Introduction
Everyone experiences at least some stress every day. There are tiny sources of stress like getting stuck at a red light or major ones like losing a loved one, but what exactly is stress? Physiologically speaking, stress is our body’s natural reaction to changes or challenges (called stressors) that elicit a physical and mental response from the body.
Stress can be short-term or long-term, positive or negative.
When your body experiences stress, it triggers a fight or flight response. Stress for a short period of time is healthy, but chronic stress can spell trouble. If you feel like you have been stressed for weeks or months, you may benefit from stress management therapy!
What Happens During Stress?
We often hear the word ‘stress’ in negative contexts, but it is our body’s response to protect ourselves. Stress makes us more focussed, energized, and alert, even enabling our bodies to defend ourselves in emergencies.
When stressed, your body produces hormones like adrenaline and cortisol that increase your heart rate, tighten your muscles, cause a rise in blood pressure, and increase your breathing rate.
While these effects can sometimes be associated with positive activities like exercise, chronic stress causes more harm than good. This can lead some people to require stress management.
What is Stress Management Therapy?
Stress Management Therapy is a type of behavioral counseling or psychotherapy during which counselors use healthy coping strategies to help relieve the stressors in life.
We all have some amount of stress in our lives, but when this stress takes over our emotions and life starts becoming burdensome, you may require Stress Management Therapy.
Some techniques used in stress management therapy include:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Lifestyle changes
- Medications
When you visit a professional therapist for stress management, they will conduct a complete evaluation of your history, experiences, family, relationships, and work, and delve deeper to find the root cause of your stress. This helps them deploy suitable techniques to help you cope with what you are going through.
Honest and open communication with your therapist is essential during your counseling sessions so that they can offer the support and therapy that you need.
Signs You Need Stress Management Therapy
If you are wondering ‘why’ or ‘when’ one needs stress management therapy, here are some signs that you need a counselor:
- You are feeling extreme emotions and find it difficult to regulate them.
- You have observed reduced productivity or aren’t performing effectively at home, work, or school.
- You experience loss of appetite or lack of good quality of sleep due to stress.
- Your stress levels are impacting your relationships with others, or you are finding it difficult to maintain them.
- You are losing or have lost interest in activities that you previously enjoyed.
- You have recently experienced trauma or are grieving due to a life event like a breakup, divorce, or death of a loved one and you are having trouble coping.
- Your physical health is being impacted by your stress and mental health.
Key Takeaway
Stress is a widely prevalent mental health illness that requires professional help when it begins to impact your health negatively. It is essential to remember that reaching out or seeking help is a sign of courage. The earlier you spot the signs of stress derailing your life, the faster you can bring it back on track.
If you think you need help coping with stress, book an appointment with the best therapists in Carrolton at LifeWorks!
