Test: What happens when you’re stressed?

Stress in small doses can fire you up, but ongoing, low-level stress is your undoing. Over time, it erodes your self-confidence and self-belief. You begin to feel everything is out of your control, start to question yourself at work, and feel insecure in your relationships.

When you’re at your most stressed, your instinct is to retreat as you question whether you can cope with social events. When you do go out, however, you generally find it makes you feel better.

When you’re under a lot of stress, the brain loses the ability to think logically, and you may have a tendency to go into black-and-white thinking mode, or catastrophise (‘I’m so out of my depth I’m going to lose my job’).

So your first priority is to feel calmer, enabling you to regain perspective. Simple breathing techniques like 7-11 breathing (breathe in for a count of seven, then out for a count of 11, repeat for a few minutes) can help, or try listening to confidence-boosting hypnotherapy or creative visualisation downloads.

NEXT STEPS:
Try these breathing exercises to help alleviate stress and feel more in control!