Psychological help for stress and tension

What is stress?

Stress literally means a tension or certain pressure, and we certainly need it in our lives. So you could say that a certain amount of stress is healthy. Our bodies need certain pressure or tension to function properly in certain (dangerous) situations.

The stress hormones (adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine) are released in the brain to act acutely in situations such as danger, for example. But if you let these hormones flow through your body for too long, it produces symptoms. You then suffer from various physical and mental symptoms.

Healthy vs. unhealthy stress

Healthy stress

The name says it all: this is a form of stress that is quite normal and even healthy. If you have a hard deadline at work, or have to cram for an exam, or you have to perform then you experience acute stress. Once the deadline is over, the exam is made or the danger has passed, the body comes back to rest and all stress hormones drop back to healthy levels.

Unhealthy stress

When stress lasts too long, it becomes unhealthy. Your body will have high concentrations of these stress hormones for too long. And that has a negative impact on your physical and mental health.

What causes unhealthy stress?

Unhealthy stress can be caused by emotional situations that cause long-term stress. Think about loss of a loved one,. Or a divorce. Problems at your job or even losing your job. Even though you sometimes don't realize it, a deadline or being performance-oriented at work can also be extremely stressful. Your body needs to not be constantly on the gas pedal. It needs time and space to get back into brake mode, state of rest, to recover. And this is necessary to get back into balance (the body's homeostasis). If your body does not get this then the stress situation and the symptoms that come with it can become chronic.

Symptoms of stress

There are many types of stress reactions. You do not necessarily experience all the symptoms of stress. It differs per person, but also per situation. You will also notice that symptoms manifest differently with short-term stress than with long-term stress.

Physical stress symptoms

• Accelerated heart rate and increased breathing
• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Very much or little to no appetite
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Back and neck pain
• High blood pressure
• Sleep problems

If it's not immediately clear how your current physical symptoms arise, stress may be the cause, especially when multiple symptoms occur simultaneously.

Psychological stress symptoms

• More quickly irritated or frustrated
• More quickly emotional, crying a lot
• Feeling powerless and unhappy
• Gloomy outlook on everything
• Tendency to withdraw
• Stress symptoms in your behavior
• Bossiness, snarling and being extremely critical of others
• Excessive eating, drinking, smoking and use of narcotics
• Avoidance behavior, avoiding topics, people, situations
• Aggression
• Being extremely active, going overboard in sports, for example
• Wanting to do too much at once

Mental stress symptoms

• Memory problems, forgetting things
• Creative block or lack of problem-solving ability
• Worrying and experiencing obsessive thoughts

You are welcome

Together we can look at how you can bring back balance between body and mind. Between the demands placed on you or on yourself and what you can handle and/or 'feel' you can handle. Learn to recognize signals of stress earlier by "checking in." Learn to reconnect with yourself and find the peace and safe space to move in the midst of change. Get in touch and make an appointment, and we'll work through this together.