Problems Related to Stress

Prevention is usually the best strategy for stress-related illness. If you feel stressed take steps that will help you cope. First, try to manage the sources of stress in your life. For example, you may need to agree with your spouse to visit a marriage counselor, or possibly ask your employer to hire additional staff to ease your workload.

Do you feel tense? Do you have difficulty sleeping? Have you gained or lost a significant amount of weight? Have you been socially withdrawn or involved in frantic social activity? Do you work too much or not at all? Do you have no personal life outside of work? Do you worry a lot, or drink too much, or smoke? Are you easily upset? If so, you are probably under too much stress and should consider talking to someone about it.

Help is available from three main sources:

See your physician first when you are under stress, especially if you are feeling anxious or depressed. He or she will talk to you about the sources of stress in your life and the effects they are having on your health. Your physician will then advise you about possible counseling options, with or without medication.

If your physician thinks that counseling would be helpful, he or she may then refer you to a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. And if you have developed a stress-related physical illness such as eczema or a peptic ulcer, your physician will provide appropriate treatment.

Counseling consists of talking things over with a counselor or therapist and trying to understand what is causing your stress, how you are reacting to the stress, and helping you resolve the problem. You may prefer individual counseling, or you may benefit from group therapy involving discussions with several people who have similar emotional problems.

Your physician may recommend medications such as tranquilizers and antidepressants. Medication is sometimes useful in treating stress but is most effective when used in conjunction with one-on-one counseling or psychotherapy.

In many cases, however, the main source of stress may remain. The source, for example, may be the care you must provide for an older relative with Alzheimer’s disease, your anxiety about one of your children, or external stress that has resulted in underlying emotional conflicts that cannot be quickly resolved without achieving understanding through psychotherapy.

Also, there are many self-help organizations available to help you by providing information and support regarding a wide variety of stress-related problems. Ask your physician for the name of an appropriate organization in your area.

If the sources of your stress cannot be easily managed, or if you think you might have an emotional disorder as opposed to stress that is caused by situations in your life, then you should quickly seek professional help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness; it is the intelligent thing to do to protect your health.

Back to top of Problems Related to Stress

© 1995 American Medical Association & Dorling Kindersley Multimedia