Sometimes Those Suffering Too Much Stress, Need to Get Help!
It is nothing to be ashamed of and it is nothing to fear. Admitting that
the stress in your life is overwhelming and need help to get a handle on
it, is actually a very healthy sign. It also shows that you have reached
a point where you can no longer manage the stress levels without
potentially causing serious medical ramifications.
Help can come in a few forms, psychologists and psychiatrists are
trained to help you identify the major stressors in your life and can
give you good choices as to what to do to manage the stress. The primary
difference between the two, a psychologist is there to listen and help
you through talking and counseling, teaching you self help methods and
frequently works hand in hand with the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist
can prescribe the necessary medications to deal with your specific
issues. Yes, your primary care physician or health care provider can
also write prescriptions. Unfortunately, most regular physicians
frequently do not look at the entire picture, concentrate on one area or
another and do not gather all of the necessary information to adequately
determine which types of medications or combinations of medication and
therapy will best help you deal with the issues at hand.
This is especially true for women. Physicians have a serious tendency to
over simplify the “stress” issues in a woman’s life and state, relax a
little more, take some time for yourself, blah blah and give you a
prescription to help you calm down a bit or sleep better at night. This
approach does nothing to actually address the issues or help you figure
out how to get a handle on them so that you can deal with them in a more
productive manner.
To make those figures even worse, stress is more overly diagnosed for
women than for men and sometimes the same symptoms a woman with extreme
stress exhibits can also be indicators of other, more serious medical
issues that are totally ignored or over looked completely. Men on the
other hand, do not like admitting they are overly stressed at all,
therefore physicians tend to down play stress in a mans life. Is this
sexist? Yes, but is it reality? Unfortunately, yes it is.
That is not to say that all physicians are like this – it is a
generality supported by factual research and scientific proof. Getting
help does not necessarily always need medical intervention. Sometimes
getting involved with a self help group or a support group of others who
are going through the same types of life issues you are dealing with can
be an enormous amount of help. You do not even need to meet these people
in person. Many support groups can be found online. An example of that
is Military Parent’s Support Groups. There are many of them available
online. Same for those who are dealing with cancer, lupus, a child with
special needs and other types of physical or emotional issues that
sometimes you just need to talk to someone outside of your standard
friends or family support network.
Whatever manner of support or help that you need to get you through the
stressful period you are going through, know that you do not need to
face it alone. There are others available to help you. Even a little bit
of help, whether through a social network or getting the medical
attention you need to get through this stuff – get the help you need. |
