13.Worst: Dwell on the negative

If you make a mistake at work, do you assume you're going to get fired? Have a fight with your spouse and worry the relationship may be over? It's not uncommon to jump to worst-case scenarios when dealing with an upsetting issue, but blowing things out of proportion only intensifies your stress. "When we're feeling stressed it's very easy to view ourselves in a negative light," says Matta. To soften your inner chatter, she suggests looking at things from a different perspective. Talk to yourself as if you were offering advice to your best friend and odds are you'll have much more compassionate and positive things to say.

14.Worst: Eat your feelings

Like alcohol or drugs, food often becomes a crutch when coping with difficult times. Soothing your pain with high-calorie, high-sugar, or high-fat comfort foods feels good at first, but it can quickly spiral out of control when your mind and body begin to associate negative emotions with eating. At the first sign of stress, anger, or sadness you'll instinctively reach for food rather than dealing with the feelings at hand. Overeating can cause weight gain and make you feel worse about yourself, as well as exacerbate the GI issues (bloating, reflux, constipation) that often accompany stress, says Hall.

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