Stress
Stress has got a pretty bad wrap over time, we cringe when we hear the word. The reality is, in its most basic form, stress is a natural physiological response to a situation that makes us feel threatened. The body releases chemicals that ignite the ‘flight or fight’ response and then BOOM, we are able to fight our dragons.
However, it could be suggested that our ‘dragons’ are evolving a bit faster than our brain responses and might be over reactive, or firing a bit too often and instead of giving us that extra push to get through difficult situations, it might leave us feeling tired and overwhelmed… stress out! This kind of stress can lead to chronic conditions and not only affects us mentally but can take a real physical toll as well.
What can I do?
There are so many things we can do to help alleviate stress in our lives, including exercise, healthy eating, mindfulness, mediation, taking a life inventory, rest and you guessed it counselling!
mental health foundation, 2018
‘the greatest weapon against stress is our ability to chose one thought over another’
William James
What causes stress
The honest answer to this is anything can leave us feeling stressed out. Our jobs, families, relationships, children, university, bereavement, planning a party, school, bullying, a bad day all can impact the pressure we feel on any given day. It does not have to be negative or positive, it is literally anything or the the combination of things that can cause the stress response.
Signs of stress
The mental health foundation suggests that stress can affect our emotions, behavior, and our physical bodies.
emotions
When we are stressed we might feel like we have less emotional control so anything can come out including fear, sadness, anger, frustrations, this can made us feel agitated, depressed or anxious!
behaviour
It can affect how we behave and react with those around us. We can be edgy, argumentative, withdrawn or snappy, or tearful. Stress can cause us to loose interest in the things that we normally love including sex, or being with friends and family, it can make us feel that we are totally outside of our lives looking in.
physical bodies
Stress can cause headaches, nausea, numbed fingers, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, elevated breathing or heart rate! Does this sound familiar? It certainly will to anyone who has ever experienced anxiety! These things are all so closely linked!