Here, you can find answers on common questions that usually people have. For your own question, please use the form sheet that you find under “contact“.
Can you give examples for accumulated stress?
Accumulated stress happens if
– you are unsure about payment in the next month,
– you work in home office,
– you are a single parent,
– you are at the same time responsible for your children’s keeping up with their curriculum in the different grades,
– you are bombarded by your children’s teachers with requests,
– and you worry at the same time about your ailing parents’ health.
– Because your children are out of school, they don’t enjoy school meals any more, which makes life even more expensive.
Can you give examples of different degrees of threats?
Most people experience profound stress if their life or physical well-being is threatened, but for some people a threat to their identity or self-esteem matters nearly as much as losing their health or life.
Can you give examples of personal resources that people have?
Education: The more people know and the more they can think in context, the more they feel fit to counteract the stressor. Stressor specific knowledge is, of course, very important.
Skills: Stressor-specific skills are of utmost importance.
Philosophical approach to life: People with a strong religious foundation have been found to be able to cope with more stress than people without religious foundation.
Attitudes help most that have a humble perspective on how much of control people have over most of their live, embrace any life situation and accept it as is, and try to make the best out of any given situation. It helps also if people are able to look at crisis as opportunities.
Age: While young children up to the age of 3-4 years are usually protected from the quality of stressful life experiences of older children and adults, they do need the continuation of routines to feel safe. Of course, the stress reactions of their caregivers reflect on their emotional well-being very much. We are gifted with strong antennas from the beginning of our life for the emotional state of our caregivers.
Grandparents have much life experience and wisdom, which might help them to deal better with the stressful situation; on the other hand, their health might be frail, which makes them feel more vulnerable.
Sex: While in general, women are good in deciphering emotions and find it easier to listen and express them than men, men have, on average, a better practical orientation, and know how to fix things. But these are common stereotypes, supported by some research. In the end, both female and male characteristics count.
Fitness level: With poor health, people usually feel more vulnerable and, therefore, are more easily stressed.
Self-esteem: People who have experienced themselves as successful solvers of meaningful problems before, have more trust in themselves that they will be able to master all current problems.
Can you give examples of single events vs. chronic stress?
A confrontation with an unknown person in a public space is usually considered a one-time stressful event, while suffering from spousal abuse can cause chronic stress.
What are the core symptoms of depression?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is the worldwide mostly used tool to diagnose mental health problems. According to this manual, there are 9 core features of depression. Each one of them people can experience sometimes, according to circumstances, and it would be considered a “normal” reaction; only the accumulation of these symptoms counts. You need to experience at least 5 features over a period of 2 weeks, which will as such impair your self care, social or occupational functioning. The symptoms are: depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, feeling sad, empty or hopeless; loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyable activities; significant weight loss or weight gain; sleeping problems; restlessness or being slowed down in movement; fatigue or loss of energy; feelings of worthlessness or guilt; diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness; recurrent thoughts of death, contemplating of suicide, or suicide attempt.
If you meet more then 5 symptoms of depression, please consult a doctor or mental health professional.
What is distress? Please give examples,
Distress often results from unforeseen, negative events: losing money or other valuables through robbery, sudden job loss, suffering from chronic or terminal illness etc.
What is eustress? Please give examples.
Eustress are positive experiences which go together with a substantial change. Most of them are the results of people’s conscious choices, and are connected to their hopes: like marriage, having children, changing workplaces for career purposes etc.
What is the difference between grief counseling and therapy?
Grief counseling involves helping people work through their normal grief in order to achieve a healthy completion of the tasks of mourning within a reasonable time frame. In general, counseling focuses more on solving “normal” problems.
Grief therapy uses specialized techniques to help people with complicated grief reactions, for example when the grief reactions are caused through emotional dependence or ambivalence in the relationship between the deceased and the person who is left behind. Therapy considers the people’s experience and how they process these experiences through their thoughts and emotions. It goes usually deeper than counseling.