The Healing Practice

NOTE: Stress can cause acute health problems and, in extreme cases, death. You should take the advice of a suitably qualified therapist and/or health professional if you have any concerns over stress-related illnesses, or if stress is causing significant or persistent unhappiness.

Stress can make you feel as if you were engaged in a constant battle - it is also a constant battle.

Are you clear about your role at work?

Are you happy with your manager?

Are you confident about your skills?

Are you always just catching up?

Are you sleeping properly?

Do you know what's going on at home or in the workplace?

Do you know what you are doing?

Do you have problems at home?

Do you eat a healthy diet?

Do you drink more than usual?

Do you get sexual problems?

Do you manage to take regular exercise?

Do you contribute to a gossipy environment?

If you have issues with more than one or two of these or similar 'stress factors', then the chances are that they contribute to your feelings of stress.

If you're experiencing any of these then treat them as warning signs that stress may be becoming a problem.

Stress can manifest in different ways.

Physical	Psychological	Behavioural
Palpitations, awareness of heart beating, chest pains	Mood swings	Susceptibility to accidents
Diarrhoea, constipation, flatulence	Panic attacks	Changes in eating habits
Indigestion	Morbid thoughts	Increased smoking
Loss of libido	Low self-esteem	Restlessness, hyperactivity, foot tapping
Muscle tension	Irritability	Over-dependence on drugs and/or alcohol
Menstrual problems	Feeling of helplessness	Changes in sleep patterns
Tiredness	Impatience	Out of character behaviour
Breathlessness	Anxiety	Voluntary withdrawal from supportive relationships
Sweating	Crying	Disregard for personal appearance
Tightness in the chest	Cynicism	Loss of confidence
Skin and scalp irritation, eczema and psoriasis	Withdrawal into daydreams	Sullen attitude
Increased susceptibility to allergies	Intrusive thoughts or images	Clenched fists
Frequent colds, flu or other infections	Nightmares	Obsessive mannerisms
Rapid weight gain or loss	Suicidal feelings	Increased absence from work
Backache, neck pain	Paranoid thinking	Aggressiveness
Migraines and tension headaches	Guilt	Poor time management

Source: Tolley's Managing Stress in the Workplace, written by Carole Spiers and published by LexisNexis in 2003.

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