What is stress?

Stress is not an illness but if it is left unattended it can lead to serious illness. Stress occurs when emotional and mental pressure becomes too much to cope with.

Each person will have a different threshold to when they become stressed. Some people become more motivated under conditions that may seem stressful to someone else.

When someone becomes stressed they may lose their temper more often and find it difficult to concentrate. Stress can affect your sleep, health and relationships.

As the problems and commitments of life pile up, your body react to them as if they were pressures or a threat. This produces the stress hormones which will remain in your body until your stress level goes down.

Symptoms of stress

Stressful situations are different for everybody. What causes one individual to become stresses may not effect somebody else. The most common causes of stress are from pressure a work, relationship problems or dealing with money.

The effect of becoming stressed makes it more difficult to deal with these problems effectively. The most common symptoms of stress include:

• Feeling anxious
• Becoming irritable easily
• Low self esteem
• Sleeping problems
• Loss of appetite
• Sweating
• Finding it difficult to concentrate
• Muscle tension or pains
• Headaches
• Dizziness

Some people try to avoid stress by adopting unhealthy habits such as smoking or drinking. These are not solutions to stress and can begin to cause other health problems.

Stress can also lead to further health problems such as high blood pressure.

Am I stressed?

If you notice any of the symptoms mentioned above, then you may be suffering from stress. Stress cannot be cured or prevented but you can try and manage your stress more effectively.

If you have tried the various self-help methods to combat stress but your situation has not improved, then you should seek medical help. Once your GP has diagnosed that you have stress, they can recommend techniques for coping, counselling or cognitive behavioral therapy.

Stress can also trigger further health problems such as high blood pressure. Following a diagnosis, your doctor may offer you other medication to help manage these conditions.

Finding the trigger to your stress

Try to find out if there is a particular trigger to your stress. Keeping a diary of episodes of stress can help you to identify the triggers.

Keep a record of the times and places when you experienced stress. Make a note of
where you were and who you were with. Record your emotional and physical state at the time. Also write down what you were thinking about or doing before you became stressed.

After a two to four-week period, you can review the diary to see if there is a pattern to the causes of your feeling stressed. A stress diary may also be helpful when talking to your doctor so that they can identify if you are stressed.

Combatting stress

It is common for people who are stressed to turn to unhelpful methods to help them cope. Turning to smoking or drinking wonít make the problem go away and can develop into further health issues.

Here are some tips to manage stress in a more constructive way.

• Exercise more: this can help you to focus your mind away from the problem. You can reduce negative emotions and start to think more calmly.
• Be assertive: Stress will only accumulate if you do nothing to prevent it. Take action to try and improve the situation in a way that suits you.
• Talk to friends: Discussing your concerns with friends and family can offer support. Someone may suggest a solution that you had not yet considered.
• Take time out: Reduce the amount of time that you spend on working and take some ‘me time’ to peruse a hobby or activity that you enjoy.
• Challenge yourself: By setting and achieving goals, you can improve self-confidence and deal with your stress better.
• Avoid bad habits: Avoidance behaviour is turning to temporary and harmful solutions such as alcohol, caffeine and smoking. Focus on the cause of your stress rather than avoid the problem.
• Volunteer your help: By helping other people in your community you will feel better about yourself. Your situation may seem less difficult when compared to others.  Volunteering and community work are good ways of offering your time to others.
• Prioritise tasks: By focusing on the most important jobs, you can manage your time more efficiently. Try not to always aim for everything to get completed if it is not possible.
• Stay positive: Concentrate on the things in life that you should be thankful for. Thinking negatively can increase your stress level.
• You can’t control everything: Once you accept that some aspects of life are out of your control, you can focus on the things that you can make a difference to.

Further reading

Read more about reducing stress on the NHS website.