- Stressing out about finding ways to relax can increase anxiety, leading to feeling “stresslaxed.”
- Health experts say there are several ways you can avoid or overcome feeling “stresslaxed.”
- Chronic stress can increase a number of health risks, including high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
Recognizing you are stressed and need to relax is a good step toward helping yourself.
However, when finding ways to de-stress adds more stress to your life, you may end up feeling “stresslaxed,” a counterproductive effect that can lead to a vicious cycle of increased anxiety and worry.
“This term refers to the phenomena or experience of people who are in an anxious or stressed state trying to calm down and feel more relaxed by forcing themselves to take a break or unwind,” Dr. Michael Schirripa, psychiatrist, podcast host, and author of the upcoming novel Mindhunt, told Healthline.
When people force themselves to relax, they can become more anxious, and they may worry more about how well or efficiently they are actually able to relax.
The clinical term for “stresslaxed” is relaxation-induced anxiety, said Deborah Serani, Psy.D., professor at Adelphi University and author of the award-winning book, “Living with Depression.”
“Research suggests that if you already struggle with generalized anxiety or overthinking, you may be more prone to stresslaxing. Other evidence says individuals with stresslaxing struggles may also experience panic attacks in addition to their stress and anxiety. And then there are others who may become depressed because they can’t relax freely,” she told Healthline.
In many ways, the brain resists forced relaxation, particularly the part of the brain called the amygdala, which is always searching for danger.
“We need to remember that our brains are always ‘on’ and are actually designed to be worried. After all, that anxiety can keep us alive as we are always aware of potential dangers that may threaten us,” Schirripa…
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