In our blog post today we are continuing with our theme of ‘stress’ and how this affects our mental health in support of Mental Health Week. Everybody experiences stress at certain times, and it can be the result of negative and positive events; a distressing event or a challenge. Understanding how to manage your stress response so that it does not dominate your life is very important, and something our Therapist Sally Quill works through with her patients within their sessions.
Stress could be something you have no control over, for example a redundancy; other stress is caused by a decision you have made, such as deciding to change careers, or run a marathon. Some stresses are part of your environment which are hard to control; for example, finding a colleague’s behaviour stressful is difficult to experience and may feel beyond your power to influence.
Whilst social media has had a major impact on how we interact with friends, family and businesses, too much social media usage can result in high levels of stress, anxiety and other negative emotions. According to PsychCentral, one of the main contributors to our stress when using social media, is the tendency to compare ourselves to others (often celebrities more than friends). Whilst it is commonly known that people show the best elements of their lives on social media – we still have a tendency to compare ourselves to the sometimes-unrealistic posts we see, and inevitably end up with low self-esteem as we strive for the ‘perfect life’ which we view online.
It is therefore essential that we learn what situations or scenarios cause us to feel elements of stress, anxiety or low self-esteem, and we learn how we can anticipate these feelings and then develop strategies for how we can respond.
During the Therapy sessions with Sally Quill, she will work with you to understand the scenarios which are your personal ‘stress triggers’ and then through working together you will develop a method for how to manage these feelings and the stress which it causes you.
By choosing how you respond to situations you are empowering your mind and you are able to move forward and respond in a healthy way, feeling in control. Click here for further information on the Therapy sessions which Sally offers.
