Anxiety and Stress Understanding and management

What are the symptoms of stress? EMOTIONAL Over emotional and over reacting Tearful, cry easily Irritable, snappy, explosive anger More and more anxious about ordinary things Feeling useless, a failure, no good Feeling despondent and lacking in confidence

What are the symptoms of stress? PHYSICAL Frequent Fight/Flight reaction which can worsen to include: Hyperventilation, aches and pains in muscle groups, fatigue and lethargy and a lowered immune system making one more prone to illness.

What are the symptoms of stress? BEHAVIOURAL Social withdrawal – staying in room, not socialising Over activity – “playing all the time” to avoid facing situations and feelings Sleeping too much or too little Eating too much or not enough Drinking too much – misuse of alcohol or drugs Lowered performance – difficulty organising work and settling down to work

What are the symptoms of stress? MENTAL Difficulty concentrating, focusing on thoughts, making decisions Difficulty being creative Procrastinating – putting things off (Avoidance) Lowered performance and productivity Difficulty switching off – obsessive worrying

What are the symptoms of stress? Distorted thinking patterns Generalisations – I’m useless, never any good. Over personalisation – feeling persecuted, nothing good happens to me Loss of perspective: Lots of 100% statements Catastrophising Despondent thinking Perfectionism

Cycle of increasing stress More demands on me and my time “I can’t cope” “I haven’t enough time” STRESS Tense, headache, can’t concentrate, forgetful, start lots but can’t finish

Personal prevention and management of stress Take control and manage a particular period or situation – manage your time, resources and energy. Look for obvious critical points and plan ahead. Work with your own style and meet your own eating, sleeping, exercise needs Exercise – what you like best or something new. Make it a regular thing. Stretch and relax strained muscles

Personal prevention and management of stress Recreation – spend time out as well as in, have fun, be sociable Rest/relaxation – Ensure plenty of sleep and find a routine that works for you with a limit on late nights Find a good sleep routine with a break before bed Have 10 minutes a day just for relaxation ( a time for calm and quiet) Try to eat well with healthy foods, avoiding junk and caffeine Lower alcohol consumption and drink lots of water

Doing differently Take a breath Ask “ How will doing this affect me in the long term?” Don’t avoid situations – go anyway Focus my attention outside myself – external focus Take things slowly Use a relaxation or breathing technique

Basic Breathing Exercise You can do this anywhere but practise to begin with in a quiet private place. Sit in a straight backed chair with both feet on the ground Relax your shoulders (rotate them back and forth) Relax your face and jaw letting your tongue rest against the inside of your upper teeth Place your hands on your lower abdomen, fingertips touching. Take a slow breath in through your nose, to the count of 3 Notice that if you are breathing using diaphragmatic muscles your finger tips will move apart – this is what you are aiming to do. Slowly breathe out through your mouth to the count of 4. Repeat this 5 to 10 times Practise every day to learn the technique so it becomes second nature and whenever you feel anxious in order to become calm again. This can also be done lying down on a bed.