Stress is nothing something to be taken lightly. When you’re genuinely stressed, your body is under pressure, reacting in a ‘fight or flight’ way, and if you have any existing medical conditions, you could find these are exacerbated, or even changed towards a more severe form, because of the stress which is affecting your mind and body.
Stress is no laughing matter.
It is a medical fact that stress has a major effect on health, mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s therefore important to identify what it is that is causing your stress, and then adapt accordingly. Reducing stress is sometimes simple, but other times it takes practice to switch your mind or habits to a different channel.
Thankfully, help is at hand. Here at the Perth Brain Centre, we are highly skilled and experienced in helping individuals understand the best ways to cope with stress, and to give valuable assistance in changing habits and breaking negative thought patterns. Stress leads to depression and anxiety, which we all know is no picnic. Anxiety treatment can be accessed in order to reduce symptoms, and hopefully help kick out stress and its reactions altogether.
So, what happens when you’re stressed?
Basically, your mind perceives a situation which it thinks is threatening in some way, so your body kick-starts adrenaline and cortisol production, two hormones which are linked with stress. The reaction of these hormones means your body goes into ‘fight or flight’ mode, and this means you undergo a whole host of physical symptoms, such as loss of appetite, racing heart-beat, shallow breathing, negativity, a racing mind, and if you have any existing medical conditions, such as a heart problem, these could adversely affected. The longer the stress goes on for, the worse the whole situation becomes, with sleep affected, which could then cause problems with relationships and work.
Effective stress management is down to identifying the cause and reducing it as much as possible. Of course, sometimes it’s down to coping mechanisms. This can take the form of changing your negative thoughts to positives, learning effective relaxation techniques, making sure you get enough sleep, analysing your diet for possible problems with nutrition, avoiding alcohol and caffeine, seeking social support, taking part in sport, and it could also be as simple as learning to say ‘no’ to people when you feel over-loaded. Keeping a stress diary is a useful tool to identify when you feel most stressed, which could help you pin-point the cause, e.g. work, or home life.
If you are concerned about the effects of stress, no matter what the cause, call the practice now on (08) 6500 3277 to arrange an appointment. We can help you identify the cause of your stress and advise you on how to live with it in a way which won’t impact your general health.
Stress in its worst forms can cause serious health problems, and put simply, life is too short to be stressed.