Stress and Anxiety

Stress is your body’s reaction to a challenge or demand.¹ Did you know that not all stress is bad?^1,2

If you think of animals and their natural stress response ‘fight or flight’ – it can be life saving!²

However, chronic stress can cause both physical and mental harm.²

Stress can fall into different categories, these are:

• Routine stress, which is related to the pressures of work, family, and other daily responsibilities.²
• Sudden stress that is brought about by a new or negative change, such as losing a job, divorce, or illness.²
• Adjustment disorder is failure to adapt to a stressor that causes significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.³
• Traumatic stress, which happens when in danger of being seriously hurt or killed. This type of stress can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).²

Keeping the body in a ‘high alert’ stressed state over a long period of time puts a person at risk for health problems, including:¹

• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Depression or anxiety
• Acne or eczema
• Menstrual problems

If you already have a health condition, chronic stress can make it worse!¹

More about Adjustment Disorder

An episode of adjustment disorder is commonly related to family or love life, work or school and financial stress.⁴ Adjustment disorders are classified as trauma or stressor-related disorders on the same scale as PTSD!⁴
It is important to know that you can get treatment for these disorders.⁴

What is anxiety?

Stress and anxiety can be inter-linked.¹

Anxiety is stress that continues after the initial stress-factor has gone.¹

Occasional anxiety is normal and not harmful.⁶

Anxiety can become a disorder if a person feels extremely worried or nervous when there is little or no reason to feel that way.⁶

How can you tell if you suffer from generalised anxiety disorder?

Typical signs and symptoms can develop slowly over time.⁶

People may:⁶

• Feel restless with excessive worrying
• Have difficulty concentrating
• Feel easily tired
• Have headaches, stomach aches or unexplained pains
• Tremble or twitch
• Be irritable or feel on edge
• Sweat a lot or feel light-headed

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and Serotonin-Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) – these medicines are typically used to treat depression but are helpful for symptoms of anxiety. They may take several weeks to start working.⁶

Benzodiazepines – these are sedative medications, used to manage GAD. These medications are effective in rapidly decreasing anxiety, but they can cause tolerance and dependence if you use them continuously.⁶

Non-benzodiazepine medicines – these are anti-anxiety medicines that do not cause the dependance or cognitive impairment/sedation of the benzodiazepines.^3,4 They can be used as an alternative to benzodiazepines for short periods at a time, to help in times of high stress or anxiety, without the risk of dependence.^4,7

Generalised anxiety disorder can affect all ages⁶ and may become worse during times of stress.⁶ Talk to your doctor about the best treatment for YOU.⁶