Although the term itself is rather negatively connoted, stress is not necessarily always negative - positive stress, so-called eustress, can be a positive force in life, promote motivation and increase attention, concentration and performance in a healthy way.

 

In our fast-moving time and society, however, it has now become normal for us to experience too much stress, often to be permanently exposed to it, and not to reduce the stress at regular intervals and with suitable “pressure - limiting - valves”.

 

Growing demands, such as in terms of training and work, double and triple burdens, conflicts, chronic lack of time, the urge, always to perform all tasks in private life and work as quickly and perfectly as possible and to be constantly available, inner and outer pressure to perform, harmful beliefs and other factors (internal and external stressors) cause to many people permanent stress, which can overly impact mental and physical health over time.

 

Too much stress and too few recovery periods make you sick and have negative effects in different ways.

 

Possible symptoms that can occur as a result of persistent stress include, for example:

Internal restlessness, the feeling of exhaustion and overstraining, bad mood, irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, difficulty concentrating, inability to switch off, restlessness, nervousness, chronic fatigue, insomnia, headache, dizziness, tension, back pain, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, heart and circulatory problems, loss of joy, loss of ability and wish to communicate, loss of libido and many more.

 

In addition, chronic stress increases the risk of various diseases over time.

 

How lasting stress affects the mental and physical health varies greatly from person to person. If the stress remains unprocessed, no stress reduction is performed, and the stress-inducing situation and attitudes towards the stress-inducing situation are not changed, it can come to a burnout - a state of physical, mental and spiritual exhaustion, which leads to difficulties and final inability in coping with life.

 

Burnout does not develop overnight, but rather gradually and in several phases, characterised by various symptoms. Many people, after years of overwork and overload, reach the point where the battery is simply empty and they feel exhausted and completely drained.

 

The duration of the phases, how exactly they express themselves and the symptoms that occur, can vary considerably from person to person.

 

Treatment

The treatment of symptoms that arise as a result of chronic stress, burnout or other stress-related diseases is always created individually - an overall solution that helps every person equally well to recover, reduce stress and to process it, does not exist.

 

Everybody is different, everyone has different stressors and stress-processing mechanisms, so the therapy has to be individually adapted in every respect.

 

As part of the therapy, it is to uncover internal and external stressors and possible wrong or harmful belief systems, to find stress reduction measures and the path to a balance between stress and relaxation, to discover stressful situations and attitudes towards them and revive inner resources and to improve mental and physical wellbeing.

 

The therapy can be composed of very different building blocks and will be worked out together as soon as we have exactly grasped the initial situation.

 

Possible starting points and therapy modules are talk therapy and counselling, psychotherapeutic procedures, dream-, breathing- and body- work, improvement of own stress processing strategies, learning of better time and stressor management, relaxation exercises, physical exercise, nutritional adjustment and other measures that help to adapt your lifestyle, herbal active ingredients, drug therapy u. a.

 

As an occupational physician, I can specifically support patients who have suffered from stress-related conditions and illnesses in creating a new work situation or in adapting the existing work situation and returning to work.

 

Teletherapy, Online Therapy, Online Care

Initial discussions and ongoing therapies can also be made online via Skype, WhatsApp and other online channels. In this way, it is possible for me to also personally care for patients who live outside the region or abroad, who travel regularly or for other reasons can not come personally to the office.

 

If you have any questions or for further information, I am happy to be there for you personally either by phone or email.