Stress
Stress is a psychological state which impacts your wellbeing causing emotional, physical and cognitive effects. For example, you may find you are unable to remain calm, struggle to concentrate or experience an increased heart rate or muscle tension.
If you remain stressed for long periods of time this can impact your health due to increased levels of stress hormones produced as part of your fight, flight or freeze reactions.
In 2018, a UGov survey also found nearly three quarters of adults have felt so stressed they have felt overwhelmed or unable to cope, with 46% saying this led to them overeating or eating unealthily.
In the same survey 29% of people said stress caused them to increase their alcohol consumption and 51% of people also said they felt depressed, with 61% reporting feeling anxious.
How Stress Can Feel
Feeling stressed has a significant impact on your emotional and physical wellbeing - here are some of the common signs/symptoms you might experience:
- Feeling sad/low, angry or irritable
- Feeling overwhelmed and not being able to concentrate or make decisions
- Changes in weight/diet
- Feeling tired all the time
- Not enjoying things you do or not being interested in things you once enjoyed
- Having a feeling of dread
- Mental or physical problems you have already getting worse
- Experiencing panic attacks
- Feeling sick
- Having an upset stomach, constipation or diarrhoea
Counselling for Stress
It can feel really difficult sometimes to see a way forward if you are experiencing stress - but help is available.
Through accessing counselling in a safe and supportive environment, we can look at the causes of your stress and begin to understand how to manage stress in ways that support your wellbeing and help you day to day.
N.B. you may also want to consider speaking to your GP about the help they may be able to offer you especially if you are experiencing chronic stress.
Please also remember if you are in crisis and need immediate urgent help, you should contact your GP, crisis support or the emergency services
I have both online and in-person appointments available so please
Email me at:
ku.oc.gnillesnuocgec@erialc