Stress treatment and therapy
Communicating with your doctor is an important part of the diagnosis and treatment of stress. By talking to your doctor openly, you allow your doctor to provide you with the best stress treatment possible.
There are a variety of treatment and therapy options available to cope with stress. You can choose which stress treatment works best for you out of the ones mentioned below:
Non-prescriptive alternatives for stress management: There are many non-prescription alternatives on the market today. Some of them contain supplemental vitamins and minerals, while others contain herbal alternatives that have been used to naturally medicate stress. Herbal alternatives like St. Johns Wort, Kava Kava, 5-HTP, Valerian and SAM-e have all been shown to relieve stress and some forms of symptomatic anxiety in clinical trials.
Behavioral Therapy: This therapy helps a person weaken the connections between troublesome situations and one’s habitual reactions to them. This helps control self-damaging behavior as well as reactions like irritability, anxiety, depression and anger. This therapy teaches individuals ways to calm their mind and body, so that they feel better, think more clearly, and make informed decisions.
Cognitive Therapy: Through this therapy you learn how certain thinking patterns have the ability to create problems, making us feel anxious, depressed or angry for no apparent reason; you can also be provoked into negative actions. Resolving the cognitive aspect means we worry less.
Literary Therapy: This therapy incorporates books, articles, and other research materials by which the process of healing starts. Acquiring in-depth knowledge on a wide range of perspectives as well as our problems will provide us the essential tools needed for controlling and resolving unsolved issues.
Communication with family: Communication is a big healer. Talking to friends, family members, or a therapist can help one find support when dealing with stress.
Signs and symptoms of stress
Stress and anxieties become apparent in individuals in the form of physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms. Some of the stress signs and stress symptoms include:
Emotional symptoms of stress include:
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Irritability
- Feeling depressed
- Intolerance of others
- Aggressiveness and/or anger
- Suspiciousness
- Fussiness
- Restlessness
- Anxiety
- Despondency
- Loss of concentration and/or memory
- Feelings of panic
- Nightmares or disturbed dreams
- A feeling of loneliness
- Frequent crying
- Lack of interest in sex
Behavioural symptoms of stress include:
- Difficulty getting to sleep
- Increased smoking
- Increased alcohol consumption
- Increased casual sex
- Over eating
- Obsessive dieting
- Grinding of teeth
- An eye tic
- Finger or foot tapping
- Frowning
- Nail biting
- Pacing the floor
- Excessive concern with time - arriving late, being early
- Loss of interest in personal appearance
- Loss of sense of humor
- Lethargy
- Accident prone
Physical symptoms of stress include:
- Headaches
- Dry mouth and/or throat
- Indigestion
- Nausea
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Sudden weight loss or weight gain
- Ulcers
- High blood pressure
- Palpitations
- Excessive sweating
- Rapid breathing / irregular breathing
- Tightness in the chest
- Frequent colds and/or flu
- Impotence or female sexual dysfunction
By Mark Bevan
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