Some people are often unwilling to ask for help if they feel stressed. They may feel embarrassed, or that they should be able to deal with stress on their own. However, if you are stressed, it is important to speak to someone about your feelings, particularly if they are interfering with the way that you live your life.

Identifying the cause or causes of your stress is a positive step. Speaking to someone about your feelings may help you to identify the causes of stress, or any other underlying causes.

Counselling

You should speak to your GP if you feel that you are stressed and under too much pressure. They may be able to recommend treatments, such as talking therapy or counselling.

Counselling involves talking to someone about a range of issues, such as the triggers for your stress. A counsellor will encourage you to discuss your feelings and they can help you to find solutions to your problems. They can also help you to discover ways to deal with stress and its effects.

Medication

If stress is causing you to feel anxious or depressed your GP may prescribe medication to treat these conditions.

If you are feeling depressed as a result of stress, you may be prescribed antidepressant medicine. Antidepressants affect the neurotransmitters in your brain. Neurotransmitters pass brain signals between each other.

However, if you are depressed, some neurotransmitters do not work properly or at the correct level. Antidepressant medication boosts the activity of neurotransmitters so that brain signals are functioning effectively and your mood is stabilised.

There are several medications which can help treat the symptoms of anxiety. These include:

• sedatives, which help you to relax and calm you down,
• antihistamines, which help to relax your brain,
• certain types of antidepressants, and
• beta blockers.

Stress management

Your GP should be able to recommend various stress management techniques for you to practice when you feel yourself getting stressed. Stress management is designed to help you take control of your stress triggers before they cause any further health problems.

If stress is causing you to feel angry, there are various anger management techniques that are available, such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), talking treatments or specific anger management.

There are also a number of independent support groups that are designed to help people to recognise and overcome stress. Your GP may be able to provide you with details of support groups in your local area.