Stress

What is stress?

The Oxford dictionary definition of stress is:  ‘a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.’  Stress could therefore be defined as, our mind and body’s reaction to our feelings and expectations.

What causes stress?

Stress can be initiated by a range of things such as bereavement, loss of employment, relationship breakdown and change. It can however also be caused by a sense of disconnection from others, expectations from yourself or others that cannot be met.

Stress can occur at times of heightened emotions or encounters, which then start to be experienced as unmanageable and as a result the individual can feel their physical and mental well- being as threatened. Examples of this might be the need to achieve the highest marks, to get the best job, dealing with excessive responsibility or feelings of not being heard or given time by others

What are the symptoms of stress?

Stress can take many shapes, it can be overwhelming, debilitating and sometimes difficult to recognise.

Sensations of increased heart rate, sweating, nausea, panic, are all physical states that we may identify in relation to stress, but also:

• Individuals who are stressed may become less communicative
• Sleepless nights and loss of appetite or overeating can also be symptoms of stress
• An inability to relax even when exhausted: the individual may feel tearful and upset about minor disruptions or disputes

Different treatments for stress

Depending on severity, there are a number of avenues that can be accessed and explored to combat stress.

Sometimes stress can become all-encompassing and severely disrupt a person’s life, developing into depression or anxiety, in which case, medical treatment, such as anti-depressants, may be prescribed in the short or long term.

There are more holistic, self-help interventions such as relaxation techniques, meditation and yoga, for example. Thinking about lifestyle changes can also be a major factor in reducing stress,

Stress can also be addressed in talking therapies as detailed below.

How can counselling help with stress?

We all experiences times when we are under so much pressure that it is difficult to see the wood for the trees. Stress can be a symptom of the need to keep all your balls in the air and feeling you need to keep going, going, going no matter the cost to your mental (and physical) health. Understanding this drive to keep striving, even when it becomes harmful, may be a challenge. Therapy is an outlet that may help make sense of this. Your therapist will work with you to build a picture and give meaning to yours and other’s expectations. This may mean that you can get hold of and make conscious the underlying distress that is maybe difficult to access on a day to day conscious level. By talking about and examining this, you may be able to explore the origins of your distress making it more manageable.

To find a counsellor used to talking about these issues, visit our database.