Our society faces many different kinds of lifestyle stressors and each of us reacts to those stressors differently. It’s common for some people to feel keyed up or anxious over stress, whereas others may feel overwhelmed and tired.
No matter how you respond to it, when stress begins to alter your life in a way that prevents you from enjoying your daily routine, it’s time to get help. So, what do you do? Where do you turn? Which professional is the best source of information and healing?We’ll answer those questions in today’s blog post.
Eliminate Small Sources of Stress First
Some sources of stress are significant, some aren’t. Before you connect with a health care professional, there are several simple things you can do to manage stress on a day-to-day basis:
- Remove yourself from the source of stress for a short period of time, whether that is a particular environment or person.
- Prioritize self-care by taking time to indulge in something completely for yourself.
- Consider your exercise routine and try to add 20 minutes of movement or walking to your day.
- Consider your diet and replace a few sweet snacks each day with healthful vegetable alternatives.
If these small tweaks don’t make a change in your stress level, there may be something more serious going on. At that point, you may need to consider your professional health care options.
Seek Professional Guidance
The first step in seeking help with stress is often to meet with a counselor or psychiatrist. While this is a great option for many and can help individuals work through specific problems, this is also where concierge medicine or your primary care physician can step in as an initial stress management resource.
Because concierge medicine patients have more time with their physician, they are able to develop a stronger relationship based on trust and mutual caring. This allows your physician to get a realistic and complete view of your life that takes into account your medical health, physical symptoms and lifestyle stressors.
For example, I was recently counseling a patient who was experiencing the stress of going through a divorce. Because I was able to spend the necessary time with this patient, I was able to provide a lot of guidance and information needed to alleviate the stress and anxiety without medication. Having more time with my patients allows me to really listen and help them problem-solve, which makes the concierge medicine model so powerful.
Consider All of Your Options
With the collaboration of hands-on health coaches and the significant amount of time concierge medicine physicians are able to give to their patients, primary care and concierge medicine is a great resource for stress management.
Doctors with smaller patient bases can become an extension of their patient’s family. They truly get to know their patients and look out for sources of stress that a counselor or psychiatrist may not be aware of to help address.
For example, I once oversaw a case in which a young girl developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that was manifested by pulling her hair out. Because I had more time with this patient, I was able to observe changes associated with her OCD and determined that she also had an auditory processing learning disability that was contributing to her OCD. This information allowed us to significantly improve her quality of life with further counseling and medication.
The Many Benefits of Concierge Medicine
Concierge medicine is a model of caring. Concierge physicians are a great resouce for stress management, which ultimately helps improve the total wellness of each patient. And because stress doesn't happen on a schedule, concierge physicians are accessible by phone throughout the day, with an on-call physician available overnight.
In an increasingly stressful world, more and more people feel the effects of daily stresses. We encourage you to consider your primary care physician as a stress management resource to make sure you have considered the problem from every possible angle.
For more information on concierge medicine and whether it might be right for you, download our free eBook:
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