How stress impacts us, how to cope

April 30, 2020

Erica Bivens,

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Talk about mental health has been prevalent lately amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Stress is a component that impacts people of all ages.

Dr. Kerri Ashurst, a senior extension specialist with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky, says it’s important to know how stress impacts us.

“Stress is the way our body responds to different experiences and events that are going on in our lives and it is different for every person,” said Dr. Ashurst.

While Dr. Ashurst says many of us think of stress as a bad thing, “Stress can sometimes be a good thing too. It can motivate us, it can push us out of our comfort zone.”

Amid the global pandemic, Dr. Ashurst says most of us are likely feeling that negative stress. According to Dr. Ashurst, that can include physical symptoms, “like shortness of breath or that increased heart rate, your heart racing, feeling like you’re sweating or have an upset stomach, headache, feeling really fatigued or tired or your muscles being tight.”

There’s also symptoms that affect our mood. “Feeling anxiety or panic, feeling angry or irratable or just flat out feeling overwhelmed with everything that’s going on around us right now and feeling depressed like we have no control,” explained Dr. Ashurst. “Also, it can affect some things with our thinking, abilities to concentrate and difficulty making decisions.”

Dr. Ashurst says stress can impact our behavior as well, “We can feel like we’re withdrawing, we can overeat or undereat, we can have angry outbursts or even start or increase our use of drugs or alcohol.”

When it comes to children, Dr. Ashurst says being open and honest with them is key but to keep their age in mind.

“You wouldn’t want to share as much or some of the things with a younger child as with an older child,” said Dr. Ashurst. “Reassuring that safety, those lines even like the governor has used about ‘we can get through this, we can get through this together’ are very simple phrases that can be repeated with children.”

If you feel there is immediate risk of harm to yourself or someone else you can the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. The hotline is available 24 hours a day. There’s also a chat line available with more information HERE.