Stress feels different for each of us. Tight muscles and tension headaches. A short temper, even with those we love. A loss of appetite… or eating our feelings. Trouble falling asleep or tossing and turning throughout the night. Feeling fidgety and unable to sit still. Racing thoughts that won’t let go of worries. 

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone: stress is nearly universal, and recent psychological research suggests that emotional stress is increasing globally and continuously. 

In response to this worldwide and increasing problem, the first week of November is recognized as International Stress Awareness Week. This annual campaign seeks to increase public awareness of stress and its impact on mental health and wellbeing. However, this article will take things a step further with tips for managing stress and education about how therapy can help you reduce stress, improve resiliency, and build a life that supports you even during times of stress. 

What is Stress?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines stress as a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation.

Everyone experiences stress, and human minds and bodies are designed to respond to difficulty with specific physiological and psychological reactions. However, our natural responses can sometimes be too intense or too prolonged, and sometimes we face stress that is extreme in its intensity or duration, too. When either of these scenarios occur, stress can begin to negatively impact our physical health, mental health, and overall quality of life. 

How Common is Stress?

Psychological research and polls of the public suggest that stress is increasing continuously and globally. This likely comes as no surprise to read. After all, people worldwide face stress related to global pandemics, international trade and warfare, the disastrous impacts of climate change, and more. On a smaller scale, most people experience stress related to finances, relationships, and health. 

In fact, the 2023 Global Emotions Report by Gallup found that approximately 50% of Americans report significant daily stress. A 2023 survey by the American Psychological Association found that American adults reported significant stress related to personal finances (66%), inflation and cost of living (64%), work and occupational stress (76%), health concerns (61%), and politics/news (55%). 

How Stress Impacts Health

Frequently experiencing stress has been found to have significant impacts on physical health. Stress has been found to worsen physical symptoms like headaches, backaches, sore throat, and cardiovascular problems like high blood pressure. Chronic high stress has also been found to increase our vulnerability to illnesses like colds, flus, and other infections, meaning we are both more likely to get sick and likely to have a longer recovery period from illness. 

Stress also has profound impacts on mental health. Chronic stress increases our risk of developing mood disorders like anxiety and depression. Following stress of particular types and intensity, some people develop PTSD or other stressor-related conditions. Stress can be a trigger for the onset of conditions like Insomnia or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Stress is also a fundamental part of difficult and common experiences like grief and bereavement. 

Some health impacts from stress are indirect. For example, stress often negatively affects our relationships by increasing conflict or social isolation. In fact, in 2025, the American Psychological Society conducted a survey that revealed 62% of adults in the United States reported societal division as a significant source of stress and found this was associated with American adults reporting that they feel isolated from others (54%), have lacked companionship (50%), and felt left out (50%). Research is clear that loneliness is hazardous to our well being: it results in declining physical health, declining mental health, and an increase in unhealthy coping habits. 

Tips for Managing Stress

The research described above is clear:  prolonged stress impacts nearly every aspect of our physical and mental health. Learning strategies to manage stress is vital for our wellbeing. Here are a few ways you can manage stress:

Mindfulness Practice

This involves cultivating the ability to be fully engaged in the present moment without judgement and without attempting to control our experience. Mindfulness allows us to step out of the “what if?” thoughts about the future and the “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve” thoughts about the past. When focused on just one, present moment, the burden of stress can feel smaller and more manageable.

Getting Good Rest

Did you know that there are multiple types of rest? Physical, mental, emotional, sensory, creative, and spiritual rest are all important for wellbeing. You can read more about the seven types of rest in our blog post Burnout and the Psychology of Rest. By getting fuller, better rest, you can improve your body’s resiliency to stress.
 

Therapy

Managing stress is hard to do on our own. For that reason, therapy is an excellent choice for anyone experiencing intense or prolonged stress. Therapy can address stress directly by teaching skills like mindfulness, relaxation techniques, and emotion regulation skills. It can also help by treating and reducing the effects of stress, such as insomnia. 

How Therapy Can Help with Stress

Therapy cannot change a person’s reality, such as financial stress or political stress. However, therapy can provide support, insight, and practical skills for navigating stressful circumstances and for reducing the negative impact of stress on our bodies and minds. Therapy can take many different forms to meet a client’s unique and specific needs. 

For example, if your stress is caused by experiencing chronic illness or disability, you may benefit from therapy that can help you process your new reality, challenge unhelpful, ableist beliefs you might be wrestling with, and embrace disability pride as described in our Disability Pride Month blog post. Aviva Psychology Services offers a specialty Disability & Chronic Illness Clinic with expert psychologists who can assist. 

If stress has developed after a loss of some kind, you may be experiencing stress as part of your grieving experience. As explained in this Aviva blog post, grief is a complex experience that can be persistent and devastating to our overall quality of life, and it can even lead to the development of other conditions, like depression. Helping clients navigate grief and loss is also a specialty at Aviva Psychology Services. 

Chronic pain can be a source of stress, and it can also be worsened by stress. If you’re experiencing chronic pain, therapy can assist via evidence-based interventions like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. You can read more about both those therapy approaches in this blog post, and Aviva even offers a Chronic Pain Specialty Clinic staffed by psychologists with expertise in helping clients navigate chronic pain. 

One common outcome of stress is difficulty getting a good night of sleep. When sleep problems are frequent and persistent, they may be a sign of Insomnia. Fortunately, insomnia is highly treatable via Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i). CBT-i is considered the gold-standard, frontline treatment for insomnia, even outperforming medications. Psychologists at Aviva have completed extensive training in CBT-i, which you can read about in detail via the Aviva blog post about insomnia or by visiting the Insomnia Speciality Clinic webpage. 

Getting Started in Therapy

At Aviva Psychology Services, your psychologist can help you understand the causes and impacts of stress and develop a unique, values-consistent plan for how you want to respond. With time and guidance, you can not only decrease existing stress— you can become more resilient to future stress! 

Psychologists at Aviva are trained to help you develop a customized treatment plan that will honor your unique experience of chronic stress. All therapy at Aviva is evidence-based, trauma-informed, and tailored to each unique client’s needs, preferences, goals, abilities, and readiness. 

You can get connected with a psychologist who has expertise and experience in working with clients who are experiencing stress by filling out the Request an Appointment form.

Selected References and Additional Reading

1. American Institute of Stress. (2025). What the Latest Reports Say About Stress in America. URL: https://www.stress.org/news/what-the-latest-reports-say-about-stress-in-america/ 
   
   
2. American Psychological Association. (2025). Stress in America 2025: A crisis of connection. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2025
   
   
3. American Psychological Association. (2022). Stress in America 2022: Concerned for the future, beset by inflation. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2022/concerned-future-inflation 
   
   
4. Komariah, M., Ibrahim, K., Pahria, T., Rahayuwati, L., & Somantri, I. (2022, December). Effect of mindfulness breathing meditation on depression, anxiety, and stress: A randomized controlled trial among university students. In Healthcare (Vol. 11, No. 1, p. 26). MDPI. 
   
   
5. Piao, X., Xie, J., & Managi, S. (2024). Continuous worsening of population emotional stress globally: universality and variations. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 3576.
   
   
6. Riepenhausen, A., Wackerhagen, C., Reppmann, Z. C., Deter, H. C., Kalisch, R., Veer, I. M., & Walter, H. (2022). Positive cognitive reappraisal in stress resilience, mental health, and well-being: A comprehensive systematic review. Emotion Review, 14(4), 310-331.