Stress & Anxiety

Do you suffer from any of the following?

Constant pounding headaches that put you in a grouchy mood often?
Back pain that makes you feel like staying home?
Gut issues and overwhelming fatigue?
Frustrating sleep that never feels deep or refreshing?

Well, you’re not alone if stress and anxiety affect you in these ways. Migraines, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and depression are more common in people with anxiety _{(Dresler et al. 2019) (Fond et al. 2014) (Noyes 2001)}.

Many people don’t get help for many months - or years. Some don’t ask for help at all - it takes an average of 8.2 years before Aussies seek help for their anxiety _{(Thompson et al. 2008)}.

You might take pain or stress relief and hope it gets better.

Physical symptoms of anxiety include:

Headaches
Gut issues
Heart disease
Arthritis
Back pain
Hypertension / high blood pressure
Sleep troubles

Fatigue
Frequent infections or colds
Low sex drive
Jaw pain
Muscle tightness
Shaking
Period problems

The symptoms may start to get worse - it affects your mental and cognitive functions too. You may feel:

Jittery and easily overwhelmed by even the simplest tasks
Forgetful and have trouble concentrating
Low self-esteem that holds you back from reaching your potential
Pain that gets so bad you can’t focus or can’t leave home
Easily irritated, frustrated, and overwhelmed because nothing seems to calm you
Day to day stresses keep building up. You don’t feel like you spring back like you once did.

You might even have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder like:

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
A specific phobia, such as a fear of needles, flying or public speaking
Panic disorder

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Social anxiety

“Why is this happening to me?” or “How can I get rid of it?”

We understand you may feel lost, hopeless, or completely overwhelmed by now.

And at this point, you may realise your stress and anxiety isn’t going away on its own…

Well please know that you are not alone. Here at Body and Brain Centre, we hear this a lot. It’s great that you’ve tried a few things to deal with your stress and anxiety. You now know what doesn’t work. So you’re a step closer to finding out what does work.

Ways we can help you manage your stress and anxiety

People find relief from stress and anxiety through a range of ways, depending on preference and their needs:

Psychology
Counselling
Clinical Hypnotherapy
Meditation

Massage
Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine
Naturopathy
Exercise

You don’t need to worry about which service suits - we’ll point you in the right direction. However, you may like to understand how these services can help:

Counselling for stress and anxiety

“What happens if I fail? My peers will judge me. I just won’t do it to save the embarrassment.”

These thoughts are common to many. A story is created in our heads. A story that may be entirely different to reality.

Holistic counselling can help you identify your automatic thoughts so you can take action to change them. To find positivity where there seems to be none.

Counselling at Body and Brain Centre

Clinical Hypnotherapy for stress & anxiety

Hypnotherapy creates a calming sensation. It may feel like getting into a deep meditative state with a solidified purpose.

Specific techniques such as hypnotherapy may be used to target particular thoughts, for instance to help with phobias such as from needles _{(Birnie et al. 2014)}.

Hypnotherapy at Body & Brain Centre

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine for stress and anxiety

There are 12 main energy highways in the body - called meridians. When there are roadblocks, the Qi energy (the life force in our body) becomes stagnant.

These energy blocks or imbalances can be released through acupuncture, and needle-free techniques such as cupping, moxa, and other therapies.

More than just helping stress, Acupuncture can help with a range of symptoms. Maybe you have fatigue, nausea and pain related to chronic health. Maybe you are starting to feel a bit down after being in pain for so long: acupuncture can help with that too.

Acupuncture helps your nervous system to adapt and find calm.

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine at Body and Brain Centre

Naturopathy for stress and anxiety

Do you get butterflies in your stomach?

Do your energy and emotions rollercoaster wildly throughout the day?

There’s growing research behind the connection between our gut and our brain. Balancing the good and bad bacteria levels in your gut can help relieve your anxiety _{(Yang et al. 2019)}. Probiotics are just one way.

Regulating blood sugar levels affects the emotional centre of the brain _{(Wolf et al. 2018)}. This can improve sadness, anger and anxiety.

Naturopaths alleviate stress and anxiety with diet, herbs and lifestyle advice.

Naturopathy at Body and Brain Centre

Exercise for stress and anxiety

Movement is good for the soul. It can get you out of your head. The endorphins and feel good chemicals pick up your mood.

When looking to get back into exercise, your Chiropractor can help guide you. They'll get you pain free and flexible. They might suggest certain exercises according to your weaknesses and strengths.

Chiropractic at Body and Brain Centre

Let us help you

Not sure which service to start with?

No worries. Book your free phone consultation and we’ll point you in the right direction. Medical rebates may be available. From here we can start an open, and honest conversation about your stress and anxiety, just to make sure we’re the right fit for you.

Book your free phone consultation now.

Research references

Birnie, K. A., Noel, M., Parker, J. A., Chambers, C. T., Uman, L. S., Kisely, S. R., & McGrath, P. J. (2014). Systematic review and meta-analysis of distraction and hypnosis for needle-related pain and distress in children and adolescents. Journal of pediatric psychology, 39(8), 783–808. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsu029
Dresler, T., Caratozzolo, S., Guldolf, K. et al. Understanding the nature of psychiatric comorbidity in migraine: a systematic review focused on interactions and treatment implications. J Headache Pain20, 51 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-019-0988-x
Fond G, Loundou A, Hamdani N, Boukouaci W, Dargel A, Oliveira J, Roger M, Tamouza R, Leboyer M, Boyer L (2014). Anxiety and depression comorbidities in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2014 Dec;264(8):651-60. doi: 10.1007/s00406-014-0502-z. Epub 2014 Apr 6. PMID: 24705634.
Kyzar EJ, Zhang H, Pandey SC (2019). Adolescent Alcohol Exposure Epigenetically Suppresses Amygdala Arc Enhancer RNA Expression to Confer Adult Anxiety Susceptibility. Biological Psychiatry, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.12.021
Lucas G (2018).Gut thinking: the gut microbiome and mental health beyond the head. Microb Ecol Health Dis. 2018; 29(2): 1548250. Published online 2018 Nov 30. doi: 10.1080/16512235.2018.1548250
Noyes R Jr. Comorbidity in generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2001 Mar;24(1):41-55. doi: 10.1016/s0193-953x(05)70205-7. PMID: 11225508.
Reed GM et al (2019). Innovations and changes in the ICD‐11 classification of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders. World Psychiatry. 2019 Feb; 18(1): 3–19. Published online 2019 Jan 2. doi: 10.1002/wps.20611
Sugiura Y & Fisak B (2019). Inflated Responsibility in Worry and Obsessive Thinking. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 2019; DOI: 10.1007/s41811-019-00041-x
Thompson, A., Issakidis, C., & Hunt, C. (2008). Delay to seek treatment for anxiety and mood disorders in an Australian clinical sample. Behaviour Change, 25(2), 71–84. https://doi.org/10.1375/bech.25.2.71
Tully PJ, Cosh SM. Generalized anxiety disorder prevalence and comorbidity with depression in coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis. J Health Psychol. 2013 Dec;18(12):1601-16. doi: 10.1177/1359105312467390. Epub 2013 Jan 8. PMID: 23300050.
University of California - San Francisco. "Depression, anxiety may take same toll on health as smoking and obesity: Incidence of arthritis, heart disease, stroke -- but not cancer -- strongly swayed by psychological status." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 December 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releas>
Wolf T, Tsenkova V, Ryff CD, Davidson RJ, Willette AA (2018). Neural, Hormonal, and Cognitive Correlates of Metabolic Dysfunction and Emotional Reactivity. Psychosomatic Medicine, 2018; 1 DOI: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000582
Yang B, Wei, Ju JP, Chen J (2019). Effects of regulating intestinal microbiota on anxiety symptoms: A systematic review. General Psychiatry, 2019; 32: e100056 DOI: 10. 1136/gpsych-2019-100056

Stress & Anxiety

Stress & Anxiety

“Why is this happening to me?” or “How can I get rid of it?”