Stress: Diagnosis and treatment
Stress is not a diagnosable medical condition, which means there isn’t a specific approach for dealing with it. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t visit a doctor if you’re finding it hard to manage your stress. Attending an appointment with your GP, or talking to one of our doctors, can be reassuring and can help you make a plan for bringing your stress under control.
During your appointment, your doctor will ask a series of questions about your stress symptoms. They will usually want to know about your family history of mental health conditions, whether you’ve experienced past trauma, and whether you’re taking any medications or suffering from any ongoing health problems.
It may be that your doctor suspects your symptoms are being caused by a specific health condition such as anaemia or an overactive thyroid. In this case they would likely recommend that you have some further tests to determine what’s going on.
Treatment for stress
There are no specific treatments for stress but some that your doctor might recommend include:
- Talking therapy, where you speak to a trained professional about your thoughts and feelings
- Mindfulness and meditation
- Yoga
- Medications such as sleeping pills or antidepressants
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You can have a confidential discussion with one of our experienced GPs about your stress symptoms and receive guidance about what to do next.
During your appointment, one of our GPs will ask the kinds of questions listed above. They may then recommend that you organise further tests, to find out whether your symptoms are being caused by an underlying physical condition.
Though we cannot supply therapy or prescribe medication for stress, we can make recommendations about what kind of help to seek, and where to seek it. Depending on your circumstances, we may recommend therapy, medication, self-help, or a combination of all three. We will usually ask you to arrange a follow-up appointment within a few weeks.
If you would like to speak with a GP about stress make an appointment with Doctor Care Anywhere. You can also use our wellbeing tool, MyHealth with tips and resources for improving your mental health.