STRESS
Everybody experiences stress – it is a normal response to particular situations and is part of living a normal, healthy life. But, when stress levels are too high for too long it can have a significant impact on a your physical and mental health, personal relationships and ability to perform at work.
Changes in life
Stress is often related to big changes in circumstances such as work pressures and deadlines, financial issues, relationship changes and family difficulties.
Stressful events are generally unavoidable, however feelings of stress stem from an individual’s perception in their ability to effectively cope with the stressful event rather than the event itself.
Experiencing stressful events cannot always be avoided, but you can develop the tools and strategies so you are better able to manage them when they do arise.
Symptoms
Each person will experience stress differently, and may find they present with any number and combination of the below symptoms (and symptoms not mentioned). Common symptoms of stress can include:
Feeling angry or irritable
Feeling anxious or worried
Experiencing mood swings
Feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness
Ruminating thoughts
Difficulties concentrating
Low motivation levels
Low self-esteem
Withdrawal from social activities
Feeling overwhelmed or overloaded
Feeling wound up or tense
Avoidance of activities or obligations
Physical symptoms such as headache, nausea
Next Steps
A psychologist can work with you to understand what is causing you stress and to develop a further understanding of the stressors and your responses – and ways to help you to manage stress more effectively. Although stress will never be removed completely from your life, you can learn different coping strategies to manage stress in a much more helpful way.
Book an appointment
You can contact us at Your Psych Centre via phone, email, or by dropping in to our office to arrange for an initial session with a psychologist to begin to address the impact stress is having on your life. No referral is needed to make an appointment.
