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Stressed Out?

What Is Stress?

Stress is an automatic physical, mental and emotional response to challenging events. Stress triggers your fight-or-flight response in order to fight the stressor or run away from it. Stress can be healthy in cases where its temporary and it helps you meet a deadline or avoid an accident. However, continued heightened stress can lead to short and long term health physical and psychological health issues.

Stress And Hormones

There are 2 specific hormones related to stress, adrenaline and cortisol. When the body is in the fight or flight mode it releases adrenaline. Adrenaline is helpful because it increase your heart rate and makes it easier for your muscles to use glucose, and it inhibits insulin production. However, too much adrenaline can damaged blood vessels and cause high blood pressure, or hypertension. It also increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, anxiety, weight gain and insomnia.

The main hormone in stress is cortisol. Cortisol is an important hormone it gets you up in the morning and helps regulate blood pressure. It also perceives threats in order to try and keep you safe. During stress cortisol will shut down or alter functions of the body that are not necessary for survival. Too much cortisol can cause weight gain, high blood pressure, lack of energy, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, mental fog, and weakened immune system. It can also effect mood.

What Are Symptoms Of Stress?

  • Weight gain or weight loss
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Stomach pain
  • Irritability
  • Teeth Grinding
  • Chronic Pain
  • Insomnia and Other Sleep Problems
  • Lower Sex Drive
  • Digestive Problems
  • Eating too much or too little
  • Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
  • Fatigue
  • Panic attacks
  • Headaches
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Sweaty hands or feet
  • Heartburn
  • Excessive sleeping
  • Social isolation
  • Nausea
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Obsessive or compulsive behavior

The Different Types Of Stress

Acute Stress

Acute stress is typically short lived and happens to everyone. It helps give the brain practice and respond better to future stressful situations. Examples of this are; avoiding an accident and riding a scary rollercoaster.

Episodic Acute Stress

This is when you have multiple episodes of acute stress. For example, if you work in a job like a fire fighter or ER nurse.

Chronic Stress

This is when you have heightened stress levels for long periods at a time. This type of stress can contribute to anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, weakened immunity, and cardio vascular disease to name a few.

What Is Stress Management?

Stress management isn’t to get rid of stress but learn healthy ways to cope and manage it consequently lowering your risk of stress related diseases.

What Can We Do?

  • Help you understand what your stress looks like.
  • Help you identify where your stress is coming from.
  • Help you recognize your stress signals.
  • Help you recognize your stress strategies, are they beneficial or harming strategies
  • Help you learn and implement healthy stress management strategies
  • Help you find strategies for self care.

Strategies We Use

  • Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
  • Behaviour Therapy
  • Action Oriented Therapy
  • Emotion Oriented Therapy
  • Exposure Therapy
  • Affirmations and Imagery
  • ABC technique
  • Play Therapy
  • Mindfulness