Everyday life is filled with struggles. For some people, stress is so common that it becomes part of their everyday routine. A little bit of stress on your body won’t do you any harm – in fact it can motivate you to do your best. On the other hand, an excessive amount of stress that is ongoing plays havoc on your physical wellbeing. If you constantly find yourself feeling overwhelmed it’s time to get some help.
So, what is stress?
Stress is a physical reaction to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance. This stress response from your body is its way of looking after you. Up to a certain point a stress response can be very helpful, especially in emergency situations where stress can save your life.

Insomnia is the term used to describe either difficulty falling asleep when going to bed, or staying awake during the night. Many people, especially shift workers, suffer from sleep disturbances when they change their sleeping pattern after moving from night shift to afternoon or day shifts and vice versa. 
Insomnia falls into two usual categories - either chronic or ongoing inability to sleep through the night, or the occasional or episodic pattern of sleepless nights. Some of us manage to have full productive lives with less than six hours sleep each night; famous examples include Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. For the rest of us, after a night of poor sleep we feel exhausted and not able to function at a peak level of achievement. 
Insomnia is most commonly suffered by new parents - poor sleep patterns become a way of life for the first few months of their child’s life as they struggle to get four or more uninterrupted hours rest each night.  Others may suffer from insomnia when they are over-stimulated, by stress, too much alcohol or caffeine, drugs such as diet medications or cold remedies, noise or changes to the sleeping environment.

At some point or another everyone feels down after a stressful or upsetting situation. This is perfectly normal. But if your mood doesn’t lift and it persists for an extended period of time, then it’s a good idea to get some help as you may have depression.
Depression is a condition where a person suffers from a continual low mood, sadness and/or physical characteristics like disturbed sleep, low energy or anxiety. Key signs that you may have depression are constantly feeling down or hopeless and having little interest or pleasure in doing things you used to enjoy.
Depression affects approximately one in four women and one in ten men. The earlier depression is diagnosed and treated, the greater the chance of recovery. People with depression usually make a full recovery.