Helpful Resources
Coping With Stress: Some helpful tips.
Stress, worry and anxiety are often used interchangeably. They are however different. Stress is usually short term, triggered by something external (a stressor) and results in similar symptoms to anxiety i.e. the fight, flight, freeze response. The right amount of stress can be helpful but too much stress results in negative consequences.
Signs that you are stressed include, headaches, concentration and focus more difficult, irritability, sleep problems, appetite changes and increase in substance use.
Healthy ways of managing stress can include:
Connecting with others
Eating healthy
Get active
Meditate
Assert yourself
Do something creative
Speak to a therapist/counsellor
Trauma: How do I know when to seek help
Trauma can stem from various experience such as: War and other violent acts, Childhood abuse or neglect, Physical, emotional or sexual abuse, Grief and loss, Accidents and natural disasters, Medical interventions, Witnessing acts of violence, Cultural, historical and intergenerational trauma.
Signs of trauma can include physical, emotional and cognitive.
Some examples- Physical: Headaches, stomach aches, muscle tension, easily startled, nausea, insomnia
Emotional: Feeling numb, emotional outbursts, heightened emotions, difficulty controlling emotions
Cognitive: constantly talking about the trauma or avoiding talking about it, concentration and attention problems, worrying about safety, being fearful, nightmares, feeling like you are not in your body.
If you are struggling with these trauma related symptoms it would be helpful to speak to a therapist/counsellor about this.
Loss: Why am I struggling to cope?
None of us can go through life without experiencing loss in some way. Loss does not only relate to losing a person to death. Loss can include a relationship (romantic or friendship), loss of a job, loss of a home, loss of your health, loss of a dream etc
We experience a loss first and then we grieve. Grief is therefore a normal experience for human beings. Yet, it is often seen as something we should not be feeling, something we should just "get over".
Recovering from a loss requires that you go through this grieving process. We all have our natural ways that we cope with these losses and the grieving process. Sometimes, however, we can get stuck in this grieving process or we don't do the grieving because it feels too overwhelming. This can result in other struggles such as depression and anxiety.
The best thing that you can do for yourself if you are struggling with a loss is to speak to someone who can assist you with going through this grieving process.