for the next day? Give yourself the opportunity to put the responsibilities of daily life in “off” mode and then take on them with more enthusiasm.   
  4. About the purposes, soft soft. It's great that you want to beat yourself up in the gym, read more, meditate, eat better , spend less time on social media or whatever comes up. But about leaving expectations through the roof or beating yourself up when they are not met... not so much.
  5. Let's go, If stress reigns in your life, declare the independent republic of self-care. It's time to reclaim your time to enjoy it, loving yourself for who you are and not just for what you do.

 

PS: And because sometimes it's time to take off the superhero mask that can do everything and more... Today's post is sponsored by our Heroes' Recharging Mask , the mask with a battery-recharging effect that in 20 minutes gives your face the effect of a 2 hour spa. 😜 Match that, toxic productivity.

Heroes' recharging mask

hydrogel facial masks with battery recharging effect 

We do cool right,
Siwon