Bonnie Lane: Stress and counseling awareness go hand in hand
Whether it was intentional or coincidental, April features two “awareness” months that complement each other: Counseling Awareness Month and Stress Awareness Month. The former is a tool to help you cope with the latter.
The way we live today is not the way people used to live. Fifty years ago, a majority of women were stay-at-home moms whose husbands went off to work in the morning. The most stressful and expensive thing for families was getting enough food on the table.
Today, stress around relationships, housing, education, finances and especially the workplace are inhibiting our ability to function. Everybody’s working, everybody’s raising the kids, everybody’s struggling to meet basic and financial needs. Remote work isn’t the stress-reliever it was promised to be; many of us are working from home and still having to be the primary parent.
Stress Awareness Month has been observed every April since 1992 — not too coincidentally around the time that stay-at-home momness was coming to an end, when a majority of women had entered the workforce. It’s aimed at raising public awareness about the causes, effects and management of modern-day stress.
Chronic stress can negatively affect your mind and body, creating a multitude of unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms. It can disrupt your sleep and impact your appetite. It can also cause tension, leading to muscle pain, headaches and memory issues.
Other mental health conditions that may be linked to stress include anxiety, depression and substance use.
Exercise, adequate sleep and nutrition are three key ways to cope with stress. The natural endorphins that you get from exercise are one of the best stress relievers. A saunter around the block in fresh air is not really exercise because it doesn’t necessarily elevate your heart rate. If you have trouble falling asleep, many apps offer calming music and guided meditations. Some are even free.
But in case you find those strategies aren’t enough, let’s talk about Counseling Awareness Month, which was established in 2002 by the American Counseling Association.
Some people who could benefit from counseling don’t seek it because of the shame and stigma that still surround it, the idea that if you need to talk to someone you’re showing weakness. It’s also common for people suffering from stress to tell themselves, “I don’t need a therapist. I can talk to my spouse or friends.”
And that’s true to a certain extent, but a spouse or best friend may get tired of listening to you and not be able to offer coping strategies to help you build resilience and overcome stress.
A professional counselor is a neutral third-party who is not emotionally involved with you or your issues. Their only job is to listen to you, without judgement, and help you understand the sources and triggers of your stress. For example, if the source of your stress is job insecurity, a therapist may offer support or ideas about learning new skills or exploring other types of jobs, helping to build your confidence.
Many primary care practices these days have a behavioral health specialist on the staff, making access easier. The specialist may be a licensed clinical social worker (LSCW) or licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC), but typically they hold a master’s degree and are trained to address emotional and psychological challenges.
Counseling can be short term and focused on particular issues, or longer term to address many issues that are working against your positive mental health. You may be referred to a psychiatrist if the counselor believes medication may help.
People minimize it, but stress is a real thing. Everybody has stress of one kind or another. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get help for it. We should become a society that not only supports but also commends others for seeking out support and help.
• Bonnie Lane, M.S., is principal consultant with Family Support Services in Northbrook, specializing in supporting families whose loved ones suffer from severe mental illness or substance addiction. Daily Herald readers can contact her at (847) 651-1554 or bonnielane@thefamilysupportservices.com.