Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the term originally given to sufferers of the Vietnam War. Their symptoms of depression, panic attacks, fear, flashbacks, traumatic stress, and nightmares were so great that it was as if they were still physically present in their trauma. Since then, psychologists have come to appreciate the legacy left by traumatic events and the specific treatment that must be given to assist the sufferers to function more effectively.
The definition of a traumatic event is largely specific to the individual sufferer but exists where the person’s real or perceived safety is challenged or violated. Extreme bullying, observing a road traffic accident or a work situation that implicates you wrongly in a serious misdemeanour, can result in traumatic stress which may escalate to a so called stress disorder. The sufferer re-lives the experience and finds everyday life challenging since their trust is lost and they no longer have a safe internal base from which to work.
PTSD counselling can be enormously valuable and helps clients re-create a different internal picture of a safe world in which they feel empowered to act to look after themselves more effectively and navigate life’s challenges.
Stress and anxiety are experienced by many people who believe that they simply have too much on their plate or that other people or circumstances make them feel stressful. The reality is that external circumstances, people or change is not stressful in itself. Stress has to do with not living in accordance with your own internal belief systems. When we are out of integrity with ourselves, we become anxious and seek reasons outside of ourselves to reduce the impact of what we believe are the stressors.
If you feel stressed and anxious, look inside and ask yourself ‘Am I truly living and acting in accordance with what is important to me?’ If you are really honest with yourself, you will find that where you are not being totally true to yourself and your values, this will indicate the source of your distress. You then have the key to reduce your stress and act as Shakespeare said so many years ago ‘To thine own self be true’.
Don’t distract yourself by seeking external explanations for your stress – it is within you as is the power to change.
Stress is the response we feel to the demands external to us or those we place upon ourselves which we find challenging. Often we know that we have too much on our plate and that we would prefer to say no but for some reason it is just too difficult to say this small two letter word. The result is often stress, frustration and resentment; resentment of others who we feel may have demanded too much, or of ourselves for setting too high expectations or simply not being able to stand up for ourselves.
If you find yourself consistently under stress and suspect that you are unable to say no to what you know is too much for you, stop for a moment and anticipate what you believe will happen if you say no. I suspect it is not other people’s reactions you fear. It is your own feelings that are uncomfortable.
Learning to understand the triggers that influence your behaviour is the first step on the road to identifying what behaviour you engage in which does not serve you well.
Stress | Clare Mann | 
January 25, 2010 6:46 am | 
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