Understanding Stress: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Managing Stress: How It Affects Your Mental and Physical Health

In today's fast-paced world, stress and burnout are increasingly becoming part of daily life. If left unchecked, chronic stress can take a serious toll on both your mental and physical health.

You may be wondering:

• Can stress lead to weight gain?
• Does it cause back pain?
• Could stress trigger a heart attack?
• How does stress affect your sex drive?
• What impact does stress have on existing health conditions?

In this article, we'll explore how stress influences your overall wellbeing and offer strategies to manage it effectively.

What Is Stress and What Causes It?

Stress is a natural response to perceived threats, triggering your body's fight-or-flight mechanism. While short-term stress can be beneficial in certain situations, prolonged exposure to stress can lead to burnout, anxiety, and physical health issues.

Stress can arise from several factors:

• Life Changes: Major transitions, such as moving, starting a new job, or losing a loved one, can disrupt routine and increase stress. Even positive events, like marriage or having a child, can cause stress due to the emotional adjustments needed.
• Interpersonal Conflicts: Disagreements with family, colleagues, or neighbours can lead to ongoing emotional strain. These conflicts often stem from miscommunication or unmet expectations, causing feelings of isolation and tension.
• Work-related Stress: High workloads, tight deadlines, or lack of control in the workplace contribute to stress. Balancing professional responsibilities and maintaining work-life balance can lead to burnout if not properly managed.
• Financial Concerns: Worrying about day-to-day expenses, debt, or future financial security is a major source of stress. Financial stress affects self-esteem and relationships, leading to anxiety.
• Cognitive Factors: Negative thinking patterns, perfectionism, and self-criticism can amplify stress. These tendencies cause people to feel overwhelmed by everyday challenges, increasing emotional strain.
• Environmental Stressors: Noise, overcrowding, or living in high-crime areas create ongoing stress. These external factors can heighten feelings of discomfort and helplessness.

While short bursts of stress are manageable, chronic stress can result in serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or anxiety. Recognising the sources of stress and learning to manage them is key to maintaining overall wellbeing.

Recognising the Signs of Stress

Stress manifests in many ways—emotionally, physically, cognitively, and behaviourally. Ask yourself:

• Do you feel easily frustrated or agitated?
• Are you overwhelmed or out of control?
• Do you avoid social interactions?
• Is it hard to relax and quiet your mind?

If you answered "yes" to any of these, you may be experiencing emotional signs of stress.

Physically, stress can present as:

• Frequent headaches
• Muscle tension (especially in the jaw and neck)
• Insomnia
• Upset stomach, nausea, or constipation
• Recurrent colds or infections

Cognitive signs include:

• Constant worrying
• Difficulty focusing or remembering details
• A tendency to focus only on negative outcomes
• Racing thoughts

These symptoms can also affect behaviour. Stress may lead to:

• Overeating or loss of appetite
• Increased use of alcohol, smoking, or drug consumption
• Nervous habits like nail-biting or fidgeting

Over time, these behaviours can negatively impact your health. For example, stress doesn't directly cause weight gain, but stress-related habits—such as overeating or lack of exercise—can lead to unhealthy weight changes.

The Long-Term Effects of Stress

While short bursts of stress are normal, prolonged stress can significantly alter your mood, actions, and thought patterns. Persistent stress without intervention can contribute to mental health challenges, such as anxiety, depression, and burnout.

Regular exercise and relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing exercises, can help alleviate stress and reduce its harmful effects. For those struggling with chronic stress, professional counselling can provide valuable tools and support.

How Counselling Can Help Manage Chronic Stress

It's important to recognise when stress has become chronic and take steps to address it. At New Vision Psychology, our counsellors specialise in helping clients manage stress using evidence-based therapeutic methods.

We tailor our approach to meet individual needs, employing various techniques, including:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Helps you identify and challenge negative thought patterns that contribute to stress. By reframing these thoughts, you develop healthier responses to stressors and reduce emotional distress.
• Mindfulness Practices: Mindfulness techniques, such as deep breathing and body scans, reduce stress by calming the body’s stress response, helping you stay present and emotionally regulated.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Teaches acceptance of thoughts and feelings rather than resisting them, allowing you to focus on actions that align with your values, reducing stress’s impact.
• Psychoeducation: Understanding how stress affects your mind and body empowers you to manage it more effectively through informed decision-making.
• Relaxation Strategies: Techniques like progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery calm the nervous system, reducing physical symptoms of stress.
• Interpersonal Therapies: Helps manage stress from relationships by improving communication and resolving conflicts, reducing tension in personal and professional life.
• Solution-Focused Therapy: Focuses on practical, immediate solutions rather than the causes of stress, helping you set achievable goals and regain control.
• Client-Centred Approach: We provide a supportive, non-judgmental environment, working collaboratively to develop stress management strategies suited to your individual needs.

Whether you're seeking help for personal stress or looking to support your employees through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), we can work with you to develop effective stress management strategies.

Contact us today at 1300 001 778 to find out how we can help you take control of your stress and improve your mental and physical wellbeing.