Stress Counselling Melbourne

Stress is a complex emotional and physical reaction that occurs whenever you’re dealing with a situation, task, or demand which you perceive as painful, difficult, or of great importance.

In other words, stress is a state of tension and discomfort triggered by prolonged exposure to external factors. However, the way we interpret these factors plays a significant role in the onset of stress.

That’s why most experts believe stress has an important subjective component meaning that what some consider easy, relaxing, or even pleasantly challenging, others might interpret as difficult, threatening, and impossible to achieve.

It seems our response to stress depends heavily on individual differences such as genetic makeup and life experiences.

Whether the reason why you’re dealing with unhealthy levels of stress is too many tasks (and too little time to complete them), a heated argument with your spouse or the pain caused by a medical condition, every physical or emotional threat triggers a cascade of stress hormones that result in physiological changes.

And we’re sure each of you is familiar with them. Your heart beats faster; you sweat a lot; you experience breathing difficulties; you feel exhausted regardless of how much you sleep; you struggle with migraines frequently.

In time, these symptoms can have a profoundly devastating effect on your mental and physical health, not to mention the impact stress can have on your professional and social life.

We know for a fact that stress has become the global mental health issue. Each day, we encounter numerous events and factors that could potentially trigger abnormal levels of stress.

Here are some of the main factors contributing to stress:

1. Genetic and biological factors play a vital role in the onset of emotional problems like anxiety, stress, and depression. In other words, the way you respond to stressful events depends – to a certain extent – on how your brain is ‘wired.’
2. Stressful life events are one of the most common reasons why you end up dealing with chronic stress and burnout. The ever-growing demands of everyday life can sometimes turn into unbearable burdens.
3. Hypercompetitive work environments are one of the leading causes of workplace stress. The constant pressure to get things done and score top results can often result in unhealthy stress.
4. Trauma such as car accidents, abuse, the death of a loved one, war, natural disasters, and so on can generate a lot of anxiety and stress.
5. Perfectionism can lead to rigid and unrealistically high standards. As a result, you tend to ‘bite off more than we can chew’ and soon enough, you begin to experience the unpleasant effects of stress.
6. Intrapersonal conflicts like family quarrels or heated arguments with your coworkers represent stressful events with a significantly negative impact on your overall sense of health and wellbeing.

As you can see, stress is the result of multiple biological and environmental factors.

Fortunately, with the guideance of a fully qualified regsitered psychologist or counsellor, you can identify your stressors and discover innovative strategies to keep it from ruining your personal and professional life.

The main reason why stress is a severe problem is that it often leads to more severe conditions.

From a psychological perspective, stress is one of the leading causes of depression and anxiety. The poor academic/work performance, lack of focus, and chronic fatigue that you experience when you’re dealing with too much stress can have a massive impact on your mental health.

From a medical perspective, stress is associated with a series of physical illnesses such as:

• Gastrointestinal problems
• Migraines and headaches
• Accelerated aging
• Heart disease
• Premature death
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Asthma

Without proper interventation and treatment, chronic stress can cause severe emotional and medical problems. That’s why stress management should be a top priority if we want to stop feeling overshelemed and want to cope and thrive in today’s ever-growing and ever-changing landscape.

If you feel like stress has gotten out of hand, contact us today.