Stress is one of the most widespread feelings that everyone has experienced from time to time. However, extreme stress is experienced in unique circumstances like after a car accident or before an upcoming criminal trial. Understanding how stress works and different techniques to relieve stress can help you maintain a clear head during the trial. Finding out more information about your case can also help. Talk to an experienced Tennessee criminal law lawyer if you have questions or concerns.
Underlying Mechanisms of Stress
The brain and body go through a variety of changes in response to a stressor like going to a criminal trial. Understanding how this process works can help you understand why you feel and think the way you do when you are stressed. Awareness of your body’s stress response may be able to help you gain better control over your stress.
is often triggered by encountering something you have never experienced before, almost anything you do not have control over, and things that threaten your sense of self. A criminal trial can do all of these things to the person accused of a crime. For most people, a criminal trial is something they have never experienced before,
something they have very little control over, and something that feels like a personal attack. The threat of a criminal trial lies in the potential for significant changes to your future.
The brain’s reaction to these perceived stressors is so strong that stress hormones like cortisol are released, some of which activate the well-known fight-or-flight response. This fight-or-flight response can trigger an increased heart rate, sweating, and a sense of tension throughout the body. Some people feel restless as the anticipation builds.
Managing stress is important to learn because stress has been scientifically shown to gradually tear down the body in various physical ways.
Ways to Manage Your Stress
may sound impossible, especially if you are currently undergoing a great deal of distress. Something you have probably heard before is that stress can be overcome by accepting the reality that things will not change. This is true, accepting the situation for what it is can diminish symptoms of stress, but it is not always easy.
Relaxation techniques can help. This involves focusing on breathing for around five to ten minutes to distract yourself and your body from the stress response. Talking to loved ones and exercise have also been known to reduce stress. Exercise can be done just about anywhere.
Talking to a lawyer can help you feel more secure about certain aspects of the case, but the truth is that lawyers cannot make any promises for how the outcome will turn out. Not knowing the outcome can make people feel uneasy, but becoming comfortable with the worst possible outcome may help you let go of the stress.
