What Is Stress?
Stress is a term that gets talked about a lot in all kinds of settings, but what is it exactly? Within mental health, the concept of stress is generally explained as, “a person perceiving their ability to cope with demands that are placed on them as not being sufficient to meet that demand”. In day to day life this means that people who are experiencing chronic stress often feel worried, drained, or on edge whilst struggling to effectively meet the demands that are placed on them.
It is not uncommon for people who are experiencing high levels of stress to struggle with maintaining previous levels of activity, with a frequent experience being that one is putting more effort than usual into functioning but that they continue to struggle to perform.
Common Symptoms of stress include:
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Easily agitated, frustrated and moody
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Feeing overwhelmed, or that you’re losing control
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Low energy
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Headaches
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Difficulty sleeping
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Teeth grinding
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Racing thoughts
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Difficulty concentrating
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Changes in appetite
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Procrastination
Our Expertise
Counselling and therapy can provide people who are experiencing ongoing stress with tools to alleviate these feelings and help restructure their day to day life to reduce the levels of stress they are experiencing.
Our clinicians are trained in identifying sources of stress within a person’s life and then working with that person to develop strategies to manage stress. These strategies generally involve focusing on both internal (working on feelings and thoughts) and external (working on behaviours and interactions with others) methods for improving a person’s response to and management of stress. If any of the above sounds familiar, please don’t hesitate to get in touch to set up an appointment.