Stress Management Therapy Stress is NOT a disease. However, stress leads to a breakdown of the psychological and physical aspects of the mind. Even though stress is not a disease, it can cause a myriad of diseases. If stress isn’t released, it can affect a person’s physical as well as mental health. Stress management is imperative for individuals with short-term as well as chronic stress so that it doesn’t begin to deteriorate other parts of an individual’s life. There are three different types of damage that stress can cause. These are: Behavioural Damage: - Stress can change a significant change in a person’s behaviour. These changes are, almost always, negative. These negative changes primarily affect two major areas. These are work and relationships, most often personal. The damage is mostly caused by arguments, significant drop in interest in activities that were enjoyed before, distracted behaviour, avoidance of problems, substance abuse caused by stress. Psychological Damage: - Psychological troubles due to stress begins with symptoms such as feeling fatigued, mentally tired, lower levels of energy, impaired concentration, impaired learning skills, ADD, brain inflammation, impaired memory recall etc. In this case, the best course of treatment is psychological therapy that is primarily aimed at relieving stress and cathartic practices. Physiological Damage: - Stress causes significant physical damage. This can manifest itself in the form of asthma, skin conditions and allergies, a compromised immune system, chronic fatigue, heart diseases, impaired bowel movements, brain inflammation, strokes etc. Causes of Stress: - Each person responds differently to different kinds of stress inducing situations. What may be a stressor for one person may not be a stressor for someone else? Anything in the world can cause stress, it depends on how different individuals perceive things differently. How an individual respond to a specific situation affects how it will affect their life. It is proven that individuals who feel like they don’t have enough resources to deal with stress react poorly to stress inducing situations and this results in stress. The most common triggers of stress are: • • • • • •
Uncertainty pertaining to life/goals Discrimination Poverty Stress related to work Problems within the family unit Loss of a loved one
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• • • • •
Illnesses Moving away from home Academic pressure/stress Problems with marriages/relationships Divorce
How to work through stress and cope better There are many techniques in the book to deal with stress. These techniques can either be directed towards self-help or mental health counseling. It is important to identify your stressors and identify how to change your environment in order to dodge these stressors. It is also important to develop effective and healthy coping mechanisms for the same which may include meditation, yoga, exercise, mindfulness, energy healing etc. Sometimes, changing your schedule can also help for most often individuals are engrossed in their work life/educational life and forget to give themselves a much-deserved break which causes stress. Keeping this theme in mind, an individual’s work environment can also be a stressor. Finally, one of the best ways to cope with stress is to attend stress management therapy with a mental health professional which helps an individual develop healthy coping mechanisms as well as establish goals and skills of how to deal with and manage stress.
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