Stress Management

Stress is unavoidable, but you can learn how to cope with ongoing hassles and worries, optimizing your mental well-being and lowering the risk of developing stress-related medical conditions like depression and high blood pressure. NYC Psychiatric Associates, located in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, provides comprehensive stress management, personalizing your therapy based on your strengths, goals, and the source of your stress. Call the New York City office today or connect through online booking.

What is stress management?

Stress management teaches strategies for minimizing anxiety, tension, and worry (stress). Learning to reduce stress improves your mental health and protects your physical well-being.

What symptoms indicate I need stress management?

Stress causes a wide range of symptoms, including:

• Anger
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Muscle aches and cramps
• Irregular heartbeat
• Difficulty concentrating
• Memory loss
• Mood swings
• Nausea

It’s time to seek stress management when your symptoms occur frequently or constantly, become severe or overwhelming, or disrupt your daily life.

How will I know if my child or teen needs stress management?

The most common causes of stress in children and teens are school problems, tension at home, bullying, and mental health challenges like depression, anxiety disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Your child may have any of the symptoms listed above and other signs, such as:

• Changing their eating habits
• Getting sick more often
• Feeling sick or having a panic attack to avoid school
• Being unusually tired during the day
• Avoiding responsibilities or procrastinating (when that’s unusual for them)
• Acting out (being argumentative, oppositional, aggressive, or having emotional outbursts)

Children act out when they’re stressed or anxious but can’t identify or express their feelings.

How does stress management improve my mental and physical health? 

Stress raises your heart rate and blood sugar, tenses your muscles, and energizes your body. Living with ongoing stress keeps your body's stress hormones elevated, which can cause any of the following mental and physical problems:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Sleep disorders
• Headaches
• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease

Stress management gives you the skills to reduce damaging hormones and prevent these problems.

What happens during stress management?

Your skilled NYC Psychiatric Associates provider learns what causes the stress and the symptoms you or your child experience. They may do a psychiatric evaluation in the office or through an online telemedicine platform to identify any underlying problems like anxiety.

Stress management involves a range of age-appropriate therapies that build on each person’s strengths while teaching skills for coping with and reducing stress. A few techniques proven to help include:

• Time management
• Problem-solving skills
• Relaxation techniques (deep breathing and guided relaxation)
• Mindfulness-based stress reduction (yoga, meditation, and more)
• Psychotherapy (talk therapy)
• Preventive health care
• Treatment for underlying disorders
• Medication management
• Exercise

Call NYC Psychiatric Associates today or use online booking to schedule stress management.