Stress, Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety
Anxiety is a fear usually associated with the thought of a threat or something going wrong in the future and can also be caused from something happening right now. Over 8 million people suffer with anxiety in the UK, and it affects people of all ages. more than 7% of 5–19-year-olds have experienced a form of anxiety.
A certain amount of anxiety, worry and fear can be a normal response to situations. You might be worried about a specific issue, such as an upcoming interview or presentation for example.
Anxiety makes you aware of the risks you need to deal with and is known as the ‘fight or flight response’. When this occurs, your body starts to prepare for the perceived threat and you may notice your heart rate increase as it starts to pump more blood into your muscles, preparing you for action and raising your blood pressure. At the same time your breathing becomes shallow, and your pupils may dilate, priming your body for action.
This is a perfectly normal response to perceived threats. However, if you have feelings of anxiety that are disrupting your daily life, perhaps at work, in social situations, or any other part of your life, it’s time to act.
Depression
There is no one size fits all experience of depression, it affects people in different ways. Often we experience a low mood that won’t shift which negatively affects our day to day life. It can be anything from a sense of feeling low and down, tired and lethargic, to lacking a sense of meaning and purpose.
Depression can steal your confidence and self-esteem, leaving you feeling isolated and at its worst, hopeless and lacking joy in life.
Stress
We all feel a little stress in our lives and it can be a good thing – it gives us the drive to get things done and move forward. When we experience positive stress we are exhilarated, energetic, joyful even.
When most of us talk about stress however, what we really mean is ‘distress’, which we experience as negative responses and feelings. When we feel this way, it is difficult to function properly, and we start to feel tension building up in our muscles. Our thinking starts to lack clarity and objectivity.
The feelings of stress, or, more correctly distress is familiar to us all, that knotted feeling in the stomach, feeling helpless, suffering from anxiety and panic, feeling out of control and frustrated. Possibly feeling nauseous. Perhaps less obvious is how it can negatively affect our daily mood. And left unchecked, chronic stress can contribute to physical illness.
Common signs of stress include addiction, insomnia, headaches, decreased energy and feeling irritable.
Reducing your day-to-day stress is critical to ensure the successful maintenance of health for your body and mind. Doing so can positively impact your mood, improve your immune function and allow you to be more productive.
How I can help
I have personally experienced anxiety and depression and understand the impact it can have on your life, and I’ll help you take the action you need.
I’ll use my expertise in Coaching, NLP and Clinical Hypnotherapy to uncover and understand the cause of your anxiety, stress and depression. We’ll work collaboratively to make the right changes for you, putting in place a plan of action that you’ll follow through. And along your journey I will provide the right support and guidance to ensure you experience the change you need and deserve so that you can once again experience peace and happiness.
The Three stages of Stress
1. Alarm (Stressed and wired)
This the first stage of our stress response when we often feel overwhelmed and out of control, suffering fear and panic, sweating and increased heart rate, but not knowing why. We might also suffer from paranoia, low self-esteem, low confidence, feeling useless, anxious, fidgety, irritable, out of control, and nervous. Acute pains may set in along with migraines, digestive problems and allergies. This is part of our tendency towards the ‘fight or flight response’.
2. Resistance (Wired and tired)
This second stage of the stress response is when our bodies are attempting to return to a normal balance. By now we have experienced long-term, prolonged stress, weight gain or loss, insomnia, perhaps an increase in comfort eating and drinking. We are unhappy and ‘surviving not thriving’. We may experience high blood pressure, obesity, addictions, OCD, diabetes and feelings of being ‘hyper and wired’ but frazzled and shattered at the same time.
3. Exhaustion (Stressed and tired)
The final stage is exhaustion – ‘burnout’, the result of your body trying to combat stress for a prolonged period. This is when we get the feeling that ‘enough is enough’. We’re tired all the time, we feel we can’t cope, we may be depressed and suffering from chronic fatigue, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, low blood pressure, low tolerance to cold, low immunity and low libido. At this stage, our stress has become severe.
DASS questionnaire
To understand more about your current Anxiety, Stress and Depression levels, please download a copy of the DASS Questionnaire by clicking below.
Ready to find out more?
Please get in touch. I offer a free 30-minute relaxed and informal consultation. There is no obligation, and the call will help me find out more about you and the issues you are experiencing. It gives us an opportunity to talk through any concerns and to answer any questions you may have.