Modern Life and Stress

ByAlison

Modern life and stress can take its toll on all of us.  However, mental strain is not always a negative state and a certain amount is actually healthy. We encounter varying amounts of stress every day in different situations throughout our lives, both at work and at home or in social situations. 

We are engineered to respond to challenges in our environment which prompt us to take action – the fight, flight or freeze response.  Our bodies are designed to respond to this by producing adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones enable us to meet the challenge in front of us.  It is only when our stress levels rise and remain too high that they can lead to anxiety or fear. 

These excessive levels can also lead to feeling overwhelmed and of being unable to cope.  Prolonged elevated levels of these hormones also affect our physical health.  Because we can’t prevent stress, we can instead change how we deal with it and make it more manageable.  

Causes of Stress

Relationships, work or study, exams, lack of money, family demands and time management are just some of the most common causes of stress. Divorce, death, loss of a job, moving house, discrimination and bullying, or public speaking are other issues that we face in our lives.  We all experience stress.  We all respond in differing ways to the life events which take place in life because we are unique individuals.  

Studies have shown that when we are happy at work we perform better.  Keeping us engaged in our employment leads to greater well being.  Conversely, when we are disenfranchised from our job roles, health suffers.

Stress is a major contributor to anxiety and depression and can be helped by therapy

Stresses and Pressures of Today’s World

Dealing with Pressure

Living in a fast paced and demanding world puts pressure on all of us.  Society can be quite unforgiving of failure or inability to meet targets. There are many ways in which we might find ourselves reacting to stress: forgetfulness; sleep problems; irritability and moodiness; fatigue; lack of concentration.  We may experience physical feelings of discomfort or anxiety and depression.  These are some of the common symptoms you might be experiencing.  It is important that you understand you are perfectly normal in reacting to stress in this way.  

You can listen to some relaxation recordings on my YouTube channel or contact me today to arrange an initial appointment.    

 

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