Get your calm and serenity back

2009-02-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

# Do you feel anxiously or angrily aroused much of the time?

# Do you feel stressed about your work or your life?

What is Stress?

In very simple terms, stress is about having too many pressures, or too much pressure in your life; and feeling very unpleasant emotional and physical feelings about that pressure. According to my dictionary, stress is “a pressure or tension exerted on an object”, in our case, a human; or “a state of mental or emotional strain”. (See Footnote below).

Stress occurs in three stages:

First, something happens, like a threat or danger to you; or a serious frustration; or a heavy workload arrives.

Second, you adopt an attitude towards that event: e.g. passivity, hostility, defeat, resignation, etc.

And third, you feel very bad sensations in your body and your mind.

Stress is therefore a physical and mental experience of great discomfort or distress, which arises out of the interaction between an external pressure and an internal perception of that stressor. It is quite definitely not “all in the mind”. In fact, it’s the fight and/or flight responses getting turned on inappropriately, and/or getting stuck in the switched-on mode after the threat, danger or frustration has passed!

# Do you want to know how to switch off the stress response?

# Do you want to be able to manage your stress better?

If so, then I can help you.

For further information, or to make an appointment, please email Jim Byrne at ABC Coaching and Counselling Services.

Or phone me at

01422 847 882 (from inside the UK); or:

44 1422 847 882 (from outside the UK).

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DON'T WAIT TO BURN OUT!

If you fail to manage your stress well enough, it may become long-term, chronic stress. There is no hard and fast pattern in the evolution of a stress problem. Each individual may experience a slightly different pattern. Hans Selye used to argue that stress went through three stages: Arousal, resistance and exhaustion. If you had sufficient resources to resist and cope with the level of arousal, you avoided exhaustion. If not, you would burn out.

# Do you want to avoid burnout?

# Do you want to feel relaxed and calm when dealing with the problems in your life?

Then I can help you!

For further information, or to make an appointment, please email Jim Byrne at ABC Coaching and Counselling Services.

Or phone me at

01422 847 882 (from inside the UK); or:

44 1422 847 882 (from outside the UK).

Of course, two individuals in the same job, under exactly the same external pressures may both cope differently. One may be self-protective and self-assertive, and keep renegotiating priorities and deadlines with their boss, and thus feel only tolerable levels of pressure. The second may be passive, have difficulty saying ‘No’ to the boss, and experience acute distress and the emotional and physical symptoms of stress.

I have developed a stress management programme consisting of fifteen strategies which help you to work on your body, your emotions and your thinking, and to develop a stress-free life.

# Is this something you want to explore?

# Would you like to gain mastery over the stress in your life?

What Causes Stress?

Stress is a complex problem. It does not have a single cause, as indicated above. It is multifaceted; or is linked to many sources and influences.

It is related to your resources for coping with major life changes, and your perceptions of environmental pressures.

It’s about what happens to you; how you respond to it; how you then feel and behave; and how you handle those feelings and behaviours.

Environmental factors that trigger perceptions that result in stress include: Financial problems; loss or disappointment; threat or danger; excessive competition or conflict; time pressure; noise and pollution; frustration; and many others.

You may also be affected by many life-change stressors, e.g. moving house; death of your spouse or other loved one; divorce; marriage; redundancy; bullying at work; promotion; demotion; change of lifestyle; etc.

Your stress level also depends upon such factors as your diet, exercise, what you tell yourself about your life pressures, and so on. (What you tell yourself about your pressures is called you “self-talk”). And a lot depends upon your sense of control. Can you control your workload, your work environment, and/or your social life? Are you confident and assertive enough to at least try to control your workload, your work environment, and/or your social life? Are you wise enough to learn how to stoically accept those things that you clearly cannot control? The more control you have, the less stress you feel, according to the Whitehall Studies, conducted by Michael Marmot, beginning in 1984. However, we cannot all control all aspects of our lives all of the time, so we need to learn how to distinguish between those things that we can control, and those we cannot. And how to deal with those we cannot control.

# Would you like coaching in how to deal with some of these stressors?

# Would you like to know how to get ultimate control and ultimate security in the sea of pressures which you face in your life today?

If so, I can help you. I offer a five session Stress Management Coaching programme which can help you to get your stress level back under control.

For further information, or to make an appointment, please email Jim Byrne at ABC Coaching and Counselling Services.

Or phone me at

01422 847 882 (from inside the UK); or:

44 1422 847 882 (from outside the UK).

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Footnote: The Paperback Oxford English Dictionary, edited by Catherine Soanes, Oxford University Press, 2002.