How do you deal with stress? It’s obvious that most parents of kids with special needs deal with more stress than the average parent. But how you deal with it can make all the difference in the world.
Internalizing it? BAD. Finding a healthy way to release it? GOOD.
How do I deal with stress? In the ten years I’ve been navigating this journey, I’ve learned the difference between healthy and unhealthy ways to deal with stress. For example, anything I do to focus on myself? Healthy! Haircuts, massages, going to the gym to run on a treadmill, talking a walk to get some fresh air, taking a nap and having coffee with a friend? GOOD.
Painting the walls while my husband is away, dying my hair strange colors, piercing my ears in weird places, buying furniture on impulse (hey, I was pregnant! I was tired of mattresses on the floor!) and shutting myself in the house for two days staring at the tv and ignoring the phone? PROBABLY BAD.
We are going to be stressed out. We are going to need to find a way to deal with it in a healthy manner. Picking the wrong thing can make it worse. Trust me on that one. Because, when you deal with it in an impulsive manner? There are repercussions. Like, fallout. Consequences to your behavior. The repercussions of painting walls while your husband is away? Ignoring your kids for a whole day and he doesn’t like the color at all. Dying hair strange colors? You feel immediately unattractive and can’t dye it again for a while. Piercing your ears in weird places? HOLES IN YOUR HEAD THAT DON’T BELONG THERE. Staring at the tv for two days? Welp. Dishes build up in the sink, people think you are sick and keep calling back.
But finding healthy ways? Exercise? Obvious benefits! Unless, you did what I did at first and exercise obsessively for three hours a day. That’s prolly not good. But hair cut and massage? ALWAYS A GOOD THING. Feeling like you’ve hit rock bottom and then getting the sudden urge to get a new tattoo? Might be bad when you have clouded judgement.
Just sayin’.