Definition
Stress is an emotional, physical, and mental response to an event or situation perceived as threatening or excessively challenging to an individual’s sense of well-being.
Causes
Several key areas can leave an individual feeling stressed, including major changes in family life or life-style, emotional issues, and work expectations.
Signs and Symptoms
Stress frequently brings with it anxious feelings, worry, self-critical thoughts, inability to sleep, and altered eating habits. For some people, stress increases a sense of agitation, which becomes evident in increased aggression or violence. For others, self-blaming takes over; they withdraw from friends and family and experience a decrease in work performance. When this happens, depression will often set in.Â
Recommended Course of Treatment
If you feel stressed, try some simple steps to lower your stress level, such as frequent exercise and a healthy diet. If that doesn’t work, contact Serenity Mental Health Services to help you prioritize the list of stressors in your life, based on the degree of negative impact to you, and develop a plan for keeping stress at a manageable level.
Diana Smith, PhD, LPC-MH owns and operates Serenity Mental Health Services and is licensed by the National Board of Certified Counselors. License number is LPC-MH2025 and she follows the ethical guidelines described by the NBCC found at their web site www.nbcc.org/webethics2. Diana is a member of the National Board for Certified Counselors, Certification Number 43911. In addition, she is also a member of the American Counseling Association, Member ID# 5140627. Online counseling can help you right now. Research has made it clear that this manner of offering therapy is effective and those who’ve experienced it have said they would seek it out again.
Dr. Diana is an APA (American Psychological Association) EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) approved Therapist in Training.
