HR
ENMental Health in Stressful Times
- Category: Parenting
There are periods when it feels like mental health is constantly being put to the test. The news is heavy, the cost of living is rising, work demands more than we have the strength to give, and family and personal obligations do not wait for us to “pull ourselves together.” In such moments, stress is not just a passing tension, but a state that seeps into sleep, concentration, relationships, and the body. That is exactly why useful, realistic, and actionable advice is not a luxury, but a necessity. Taking care of yourself in stressful times does not mean escaping life, but learning how to move through it with more stability, clarity, and gentleness toward yourself.
Many people think resilience is built only once everything falls into place. In reality, it is the opposite: resilience is built in the middle of chaos, through small rituals, healthy boundaries, supportive relationships, and everyday decisions that restore a sense of control. You do not need to become calmer, more productive, and a “better version of yourself” overnight. It is enough to begin with a few concrete steps that reduce inner pressure and help keep stress from running your day.
Recognize what stress looks like for you personally
One of the reasons people stay stuck in the same patterns for so long is that they imagine stress too narrowly. Stress is not just a racing heartbeat before an important meeting or anxiety over bills. Sometimes it shows up as irritability toward loved ones, losing interest in things you used to enjoy, constant fatigue, excessive scrolling on your phone, or the feeling that you are “on edge” all the time. For some, it appears as tension in the shoulders and jaw, for others as insomnia, and for others as withdrawal and silence.
It is important to develop your own personal map of stress. Pause and ask yourself: how does my body tell me it has had too much? What thoughts keep circling in my mind then? What do I do when I am overwhelmed—eat more, eat less, put off responsibilities, snap for no reason, withdraw? The sooner you recognize your own signals, the sooner you can respond. This is especially important in the Croatian context, where many people were raised to “endure,” “grit their teeth,” and keep going. Endurance can be a virtue, but if we constantly ignore our inner alarm signals, the price often comes in the form of exhaustion, anxiety, or damaged relationships.
- Notice the three most common physical signs of stress, such as headaches, tightness in the chest, or shallow breathing.
- Write down which situations trigger you the most: deadlines, conflict, news, finances, or feelings of loneliness.
- Track what helps you and what drains you even more, even if it currently feels like “relief.”
This kind of self-observation is not overanalysis, but the foundation of healthy self-regulation. When you know how stress affects you, advice stops being abstract and becomes applicable.
Get your body back on your side: the nervous system seeks safety
When we are under pressure, we often try to solve everything with our thoughts. But stress is not only a mental problem; it is also a physical state. If the nervous system is constantly on alert, it is hard to reach a sense of calm simply by rationally convincing yourself that “everything will be fine.” That is why the first step is often not deeper thinking, but returning to the body. This can be a slower walk without your phone, a few minutes of conscious breathing, stretching, a warm shower, or a short break during the day in which you consciously relax your shoulders and jaw.
In practice, this means you do not wait for the weekend, your vacation, or “better days” to calm down. Calm is trained in small doses. Scent rituals can also help, because the sense of smell very quickly affects the experience of comfort and safety. If natural approaches suit you, you can explore essential oils and absolutes often used in evening relaxation rituals, or gentler forms such as hydrosols for refreshment during a demanding day. The point is not a “miracle solution,” but creating signals for the body that it is no longer in danger.
It is equally important not to romanticize exhaustion. If you wake up tired, skip meals, work without breaks, and are mentally “switched on” all the time, your body will not believe affirmations about peace. It needs consistent care. This includes a sleep rhythm, enough fluids, simple and nourishing meals, and daily movement that does not have to be intense to be beneficial.
- Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds, exhale for 6 seconds, and repeat 5 times.
- Take a 10-minute walk after work before moving into household obligations.
- In the evening, dim bright lights and put away screens at least 30 minutes before sleep.
- Introduce one calming ritual that repeats every day at the same time.
Protect your mind from information overload
One of the most underestimated sources of stress today is constant exposure to information. Many people start the morning with the news, continue the day with notifications, and end the evening comparing themselves to other people’s lives on social media. The brain then has no chance to rest, process experiences, or distinguish what is truly urgent from what is simply loud. The result is a feeling of being scattered, inner tension, and chronic unease.
That is why caring for mental health in stressful times also includes informational boundaries. This does not mean living in ignorance, but choosing when, how much, and from which sources you receive content. If following the news destabilizes you, set a specific time of day to check it instead of letting it pop up on your screen all day. If social media intensifies feelings of inadequacy, clean up the profiles you follow. Your focus is a limited resource, and it is worth protecting just as much as your energy.
In everyday Croatian life, this can look very concrete: not opening news portals as soon as you wake up, not reading the comments under every article, not taking work chat to bed, and not feeling guilty if you are not available to everyone at every moment. The world will not stop if you reply later, but your inner peace can suffer seriously if you constantly live in a state of alertness.
- Set two times a day to check the news and messages.
- Turn off unnecessary notifications that interrupt your concentration.
- Spend one hour a day without screens, preferably moving or in silence.
- Unfollow profiles that leave you feeling worse, more anxious, or less worthy.
Small routines that create a sense of control when everything is uncertain
In stressful periods, people often look for a big solution: a new method, the perfect planner, a radical reset. But the biggest difference is usually made by small routines that create predictability. When the outside world is uncertain, your inner rhythm becomes an anchor. A morning cup of tea without rushing, five minutes of silence before work, going to the market on Saturdays, briefly writing down your thoughts in the evening—such small things may not seem spectacular, but they send the nervous system the message that there is order, continuity, and support.
A routine does not have to be rigid to be useful. In fact, the best routine is the one you can maintain even in a bad week. If you try to change all your habits at once, you will probably exhaust yourself even more. It is much wiser to introduce two or three points of stability. For example, a regular breakfast, a short walk, and screen-free time before bed. These are simple but powerful tips because they restore the feeling that you can still influence part of your day.
If you enjoy care as a form of calming, it is helpful to include touch as well. A gentle hand or foot massage can be very grounding, especially in the evening. Natural products and vegetable oils, butters, waxes, and macerates can help with this, not as a luxury, but as a small ritual of returning to yourself. Sometimes it is precisely these quiet moments that make the difference between a day that runs you over and a day you still managed to live through more consciously.
How to build a routine that truly helps
Start with the question: what most often throws me off balance? If it is a chaotic morning, organize the start of your day. If the problem is evening overload, protect the last hour before sleep. If working from home drains you, introduce a clear transition between work and private time. A routine is effective when it fits your life, not someone else’s ideal from the internet.
It is also good to connect a new habit to an existing one. After brushing your teeth, do two minutes of breathing. After lunch, walk around the building. After showering, apply oil and consciously slow down. That way, the new practice more easily becomes part of everyday life, without feeling like an additional burden.
Do not carry everything alone: relationships are an important part of resilience
When stress presses down on us, it is easy to believe we have to pull ourselves together before reaching out to someone. But isolation is often exactly what deepens the problem. Mental health is not only an individual discipline; it is also sustained through relationships. Talking to someone you trust can reduce inner pressure, help you see the situation more clearly, and remind you that you are not alone. You do not need to “have a big enough problem” to ask for support.
In our culture, there is still a tendency to downplay our own suffering. People say, “It’s fine, it could be worse.” Sometimes that sounds modest, but in the long run it can be a form of neglecting yourself. Your experience matters even without comparison to someone else’s. If you are overwhelmed, exhausted, or anxious, that is reason enough to slow down and seek support. This can be a friend, partner, family member, psychologist, psychotherapist, or support group.
Support does not always have to be a deep two-hour conversation. Sometimes it is enough to tell someone: “I’m having a hard week, I need a little more understanding.” Or: “Could you do the shopping today? I don’t have the capacity.” Healthy relationships are not those without needs, but those in which needs can be spoken aloud.
- Choose one person you can honestly tell how you are, without sugarcoating it.
- Instead of the general “I’m not doing well,” try naming what exactly feels hard.
- Ask for specific help: a conversation, childcare, a ride, a walk together, or simply presence.
- If you feel like you have been sinking for a long time, seek professional support without delay.
Natural ways to calm down can be supportive, but not a substitute for help
Many people are helped in stressful times by small natural rituals: a cup of warm herbal tea, the scent of lavender before sleep, washing the face with hydrolat in the middle of a demanding day, or evening body care. Such moments are not insignificant. They create space between stimulus and reaction, between tension and relief. If you are drawn to herbal support, it is worth learning about topics such as medicinal herbs, but with moderation and the understanding that natural does not automatically mean suitable for everyone.
It is important to keep a healthy perspective. Natural approaches can be an excellent part of everyday self-care, but they are not a substitute for professional help when stress has grown into serious anxiety, depression, panic attacks, or long-term insomnia. If you feel unable to function, if dark thoughts overwhelm you, if you are withdrawing from everything, or if everyday life has become unbearable, then the right step is to talk to a professional. Strength is not in enduring everything alone, but in recognizing when you need more than a home routine.
The healthiest approach is often a combined one: a little more awareness, a little more rest, a little more support, and professional help when needed. That is not a sign of weakness, but of maturity. Sometimes that very decision marks the beginning of real recovery.
When to say “enough”: boundaries protect energy and dignity
A large part of stress does not come only from what happens to us, but from what we keep allowing. Too many obligations, too little rest, constant availability, taking on other people’s problems, and feeling guilty when we say “no”—all of this slowly drains our capacity. People who are conscientious and responsible often have the hardest time setting boundaries because they do not want to disappoint others. But without boundaries, caring for mental health remains incomplete.
A boundary is not a fight, rejection, or selfishness. A boundary is clear information about what you can carry and what you can no longer carry. This can mean not replying to work messages after a certain hour, not accepting every extra task, not entering conversations that regularly drain you, or not turning the weekend into an extended workweek. In a country where many people are used to “managing somehow,” “pushing through,” and “getting it done,” boundaries can sometimes seem almost rebellious. But they are often exactly what is required to remain functional, present, and healthy in the long run.
Examples of healthy boundaries in everyday life
You can say: “I can’t get to that today, I can do it tomorrow.” You do not have to explain every choice you make in detail. You can leave a gathering early if you are exhausted. You can decide not to listen to every other person’s problem if you yourself are barely staying on your feet. Boundaries are not walls; they are doors with the handle on the inside.
At first, it may feel uncomfortable, especially if you are used to being the person everyone relies on. But the discomfort of a new boundary is often a smaller price than chronic exhaustion. In the long run, people respect you more when you communicate your capacities clearly and calmly.
What to do when you feel like you are on the edge
There are days when stress advice sounds too far away because you are already overwhelmed. Then it is not the time for a perfect plan, but for urgently reducing the load. The first step is to stop. Do not try to solve everything at once. Do not make big decisions in a state of panic. Instead, return to the basics: sit down, slow your breathing, drink water, go outside, contact someone. If you can, postpone everything that is not urgent for at least a few hours. When the nervous system is overloaded, the priority is not productivity but stabilization.
It is good to have a personal plan prepared in advance for such moments. For example: three people you can call, three activities that calm you, three sentences that bring you back to the present moment. This is not dramatizing, but wise preparation. Just as we keep basic first aid supplies at home, it is useful to have emotional first aid as well.
- Move away from the space or situation that intensifies the overwhelm, if possible.
- Direct your attention to five things you can see, four you can hear, and three you can touch.
- Contact a trusted person and simply say: “I need you to be with me.”
- If thoughts of self-harm or hopelessness are present, seek professional and emergency help immediately.
The most important thing to remember is that intense stress does not mean you are weak, but that you are overloaded. And overload calls for support, relief, and recovery—not additional self-criticism.
Conclusion: mental health is not protected by grand gestures, but by loyalty to yourself
In stressful times, it is easy to lose touch with yourself. Days become a series of obligations, news, worries, and attempts to somehow keep everything under control. But mental health is usually not restored through one big change, but through a series of small, consistent decisions: to pause when you feel it is too much, to take your signals seriously, not to underestimate fatigue, to seek support before you burn out, and to nurture what brings you back to yourself.
Maybe you cannot remove all sources of stress. Maybe you cannot change circumstances as quickly as you would like. But you can change the way you relate to yourself while you are going through it. And that is no small thing. It is the foundation of resilience. When you approach yourself with more respect, gentleness, and clarity, even the hardest periods become more bearable. Not because they are easy, but because you are no longer alone against yourself.
So let these tips not remain just something you read and forgot. Choose one step today: a shorter walk, going to bed earlier, an honest conversation, less news, more breath, more boundaries. Sometimes that one step opens space for the next. And from those small shifts, over time, a more stable, calmer, and stronger life is created.
