Dealing with stress

Hey all. I hope you're all well.

I have a very low tolerance for stress. I get things done and I'm an efficient worker but in my head is all...alarm bells. Like, a lot of wires are crossed and tangled in my mainframe, if that makes sense? You wouldn't know it if you looked at me unless the stress is extreme, and it's extreme right now.

I think my job is a huge sign of stress. It's my first job but it's a difficult one. I'm a peer support specialist and yes, I have a therapist. But I work for a hotline and it's tough because we get homophobic, transphobic, racist, and sexual callers. Basically, we get bigots and perverts. We get callers that curse us out. They don't know what we look like since it's over the phone, so it just gives them free reign to do whatever they want. The supervisors know about them; they just don't do anything. This job has a very high turnover rate, and I can see why. My schedule is very weird so I don't have much of a social life, since my weekends are Monday and Tuesday.

I'm grateful for the job. I really am. I get to help out my mom by being more independent and I can save up money to move out. But it is a very difficult job that's beginning to take a toll on me. I consider myself a strong person, but sometimes I wish I was stronger. I've only had this job for 8 going on 9 months.

I'm also going through other stuff. My therapist had 6 months to write the letter for my gender reassignment top surgery consultation. My consultation was 3 weeks ago and I still don't have my letter. She started writing it the night before and then said that I didn't tell her all of the information that she needed. She asked me questions when we first met and I answered them. I told her everything she needed to know. She just forgot.

I also have a lot of medical bills because my previous counseling center discharged me without telling me so I didn't have medication and I had to rectify that.

I'm sorry for complaining but I just get stressed out so easily...

Does anyone have tips on how to manage daily stress?

Thanks for reading.

Sorry to hear about your struggles. How about some exercise? Swimming? Walking? Physical activities are helpful

I agree about physical activities. They can help relieve some of the stress

Self sooth. Cuddle under a warm blanket. Take a warm bath or shower. Deeb breathing, meditation. Dbt skills would really help you, you should look into a dbt program.

DBT is not the only one I believe the other two are CBT and ACT. You can work with your therapist and see which one works for you. I have heard different reviews on each but it's a personal preference. Good luck

I actually exercise when I get home! I've fallen off the wagon with that, unfortunately, since I've been so busy. But I'm slowly getting back into it.

Showers help be so much and I listen to meditation music before I go to bed. It helps calm me down. Listening to music, in general, helps a lot.

Thanks a lot for the responses, you guys. I really appreciate it.

Sounds like you get a lot of stress from the phone calls you have to take and listen to. Can you arrange to have a family member or good friend call you at the end of your shift and just say positive stuff to you for 5 minutes? That way your last phone call can be feel-good, put things in perspective, and let you end your work everyday in a better state of mind. Alternatively, maybe sometimes at the end of your shift, you can call someone, not to vent, but maybe you could figure out some verbal routine that you and your friend always pass through that has a lot of positive affirmations.