Don’t wait for the Nervous Breakdown

…Do something about it Now

On Saturday I was listening to the Radio and a lady called Linda Cruse described how she experienced a horrendous experience due to severe stress and this forced her to re-evaluate her life.

It reminded me how in early 2005, I also was close to having a nervous breakdown and luckily recognised the signals so did something about it – I saw a coach…this changed my life and the rest is history.

When I think back, I must have frustrated and irritated friends and family with my whinging about how stressed I was at work; feeling like a square peg in a round hole. They listened to all my desperate and weird business ideas I thought of but never took action, and they saw me getting more and more depressed. What a waste of energy! Why did I allow myself for years to go through this torment and then wait until it got so bad that I then just had to do something about it to survive?

Stress can cause Physical symptoms such as change of sleep patterns, stomach issues, change is appetite, headaches, memory loss; Emotional symptoms such as depression, loss of confidence, indecisiveness, reclusiveness, dependence on alcohol or drugs; and Behavioural symptoms such as mood swings, anger, exhibiting twitching or stuttering.

Do you recognise any of these in yourself? Are you stressed or filled with anxiety? Are you avoiding dealing with your issues – waiting until it gets so bad that action will then be forced upon you? I hope not. Many people, like Linda and me in the past, put their heads in the sand, putting up with a sickly feeling of doom and not knowing how to get out of the stress – just waiting for that hair to break the camel’s back.

Breaking Point Before Happiness from Lindsey Reed on Vimeo.

Before you get anywhere near that stage – please take action now so that you don’t experience what Linda Cruse and I went through. Start by taking 1 step towards feeling more happy such as:

• Understand what you want instead – write this down
• Realise that you have a choice on how you feel
• Learn techniques to relax
• Focus on being happy and make someone else happy
• Ensure that stress in 1 area of your life doesn’t encroach into other areas
• Consider having a coach so that you can talk to a person independantly, without judgement or agenda and who is professionally trained to work with you to move forward out of your current situation

Lindsey Reed is an experienced coach who specialises in boosting the confidence of professionals. Email Lindsey@glows-coaching.co.uk or call 01832 280168 to see how you can improve your working life.