It may seem odd, but we all need some element of stress in our lives. With no motivation to get to work on time, finish a DIY job or get an assignment completed, we would do very little.
The adrenaline produced to help us to remain motivated can however go into overdrive and when this happens stress can become an overpowering sensation that prevents us coping well, and in severe 
cases cause our mental health to suffer.
One of the first things you will want to do if you are suffering from stress is to get some relief as soon as possible, so here are some suggestions to get you started:-
- Listen to a piece of music that you find relaxing
- Take some brief , brisk exercise
- Ensure you have a healthy diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables.
- Take some time to enjoy yourself.
- Try to get a good nights sleep.
- Ensure that even when you are working hard you take regular breaks away from your desk, or wherever you are working.
Following these guidelines will be a great start to helping you to relieve stress symptoms , but these may need to be underpinned by deeper relaxation techniques which I can teach you.
As with depression, negative beliefs can often have a significant effect on your mental health and these can be explored in counselling.
When we have particularly high expectations of ourselves, we can often push ourselves more and more to achieve higher and higher standards. Realising that none of us is perfect can help relieve a significant amount of stress. Allowing ourselves to be ‘good enough’ can allow us to slow down and not strive for that unattainable goal of perfection.
