Our Specalities

What is Stress?

Stress is a natural response to human body resulted from challenging and demanding life situations. A reasonable level of stress can be productive. For example, some level of stress help you to get through your day, including, waking up in the morning, get through your chores, attending work on time, meeting a deadline etc. However, when the demands and challenges a person experiences exceeds the limits, stress become overwhelming and can be harmful to mind and the body.
 

Some of the common life stressors are:

• Death/loss of a loved one
• Domestic Violence
• Separation from a relationship/ Divorce
• Loss of a job/fear of losing a job
• Financial struggles
• Changes and adjustment to new life situations
• Physical illness or injury
• Emotional problems (depression, anxiety, anger, grief, guilt, low self-esteem)
• Being a caregiver for a family member or important others
• Bullying, Harassment and Stalking
• Neighbourhood dispute
• Legal issues

Effects of Stress:

Stress impacts Emotional, Physiological, Behavioral and Cognitive functioning in the following ways:

Emotional: Anxiety, Depression and Anger

Physiological: Shaking, increased heart rate, breathing becomes shallow and quick, excessive sweating, tightness in the chest, shoulder pain,  etc.

Behavioral: Avoidance, substance and gambling addiction, insomnia, obsessive and compulsive behaviors.

Cognitive: Poor concentration, forgetfulness, difficulty with decision making and confusion.

Stress at work

Stress at work is very common and can be caused by excessive workload, poor work-life balance, conflicts with others, bullying and harassment, organizational changes, going through disciplinary hearings, and many more. If stress from the job is interfering with your work performance, health, or personal life, it’s time to take action. No matter what you do for a living, or how stressful your job is, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce your overall stress levels.

Signs of excessive stress at work and family life

• Feeling anxious, irritable, low mood or on the edge
• Feeling uneasy or tension when getting ready to work
• Trouble sleeping
• Unable to switch off from work and/or overworking
• Trouble concentrating
• Making more mistakes at work
• Lack of libido
• Social withdrawal
• Fear of something awful will happen
• Performance anxiety
• Loss of interest in work

Prolonged stress and its impacts

Prolonged stress can result in mental health conditions such as Anxiety Disorders and Depression.