Tag Stress

The 3 stress responses are fight, flight or freeze. When we experience stress, our body goes into a state of alarm and this is what causes these three responses.  Stress is normal part of life as we know but becomes a problem when it affects our daily functioning, last long, and affects daily. Parents, caregivers, teachers, children and teens are all experiencing the same stressors these days.

Sometimes it’s hard to know how best to respond when you or your child are feeling stressed. Understanding that there are three different types of responses can offer some clarity. Here is a quick summary of each type: “fight-or-flight” response, “freeze” response and the “tend-and-befriend” response. The flight response is most often experienced as an adrenaline rush in which heart rate increases and blood pressure soars while trying to escape from danger; the freeze response is going blank, stuck or stays in place in the face of perceived threat or danger; finally, the fight helps calm down before becoming aggressive and fight back.

In this blog post, I explored the 3 types stress responses, fight-flight-freeze responses.

Fight Stress Responses

Fight response to stress is one way the body responds to stress. When a person can choose to face their problem rather than running away from their problem is called a fight response. With the fight response the primary emotion is anger. The fight response is an automatic reaction that happens in a split second without any conscious thought. When this happens, your brain sends signals throughout your body for it to release hormones like cortisol and adrenaline into your bloodstream which gives you energy needed for survival during stressful events such as physical danger or emotional distress.

These hormones help prepare us for quick action by increasing our heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate and muscle tension while decreasing nonessential functions like digestion and immune system activity so we are ready for anything! However, if these responses happen too often they may lead to long term damage such as high blood pressure, anxiety disorders and depression among other issues over time which makes managing stress even more important than ever before!

Flight Stress Response

Flight response to stress is another way the body respond to stress. The flight stress response involves running away from the problem. The primary emotion for flight response is fear. With the flight response the person simply wants to avoid and flee as quickly as possible.

Freeze Stress Response

The freeze response happens when the amygdala sends signals to our brain stem which then controls muscles in our body including heart rate, blood pressure and breathing patterns. In other words, it’s an autonomic nervous system reaction that helps us protect ourselves from danger or threat.

There are many ways that we can recognize when someone might be experiencing a freeze response, including feeling numb or frozen, difficulty speaking or thinking clearly, feeling rigid or shaky and having an increased heart rate. These symptoms often come up in reaction to perceived danger but not always- sometimes they happen during times of high excitement!  Being aware of these symptoms may also lead you to identify behaviors that need your attention without waiting for them to progress into something more serious like chronic stress.

A stressful event can bring out one of these responses, but not all three. Having a better understanding of the stress response is important to managing your own stress levels and mental health as well as helping others. If you are experiencing emotional distress or feeling overwhelmed by how busy life has become, please connect or call me for help with therapy sessions in person or online – I want to be there every step of the way on this journey!

Emem Iniobong is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor that helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-full life.

3 ways stress affects the body will be discussed in this blog. Stress is a normal part of life. We all experience stress from time to time, and as such, it’s important to know the signs of when your body is under too much. Stress can make you feel anxious or irritable, affect how you sleep or eat, and even cause physical symptoms like nausea. Knowing how stress affects the body is vital in learning how to cope with stress in a healthy way.

In this blog I will explore how stress affect our body physically, emotionally, and behavioural.

Physical Symptoms of Stress

Stress is a natural response to danger or threat. It’s the way that our bodies protect themselves from harm! When you feel stressed, your brain sends signals to release hormones like adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream. These hormones are supposed to help you survive by making sure that blood flows quickly through the body so it can deliver oxygen and nutrients to cells. Unfortunately, when they’re released too often or in large amounts, these hormones have some serious side effects on how we think and behave.

Stress can affect our physical health in many ways, including increased blood pressure, heart rate, weight gain or loss, digestive issues, fatigue, nausea, back pain, headaches, chest pain, and sleep disturbances. It can also cause mood swings which might lead to depression or anxiety.

Emotional/Cognitive Symptoms of Stress

Stress can be defined as an emotional or cognitive symptom that is experienced when you are feeling overwhelmed by the demands of your life. Stress is a normal response to certain events, but it becomes problematic when it’s too intense and lasts for too long. The symptoms of stress vary depending on the person, their age, the type of event that has created stress, and other factors. There are many ways to reduce or eliminate these symptoms altogether!

The teenage years are a challenging time for individuals, parents, teachers and caregivers alike. The adolescent brain is still developing which means that cognitive-emotional development is not complete or mature. The prefrontal cortex of the brain, responsible for reasoning and emotion regulation, doesn’t fully develop until around age 25. Which may make adolescent susceptible to stress and depression than adults because many parts of their brain don’t work together as well as they should.

Stress can affect our emotional and cognitive health in many ways, including worry, anger, mood instability, memory issues, and difficulty in concentrating/focus, irritability, and lack of motivation.

Behavioural Symptoms

The stress behavioural symptoms of children are often overlooked. They can be difficult to spot, but there are some tell-tale signs that you might be able to recognize if you know what to look for.  Here is a list of behavioral symptoms that may signal your child is experiencing the effects of stress. Withdrawal from family members, loss of appetite, lack of interest in hobbies or activities they used to enjoy, difficulty sleeping. In addition, increase in alcohol and substance, hitting, kicking, biting, nail biting, and irritability.

Today, I explored the physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms of stress. If you found this blog post interesting or helpful in any way, please share it with your friends! You can also email me anytime to discuss how we can help you reduce levels of stress through our preventative wellness programs. Thank you for reading!

Emem Iniobong is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor that helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-ful life.

Stress is a way the brain and body reacts or response to situations, demands, or events. In most cases the stress could come as a result of external and internal demands. Stress can come in many forms, but it’s typically caused by outside factors that are difficult to control. The feeling of being overloaded with responsibilities and the inability to find time for you are examples of this type of stress.

Stress is a normal part of life, but it can be difficult to manage. Stressful events can take an emotional toll on the body and brain. The good news is that you don’t have to go through this alone! You’ll find some stress-relieving tips below that will help get your mind off of things so you can focus on what’s important in your life.

Why does Stress Happen?

Stress is a natural response to life’s stresses and pressures. It can be caused by work, family, money, school or other things that we deal with in our everyday lives. Stress can also come from feeling too much pressure on yourself and it might make you feel like the only thing you’re doing wrong is not good enough. Stress impacts everyone differently; some people may find they are more stressed than others because of their lifestyle choices or who they hang around with; but there are ways for all of us to reduce the amount of stress we experience every day such as exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods and practicing self-care.

How much is too much?

We all feel stressed at times, but when does it become a problem? Stress can be caused by many things. Sometimes the cause of stress is out of our control and sometimes we’re contributing to our own stress. It can be tough to know what causes us to feel stressed, but once you figure it out, you may find that there are steps you can take to reduce your level of stress. Â The good news is that there are ways for adults and children alike to manage their levels of stress so they don’t have as many negative effects on their lives. What works for one person might not work for another so finding what works best for them.

Our website has information about what causes stress, signs and symptoms, healthy coping strategies, tips for managing daily life with less stress, research studies about the effects of chronic stress on the body and mind, ways technology may affect our ability to cope with stressful situations (and more). You’ll find all kinds of helpful resources here that will help you learn how best to handle different types of stressful events so they don’t negatively impact your mental or physical health. And if you need additional support beyond what we have available online – we are always happy to connect people with other services as needed. We hope this site helps empower everyone who visits us by providing them with valuable tools for managing their own personal experiences with stress. Let us know if there is anything else we can do for you!

Emem Iniobong is a Brandon MB, Canadian Certified Counsellor that helps children, teens, young adults, parents, and families in dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, parenting support to live a more fulfilled and bliss-full life.

Dealing with tantrum is a concern for most parents/caregivers. In our first in this blog series we met our guest, Moyin Adefisayo who is currently a graduate student of the Masters of Art in counselling psychology program at Yorkville University. She works with the Vancouver School Board as a Student Support Staff (Urgent Intervention Process Team). Moyin provides behavioural plans to educators (K-12) and works with the child in developing coping strategies to managing their emotions and/or behaviours.

We learned that everyone has behaviour and behaviours are signals. They communicate and also have a function and as such, it is very important to know and understand what these are to support your child or teen.

In this second part of three we look at tantrums; how they may differ and how to handle them.

What is a Tantrum?

Like we mentioned in the last blog everyone has behaviour. Tantrum is a way children and youth express frustration, stress, or anger. Keep in mind that they do not make a conscious plan to embarrass you. Rather, a tantrum could happen as a result of learned behaviour or as a result of stress. Tantrum is a functional behaviour and if you understand what the function of that tantrum is then you will know how to respond. Some tantrums could be manipulative or stressed related.

Manipulative Tantrum

Manipulative tantrum is when your child uses the learned behaviour (tantrum) to get something from you (ha-ha). Children are really smart and at a young age they already know how to get something or gain control over you. When your child knows what to expect and what is expected from them the tendency to use manipulative tantrum will be reduced. This is where being consistent is key.

Stress Tantrum

Stress tantrum could be as a result of your child feeling stressed or a build up of stress that results in the unwanted behaviour. It could also be as a result to emotional response which could include anger, frustration, sadness, and so on. Remember, behaviours are signals! The parent or caregiver needs to discern if the tantrum is stressed related. Then, they must be in tuned with his or her child to know what that behaviour is communicating.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents experiencing various mental, behavioural, and emotional challenges. I am passionate about helping children and teens find their unique strengths, develop skills to overcome challenges, and bravely navigate the world around them.

Supporting teen with anxiety during Covid-19 has been stressful for stressful. How do I support my teen with anxiety during this Covid-19, has been a huge stressors in parents and caregivers. Parents and caregivers are so stressed because during this pandemic is really difficult for them to support their teen with anxiety.

I have heard teens tell me I just want Covid-19 to go away, and my anxiety will go as well. Teens have said to me, I do not want the school to be shut down again as I don’t want to be alone at home without connecting with my friends. Teens have also said when school goes remote I struggle because I do not have any motivation to learn.

This is the new reality that the world leaves in right now. One day is we are free to connect with family and friends and the next day is you cannot visit friends and families; it leads to anxiety because teens do not know what to expect. Research indicates that the rate of anxiety in teens have increased during this Covid-19.

How do I support my teen with anxiety during this Covid-19 is a common question among parents and caregivers.

1) Limit Worry Activities

You know that teens with anxiety are prone to worry a lot and as a parent or caregiver limiting those worry activities or exposures are important in supporting teens with anxiety during this Covis-19. Some ways to support your teen to limit worry activities with anxiety during Covid-19;

• Limit their exposure to media that focus so much on the negative outcomes especially when you know your teen worries a lot. Limiting media will include you as a parent or caregiver been intentional around your teen to limit media exposure.
• Ask your teen what the know or if they have any question that is causing them to worry a lot and use that opportunity answer their questions in an age appropriate way. Please parents avoid details answers that can cause more worries in your teen.
• Validate their feelings, emotions, and thoughts around the situation. Do not be in a hurry to dismiss their feels or worries, be patient and explore and validate your teen. (read more on this topic here).

2) Keep Routine “Normal”

Keep the routine normal and consistent to support teen with anxiety during Covid-19 as it helps teens feel safe, develop life skills, cope with the situation, and build healthy habits. Routine could include bedtime, physical activities, spiritual activities, connecting with loved ones (friends, families, teacher, religious leader etc., through video chat or phone call), schoolwork, appointments, medical professional, and fun with family. Keeping routine normal and consistent in supporting teens with anxiety during Covid-19 can help reduce stress, worry, and anxiety.

3) Connect with Your Supports

Connecting with your supports in other to support your teen with Anxiety during Covid-19 is very important. For a lot of people that support could include;

• Professional Supports. Professional supports could include your family doctor, mental health professional, or school counsellor.
• Spiritual Supports. Spiritual supports could include your pastor, church, and so on.
• Community Supports. The Community supports could include groups in the communities, online group, and so on.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents through various mental, emotional, and behavioural challenges.  Passionate about helping children and teens find their unique strengths, she developed tools so they can overcome whatever challenges they face and bravely navigate the world around them. Bliss Counselling and Wellness Centre helps you find your bliss.