A quickened heart-rate, a little bit of quizziness… it's enough to let you know that you are stressed.
Yes in today's English lesson we are gonna talk about stress. How do you describe stress? How do
you tell people that you are stressed?
Hey friends, you're with me Niharika. Well, when
you lose your mental and physical balance, it means that you are stressed. So how do
you talk about stress in English is what we are gonna learn in today's lesson. Well the
first five phrases that I have for you here well you can use these phrases to talk about
being stressed. Then I also have couple of phrases for you that you can use when you
want to relieve your stress and then here are two phrases for you that you can use when
you are stress-free. So let's start with some phrases that you can use when you are stressed.
So the first one is “stressed out”. When do you use this? When you are very irritated
and upset with all the work that has been given to you. You're just not able to manage
it. So your friend calls and asks you that, “Hey, where have you disappeared?” “Well
I don't see you anymore, let's catch up soon.” Now in return you want to tell her or him
that, “You know, because of this too much of workload, I am way too stressed out.”
So this is a great phrase to use in your conversation to explain that yes you are facing a lot of
stress. So you can say that, “Ah! Don't even ask, I've been so stressed out with this
new job.” So probably you’re not having fun, this new job has added up to your responsibilities,
it's just too much of work and you're not able to handle it, so use this phrase. Moving
on to another phrase that I have for you is, I am really “wound up”. So wound up is
an expression or a phrase that you can use when you are again very stressed, okay? Now
probably there's a presentation or a meeting that you have to take care of now there are
times when we get really nervous about it, facing a big crowd it's difficult, yes, it
makes us nervous, presentations till date makes me nervous as well. So what happens
when you're nervous? It's because of stress yes. You get really anxious, this anxiety
attacks that you'll get that's all stress. So you can use this phrase. Well with the
presentation tomorrow I am really wound up. So wound up it means that you are really stressed
about the presentation that you have to present tomorrow in front of a big crowd, right? Moving
on to another expression which is “under a lot of pressure”. Now this is a very formal
expression that you can use especially it's your workplace. So again you are really stressed,
there's just too much of workload, your boss has pushed a lot of projects on you, your
co-workers have added to your burden, yes… their work has also been pushed on you, oh
poor you. So you are under a lot of pressure and you have to you know present or finish
this project before a deadline, that's like way too close. So what happens well yes that
anxiety, that nervousness you’re irritated, you’re not able to handle it and then you're
like, “oh what's happening, it's the pressure, it's the stress.” So when you have to talk
about this you can say, “I am under a lot of pressure these days, I have deadlines to
meet, I have this project to finish, it's just too much of work, I just can't take this
stress.” So this is the way you will talk about it, alright? Moving on to another phrase
that I have for you is “snowed under”. Now snowed under is a great phrase to use
when you are extremely busy and what happens when you have no time for yourself and you're
just way too busy with something, well because you're busy, because you have too much of
work to do a lot of things to get done with, it means that you are snowed under, okay?
It means that you're very stressed because of so much of work that you're unable to handle
you just lose your balance. So when you have to talk about it in English this is a great
phrase to use. You can say that, “I am so snowed under these days, I just need a break”,
okay? So great expression to use. The next one, “to be up to your ears”. Yeah, what
does this really mean? To be up to your ears… Well it means that you have so much of work
to do. You're unable to finish it on time things are not really working out for you
and there's a lot of pressure and that's all adding up to your stress. You can't handle
it anymore. So how do you explain this? Well great phrase to use in English is that, “I
have been up to my ears these days.” So which means that because of some deadlines,
because of some projects that have come up um or probably it's the year end and you have
to meet your targets then yes I know it's too much of work and it's really stressful.
So talk it out, that will also help and to talk it out use this expression that, I have
been up to my ears these days. I've been unable to take days off. But yes I need a break,
alright? So use these five expressions when you are under a lot of stress, when you are
facing a lot of stress. Now let's move on to some phrases that you can use when you
want to relieve yourself from the stress that you have been facing. So to relieve yourself
from the stress that you're facing you can use “De-stress”. Well we'll have to use
this de-stress, okay? It's not de-stressed, sorry about that but it's de-stress. So how
do you use it in your sentence well you will say that well with all this work that's going
on, I've been under a lot of pressure but I need to de-stress myself by going on a vacation.
So yes probably you need a break and you would like to de-stress yourself. Now remember there
are many people who use the word “distress” which is spelt as distress. But these are
two different words. When you are talking about relieving yourself from the stress then
you use the word de-stress but distress means extreme anxiety. So, many people when they
are under a lot of pressure and they are facing a lot of anxiety then yes that is distress.
So do not get confused de-stress has a different meaning and distress has a different meaning.
So use it correctly the next time you want to. And then the second phrase that I have
for you which you can use is I really need to “wind down”. Let's go for a spa. Yes,
spa relaxes you, right? It relaxes your mind, it relaxes your body. So I think taking an
appointment at the spa place will really work out for you if you want to de-stress yourself
or if you want to wind down, okay? Which means if you want to relieve all the stress that
you are facing. And then the last two phrases that I have for you… you can use these phrases
when you are all relaxed, free from the stress. “I am de-stressed”. Well this project
is over, I have submitted everything to my boss and to the clients, I am so de-stressed
right now. So which means that you are really relaxed and relieved from what you were going
through. And then the last one that I have for you is a very simple one, “I am so relaxed”.
Well my daughter is married and all the marriage responsibilities are now or so I'm gonna take
a break or maybe you're back from a break and you are all relaxed now, okay? So free
from all the stress. So this is the way you will talk about being stressed, relieving
yourself and then being relaxed. So go ahead, use these phrases to sound confident even
when you are under a lot of pressure and I'll be back with a new lesson till then you take
care and please be stress-free.