Worry is a stressful time

FORGET binge-drinking or binge-eating, are you a binge-thinker?

Experts fear the nation is in the midst of an epidemic of anxiety and say women in particular are racked with worry and binge-thinking; continuously over-thinking events and details and replaying things in their minds. 

Such behaviour can make you ill, lead to insomnia, fertility problems, adult acne and hair loss as well as depression and further anxiety.

Many experts say it is not even the major life issues such as money and relationships that cause the most worry, but the smaller, minor niggles that people struggle to turn off thinking about.

So what can you do to reduce the stress and anxiety?

Talk about it

Talking your problems through with others can help you take stock of them and see them in perspective and can help create a ‘feel good’ factor. 

Live for now

Too much worry is over ‘what ifs’ so try and live in the present. Forget about what could happen or dwelling in the past and live for now.

Deal with things

If there are things worrying you then deal with what you can, rather than burying them away to linger. Someone upset you? Tell them and move on from it. Worrying over a relationship? Talk it through. Stressed over workload? Speak up and get help from colleagues.

By not addressing the smaller things they can escalate and build up. 

Worry is the main factor in breakdowns and depression with one of the earliest symptoms manifesting in insomnia. 

Cortisone, a hormone released by the body during times of anxiety, is an acne trigger and stress hormones are also responsible for another unpleasant side effect in women  – female hair loss.