We generally use the word "stress" when we feel that everything seems to have become too much - we are overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope with the pressures placed upon us.

Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress. Some stresses get you going and they are good for you - without any stress at all many say our lives would be boring and would probably feel pointless. However, when the stresses undermine both our mental and physical health they are bad.

Below is some of the things I hear people suffering with stress say to me;

“I don't feel like I'm coping, and I don't know how to make it any better.”

“I worry all the time”.

“My get up and go has got up and gone”.

“I hate the panic attacks – the way my heart pounds, feeling dizzy, faint and hot.  I feel out of control”.

“I feel pulled in different directions.  I try to please everyone except myself.”

“I'm struggling at work to keep it together.”

"I don't know if I am normal any more. I'm always asking 'Would normal people feel like this'. I feel so overwhelmed by the world now."

Living with these sort of problems can be hard but there is an alternative and looking at your problem in counselling can help you to find a way out.