[fusion_text]The words stress and anxiety are frequently used to describe our work, home and sometimes social life. Theses two words are often used interchangeably and thought of as bad things. Anxiety however where anxiety is a mental illness, where as stress plays a role in our life.

Preparing for a big presentation at work? Practicing for a job interview? You can thank stress for helping you to prepare and stay focused. Believe it or not, stress can be a good thing. Prehistorically stress, or the flight or fight response, helped us prepare and respond to danger. Today we may not face the same types of dangers as our ancestors once did but stress still plays a role in our life. It helps us stay motivated, focused and prepare for today’s dangers, like an exam, a job interview, a difficult conversation or quickly breaking when the car stops abruptly in front of you.  Essentially stress is a normal reaction to a threat or danger and feelings of stress should dissipate once the threat is gone.

Stress is all fun and games until you start to experience stress symptoms when danger isn’t present. This is a sign that you may be struggling with anxiety. Anxiety will linger around after the threat or danger has disappeared. It can impact all aspects of our life, especially our health like poor sleeping, headaches, increased heart rate, poor immune system, and much more.

As per Stats Canada, “In 2014, 23.0% of Canadians aged 15 and older (6.7 million people) reported that most days were ‘quite a bit’ or ‘extremely stressful’. Learning to cope with stress is essential, and it’s recommended that you build your own stress management toolkit to help manage stress when it arises so it doesn’t become chronic and lead to further issues.

Psychotherapy and counselling services available at Bronte Wellness Boutique are geared towards helping you strategize how to work through and better manage your stress so that it does not become chronic and lead to further issues. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and psychotherapy are very beneficial for stress and anxiety. Book an appointment with our resident therapist.[/fusion_text]