Anxiety And Stress. Understanding The Differences And Options.
Stress is usually associated with a less than useful thought process that we have that provokes a specific emotional response such as anger or anxiousness. As everyone is different the thought process and emotional response is always going to be different from one person to the next.
Whereas in the case of anxiety the specific cause may not always be so obvious which in itself then tends to exacerbate the anxious state because the person suffering from the anxiety doesn’t know what is causing it. In general terms we can look at stress as being a more generic type of mental and emotional state of lesser intensity where the person experiencing the stress often has a reasonably good idea of the cause. In the case of anxiety there is a build up of mental and emotional stress usually in relation to a specific, though often unknown, cause.
Excessive emotional disturbances such as grief generalized worry and fear as well as physical conditions such as hypoglycemia, hypoadrenia and an overactive thyroid are just some physical conditions that can lead to increased levels of stress.
Irrespective of what the specific causes are in effectively treating stress and anxiety the cause does need to be found. This is not always easy but a good place to start is mapping out your symptoms and making note of the situations and circumstances that are associated with high levels of stress and the occurrence of your anxiety attacks.
If the cause of your anxiety and stress has been established talk type therapy can often be a great help in reducing the impact of your anxiety or stress problem now while also increasing your understanding of yourself and how the problem came about in the first place. However you choose to use this method is up to you. Support groups for people suffering with anxiety, high stress and panic attacks have become quite common due to the ever increasing number of people suffering stress and anxiety attacks. You could of course also find a psychologist and undergo counseling or imply find a trusted friend to talk things through with, someone who you can trust and be totally frank about your anxiety and stress problem
In addition to a therapeutic approach to dealing with your anxiety and stress, make sure that your everyday lifestyle supports the therapy you are undertaking. Get moving. Regular exercise has been proven to help reduce levels of stress and increase wellbeing apart from the obvious fitness benefits. Proper sleep and rest are essential as are a healthy well balanced eating plan. Making sure these things are in place will make a huge difference to how you feel now and quite likely prevent the anxiety and stress from getting to levels that are difficult to manage in the future.
Of course what we have discussed here are measures you can take should you still have a reasonable amount of control of the stress and anxiety. If severe physical symptoms palpitations, pain in the chest, extreme dizziness and disorientation occur along with self destructive thoughts, get medical help immediately. While anxiety and stress can be addresses with the basic measures we have discussed sometimes they are not enough. Always seek appropriate medical treatment when in doubt
