Recovering from chronic stress is possible. Lifestyle modifications, relaxation routines, and reframing unhelpful thoughts are all strategies that may help reduce the long-term effects of stress.

While stress is a natural part of life, managing it effectively may help prevent and remedy long-term health effects.

Though its effects are sometimes mind-numbing and may stop you from completing your tasks, more resilience awaits you on the other side of overcoming it.

When to seek help

If you’ve tried stress recovery techniques and are still experiencing the effects, you may benefit from speaking with a mental health professional. They may have more actionable strategies or treatments to help you cope with and recover from your chronic stress.

Chronic stress may lead to feelings of burnout and mental exhaustion. It may also contribute to long-term health complications, such as cardiovascular (heart) disease and metabolic disorders.

Even when you can’t avoid stressors altogether, managing chronic stress and recovering from its negative effects is possible. The following tips may help:

Identify and reduce stressors

While you can’t always make big changes to decrease stress immediately, other causes and stressors may be within your immediate control.

You might start by creating a list of your current concerns or known stress triggers. Once you identify these, you may want to flag the ones you can take action against.

For example, if your finances are the root of your stress, you might try creating a budget. If finding time to eat is causing you stress, you might try meal prep.

How you reduce stressors depends on your needs and lifestyle, but other possible stress-managing strategies may include:

  • taking a break from social media or the news if what you’re seeing is making you unhappy
  • reducing loud noises and bright lights in your workspace to promote a soothing environment
  • auditing your meetings and declining some non-urgent invitations or requests
  • checking emails and notifications at set times during the day
  • delegating chores to other family members or asking for help

Make lifestyle modifications

Your mind and body are interconnected. Focusing on your physical health may promote mental well-being and help you recover from chronic stress.

Getting plenty of physical activity, eating a balanced diet, and prioritizing quality sleep are often effective lifestyle essentials.

Sometimes referred to as “lifestyle medicine,” these beneficial habits directly reduce stress through hormone regulation.

They may also indirectly manage stress by decreasingTrusted Source your chance of health complications later.

Other lifestyle modifications that may help you recover from chronic stress include:

Add relaxation into your routine

Everyone is different when it comes to relaxation. You might enjoy a quiet activity, such as artistic creation, while others might enjoy getting their heart rate up with exercise.

The key is to add experiences you find calming and enjoyable into your life often, even if for only a few minutes.

Relaxing activities to consider

Reframe your thoughts

Cultivating a positive mindset may help reduce the negative emotional effects of chronic stress.

According to a 2019 studyTrusted Source, positive affect is protective in situations of chronic stress against symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) and social anxiety disorder.

Positive affect refers to experiencing and expressing positive emotions when interacting with your environment. These emotions may include:

  • joy
  • pride
  • interest
  • enthusiasm

Your affect influences your thinking, and your thoughts may influence how you feel. How you feel and think has a direct effect on your stress response.

If your thoughts keep you from engaging positively with your environment, professional support may help.

You can change negative thoughts into positive patterns of thinking with the guidance of a mental health professional. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is used for this purpose.

A regular gratitude practice may also help you switch your focus to positive thoughts and emotions. You can try writing down a few things you’re grateful for each morning to start your day on a positive note.

How to reframe your thoughts

Instead of thinking:

  • “I’m not good enough.”
  • “I hate when this happens.”
  • “I can’t believe I messed up.”

Try thinking:

  • “I’ll do the best that I can.”
  • “I’ve been in this situation before. I know how to work through it.”
  • “I’m human, and humans make mistakes.”

The stress experience is unique, and while recovery is possible, everyone recuperates at their own rate.

The causes and duration of stress, how you cope with stress, your support systems, your emotional resources, and the environment you live in all matter for recovery.

Recovery from chronic physical stress may depend on your current health status. For some people, chronic physical stress may improve when you stop doing the stressful activity.

If physical stress is related to surgery or a medical condition, asking a healthcare professional about management options may help.

Psychological stress may also improve as you avoid the stressor. For example, if you have job burnout, try speaking to someone about changing your work conditions.

Other times, such as with traumatic experiences, the effects of stress may last for years after the event happened. Working with a mental health professional can help you develop coping skills and implement recovery strategies.

Chronic stress prevention looks similar to ongoing stress management and recovery. Addressing stressors early on may limit negative physical and mental effects over time.

Preventive chronic stress management techniques may include:

  • developing new time-management skills, like dividing tasks into smaller goals
  • effectively delegating responsibilities
  • boosting your communication skills to build strong interpersonal connections
  • making your home and work environments calm and comfortable
  • setting and maintaining personal boundaries
  • finding a work-life balance that allows for personal time away from your job duties
  • seeking professional guidance for financial difficulties
  • working with a mental health professional to develop new coping skills

Recognizing the signs of chronic stress

Chronic stress indicators to watch for may includeTrusted Source:

Chronic physical or psychological stress may have lasting impacts on your health and well-being. Recovery is possible, but the causes of stress, your individual coping skills, and available support all matter.

Initiatives that focus on healthy lifestyle modifications, engage in relaxation habits, and encourage positive mindset development, for example, are some key strategies.

If you’ve tried recovering on your own, you may want to speak with a mental health professional for next steps. They may have more guided treatments for recovery from your chronic stress.

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