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Hi guys, happy Wednesday! 
I remember we've had a couple of previous discussions about mental health, specifically, stress. The latest topics I found related to stress were from March 2019 and an earlier one from 2018, and there were some good tips, experiences and info shared by many members! 
As today is National Stress Awareness Day, which is a good opportunity to think about well-being and finding information about managing stress, it's also a good moment to revive this discussion a bit and share some further tips. It would be lovely to get some views from all of you as well who haven't participated in the earlier discussions.
Below are some of the things I picked up from our earlier conversations - it's also important to note that what works for one might not work for another, and if you're unable to manage stress on your own, you should seek further help. Getting to the underlying issue would be good too, the thing that actually is causing you stress. 
Ideas on how to unwind and manage stress:
- Reading a book
- Sitting in the sun
- Being in the company of good friends
- Exercising (cycling, running) with headphones on
- Visiting home and spending time with family
- Learning about more positivity and self-awareness
- Using stress-management apps like Headspace
- Taking a nice walk
- Talking to others about your troubles
- Singing along to your favourite songs
- Getting busy with a task for some temporary distraction
- Making use of some anger-management practises
- Listening to music
- Doing some arts and crafts, e.g. knitting
- Cooking
- Watching your favourite TV shows
Credit to you guys from this topic from 2018 for the above list!
Do you have any additional observations or experiences related to managing stress? I'd love to see some more added to the list above now that a year has passed? Do you use the methods above on a regular basis?
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@Anonymous wrote:
Headphones on.. forget the world!
Good one, I actually just received my new noise-cancelling headphones this morning. Charging them up now and going to test with some work-related tasks to see how the silence impacts productivity.
I'm curious about using them in conjunction with another relaxing activity. I use adult colouring books sometimes and wondering if using noise-cancelling headphones would double the effect.
@Anonymous , @Anonymous do you listen to music on your headphones or something else like podcasts, or just for the noise-cancelling effect perhaps?
I use my headphones when I’m out walking, running and on the bike. I’ve used Apple standards until a few weeks back when I went for some Sennheiser cans. Not that practical for exercising but I just can’t get on with in ear plugs. (I have to revert to the Apple standards when I’ve got my helmet on..grr)
and it's always for music!!!!
(current running playlist)
Adult colouring books.. never heard of them.. I couldn’t stay inside the lines as a kid, I don’t think much has changed over the years!
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The stress-relief ball included in my O2 Surprise help 
; but, more seriously, soft quiet music can be a comfort and help relieve some of the stress I might be feeling; plus taking my mind of what might be troubling me or worrying about by coming onto Off Topic and having fun is a real help
@Mi-Amigo wrote:The stress-relief ball included in my O2 Surprise help
Interesting... I'm the opposite.. loud music, doing the dad dance and singing to let it all go!
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@Anonymous @Marjo
Adult colouring books are soooo cool!
Look what everyone wants to get on a paramedic site...
It's sexual illnesses (the viruses/bacterias) to colour XD (there are other illnesses, parasites, deadly illnesses etc too)
What helped me the most after therapy in the rehab i went to... To just don't care about other's problems anymore. I always tried to solve problems of others first, so my problems and demands never got solved.
Now that I just give a f**k about others and sort my things first (doesnt mean I don't care for others anymore... but not ALL others), my health improved and I started living again.
Moving away (from the stressors) worked in a good way too. I go there if I (!) want to.
If I do, I get a bad feeling and feel bad for another some days. But the rest of the time is good.
Aswell as I won't contact the people giving me stress anymore.
Like my aunt, she just wrote when she needed something (last message was happy bday - middle of june).... I just didn't contacted after writing thanks. (To see if there comes a question like how are you/your brother doing etc)....
So I radically sorted the people I have a close contact to - et voila - feeling better.
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My doctor friend would love that colouring book @ComaChameleon ! 
Speaking of some more random colouring books, there's a Nicholas Cage colouring book for example (it has various illustrations of his face that you can colour). I have a couple of books with cat illustrations but would like to try mandalas next. The viruses one above would be cool too though!
