{"id":6450,"date":"2023-06-09T19:57:06","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T19:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patricklerouge.com\/?p=6450"},"modified":"2023-08-11T20:49:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T20:49:12","slug":"signs-you-are-addicted-to-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patricklerouge.net\/signs-you-are-addicted-to-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"You are addicted to stress"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
We can agree that stress can be a bad thing. But what happens when you flip stress onto its head and say you are addicted to the very thing you\u2019re trying to get rid of?<\/span><\/p>\n I am aware that many people do not see the connection between addiction and stress, so try to hear me out on this. <\/span><\/p>\n Addiction is compulsive behavior. Not to downplay addiction, but for now, let\u2019s repolarize the thought of what addiction is to see the compulsive behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t think about the stress that way, it\u2019s always harder to eliminate stress from your life.<\/span><\/p>\n I view my clients as having stress that they seem to need at the time. Also, I see them having a visceral response or a mental attraction to their stressor, forcing them to go through a self-sabotaging cycle. <\/span><\/p>\n The compulsion: <\/span><\/p>\n That you\u2019re addicted to is stimuli. <\/span><\/p>\n It is the need for an energetic hit of some sort. I bring awareness that most clients are on the hunt for another hint of stimuli for whatever reason.<\/span><\/p>\n I found four categories that I\u2019ve coined within my ecosystem. If you seem to agree with one or more of them, you\u2019re addicted to stress. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This person can\u2019t stop doing things. A classic sign of this is when things slow down and calm down, they instantly go and try to do something like cleaning the house or something that\u2019s going to keep their body in motion. A lot of the time, they do something right before bed. They scroll their phone, looking for stimuli or another hit. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s an external validation of external feelings. And an example of what I see in my business owners is that they have to put out fires all day. The habit sets in, so they\u2019re always looking for something to put out or solve. They\u2019re saying, \u201cI\u2019m so busy, I\u2019m so busy, I\u2019m so busy,\u201d but it\u2019s busy work. They could put out fires with a small amount of planning and calmness. Rather than taking the time to quiet down, they\u2019re A BUSY BODY. <\/span><\/p>\n They\u2019re always looking for that external hit. And those external stimuli hit is because they can\u2019t feel a sense of calm. Once they start to lower down, INTERNAL PRESSURE begins to percolate up, and they can\u2019t deal with that. <\/span><\/p>\n So they do something that distracts them from the actual problem within. <\/span><\/p>\n If you do a couple of actions in that realm, you are \u201cthe busybody.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Remember, this is not bad or wrong; shaming is off the table. Being in a state of busy body is just a place where you\u2019re a box that we\u2019re going to hold you in for a second because you\u2019re going to get out of it shortly.<\/span><\/p>\n Once you realize what you\u2019re doing and why you\u2019re doing it, there is a way your mind begins to create a<\/span> plan.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The overthinker has classic signs of worry. And they can\u2019t turn off their brain. A classic symptom they have is trouble falling asleep because they wake up and their mind turns on like a light switch, running a mile a minute. <\/span><\/p>\n The overthinker goes a lot deeper than just a busybody. And it\u2019s straightforward. In my 20 years of practice, I have seen many belief systems and thought processes around \u201cI\u2019m not good enough.\u201d The over-thinker has deep roots here.<\/span><\/p>\n So when an over-thinker calms down, they have trouble allowing themselves to be calm, and then they overthink. The over-thinker is looking for problems or different things to worry about. That\u2019s going to get them to see situations in the future that they give power to now. Their worry gives them the thought process the strength of saying I need to build a skill, a skill set they don\u2019t have, which is powerful all on its own. But they allowed the fact that they don\u2019t have that skill set to disable them. So they worry about how they\u2019re not ready for it by starting to prepare for it like everyone else. As you begin to see you\u2019re not good at something, you practice it, play with it, get more involved in it, and get better. But the overthinker doesn\u2019t take action on that. The overthinker sees a problem perpetuating because they overthink what they must do to solve it. The busybody can\u2019t stop moving and has to do something like scrolling because of their need for stimuli. The overthinker worries about things all the time. They can\u2019t sleep at night because they\u2019re worried about a skill they don\u2019t have based on the belief system that tells them, \u201cI am not good enough.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The jumper has anxiety written all over where the overthinker overthinks. The jumper has a skin-crawling sensation where you have to do something similar to the busybody. But it\u2019s more nervous; it\u2019s spikier. There\u2019s more of an urgency that says, \u201cI need to do something right now. Go, go, go, go, go.\u201d They always have to feel like they\u2019re doing something, perpetuated by anxiety. Like the overthinker, the jumper worries about things, but they also become very anxious and paralyzed by these worries. But they have extreme action to do something. And they need to; their compulsive nature keeps them moving. It shows up physically, where you want to do more. An ailment they often experience is a restless leg. And if you\u2019ve ever had a restless leg, it\u2019s like a bone-chilling feeling that runs through your body, and your legs want to crawl, and it\u2019s hard. Now, meshing the mind and the body stimuli states gives you the jumper. A high level of stimuli in the body creates a busy body which shows up as the body is always active. And the overthinker is just-minded but doesn\u2019t have the body when they\u2019re both in line. The jumper often runs to the future, is highly agitated, worried, and highly sensitive, and their skin conduits force them to do things. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I see way more often than any others: the problem solver. The problem solver is addicted to stress because they are looking for problems to solve. The compulsion stems from a more profound need to be of service, and that\u2019s the tricky part. We use these stimuli to look for problems looking for this. And it has a little bit of all three meshed in one. You try to look for more and more things to solve because you want to make life easier. Easier for your spouse, employees, people around you, and loved ones. So you look for problems to solve rather than just being present. That is the crucial component.<\/span><\/p>\n Now the most accessible example I can give you of the problem solver in everyday life is.<\/span><\/p>\n The masculine energy when dealing with feminine energy.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re not talking about male and female; we\u2019re talking about how masculine energy has to be right or wrong, black or white. It\u2019s a \u201cgive me the facts\u201d type of energy that has to mesh with the curvy feminine energy. It comes up in husband and wife issues all the time. Remember, a wife can hold the masculine energy. It\u2019s the quality of listening to your spouse speak and looking for the problem to solve for them. The problem-solve automatically sees their spouse\u2019s feelings, and they want to make them feel better. The masculine needs to learn from the feminine. Once you understand both, magical stuff happens. Once you know that your spouse might not want you to fix the problem but listen to it, you start to find a solution because now you\u2019re not trying to correct it. You\u2019re giving them the love and support they need. So, the problem solver they have all the aspects of the busybody, the overthinker, and the jumper meshed in with \u201cI need to solve a problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But most of the time, the problem they\u2019re trying to fix is not the root problem. It\u2019s a surface issue, just like trying to solve a problem for your wife when all she needs is to feel connected to you. That is the power that you have to start looking for. <\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m always looking for something to make someone happy and be of service. That is my thing. Which one is yours? How addicted to stress are you? Because that\u2019s what this world is all about. It\u2019s about how well you bounce back.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n There are multiple ways to learn how to deal with stress. There are techniques up the wazoo, but unless you agree with where you are, you\u2019ll never be able to get better in the long term. So learn how to slow down to speed up. Learn how to quiet your mind, calm your body, and sit with sensations that are not always pleasant. Learn to sit with them so you can understand them and eliminate them. That is how you overcome your addiction to stress. Otherwise, you\u2019re going to divert different stimuli and manage a bunch of other tasks and duties, like juggling balls. There are only so many balls that you will be able to juggle in the air before one falls. <\/span>I call number one \u201cThe Busy Body.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n
Person number two is the \u201coverthinker.\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n
Number three: \u201cThe jumper\u201d <\/span><\/h3>\n
Number four: \u201cThe problem solver\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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