ANXIETY STRESS MANAGEMENT AND WHY I THINK THE REGENTS PARK IS A GREAT PLACE TO DE-STRESS FOR LONDONERS

Everyone has their own anxiety stress management methods how to de-stress from the nauseating effects of anxiety and stress generated by the beautiful but at the same time stress hormone pumping London. As a professional, I have an ample of de-stressing methods, but my most favorite de-stressing methods to combat my anxiety are simply walking in the park or looking at the sea. I try to maintain a healthy balanced lifestyle but on busy days when I end up feeling like a pressure cooker and since I don’t live by the sea I appreciate a good lunch hour walk alone through the beautiful Regents Park to de-stress.

The moment I enter the park and I see the splendor of the green vegetation expanding opposite me, my senses become heightened and I rapidly become aware of the de-stressing magical mechanisms the park has on me. I instantly notice my pressure cooker screws getting gradually loose and I can see better, I can sense better and I take in the countless smells of flowers embracing me. I am liberated and I plunge into the floating state of relaxation and I am addicted. I have stopped thinking, my anxiety is gone and everything appears to be still and loose as opposed to condensed. I marvel at the new world I find myself in, just a few minutes away from the condensed, over-stimulating and anxiety inducing Oxford Street. I eventually realize that I am refueled bursting with new energy and the energy burning anxiety and stress lighter I return back to my office and hour later fresher and ready for my next client or more administrative work to do. This is how I de-stress and maintain my healthy life balance. What are your methods or maybe you don’t have any stress anxiety management methods and you are suffering by now from high stress and this is why your curiosity landed you on my page reading my article about anxiety, stress and how to de-stress or manage it.

In order to decipher the mystery surrounding anxiety and your symptoms that highly likely guided you to find this page, I will next define anxiety. Anxiety is simply an emotion that is de-stressing and it produces the same physiological response as fear, an increase in sympathetic activity of the autonomic nervous system (Hayward, 1997). The autonomic nervous system deals with the regulation of your internal structures such as smooth muscle, heart muscle, glands, intestines, blood vessels and eyes. The autonomic nervous system is further divided to sympathetic and parasympathetic and they work together to help you maintain your equilibrium and survive dangerous situations. The sympathetic system helps you to cope in danger and the parasympathetic branch helps you to restore body’s balance and conserve body’s resources. When dealing with stressful situations our body will go through physiological changes during which you will produce stress hormones that will guide you to fight or fly away from the stress and anxiety and stressful situations you are dealing with. There are three stages that your body will go through in order to resolve the anxiety and stress. The first stage is called alarm when you are faced with the object of threat. The object of threat could be fear of flying, feeling bullied in the work, university or home context, tight deadlines, work pressure, upsetting relationships, a lack of control and the list goes on. For the duration of the first stage called alarm your body will produce stress hormones to keep alive the responses that will be needed to deal with the anxiety provoking situation or stress. When you fail to remove the stressor you will move to the second stage is called resistance. For the period of the resistance stage your Adrenalin levels will remain high. The high levels of Adrenalin will depress immune responses which are required to attack external sources (Selye, 1956). The never-ending stress in your life will deplete your resources and will lead to exhaustion the third stage of model of how you respond to stress (Selye, 1956). Regrettably, the exhaustion of the immune system could result in diseases and psychosomatic diseases. The research indicated that stress is linked to cancer, heart attack, ulcers, colitis, high blood pressure (Hayward, 1997), depression (Olafsson et al. 2004), depression and greater risk of cardiovascular disease (Kivimaki et al.,  2003), depression, extreme fatigue and exhaustion (De Pedro et al, 2008), post-traumatic stress disorder (Laymann and Gustafsson, 1996). The stress and anxiety disorders are also organized into different categories that include panic attack with sudden apprehension and fear, agoraphobia or fear of enclosed spaces, specific phobias including social phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, substance-induced anxiety disorder and anxiety disorder due to a general medical condition (DSM IV-TR).

As you can see there are innumerable examples of psychosomatic disorders, medical or psychological stress and anxiety related disorders and I hope my article encouraged you to recognize the importance of healthy balanced life and the importance of de-stressing or stress anxiety management. Many of my clients are well aware of the incapacitating effects of their anxieties and stress and some arrive late with existing psychosomatic symptoms. Such clients are powerless at managing their lifestyles or having vague knowledge about de-stressing methods. Other clients who self-refer for a different type of support are oblivious to the absence of the high anxiety or stress, which is visibly noticeable in the sessions. The counselling sessions for stress anxiety management will involve collaborative analysis of the causes of the anxiety and stress and finding a suitable solution to these, it may involve lifestyle changes or learning and adopting enjoyable and effortless de-stress strategies or improving communication skills.  I hope, I shed light in this article on the mystery of anxiety and what stress anxiety management comprises in the counselling or psychotherapy sessions and assuming that you might need a support please do not hesitate to contact me to book a session with me, I very much look forward to seeing you  and working with you Leona 07 505 124 933.