What are some Signals Showing you are Stressed?

One of the most deterring factors in any stress solution is that the person suffering from stress is in denial. They don’t accept that they are going through any stress.

 

Due to that, they do not want to react. This keeps them from finding the right respite for their problem and the problem keeps on aggravating.

 

Since we are talking about conquering your stress here, one of the most crucial things that you have to keep in mind is that you have to come out of your denial.

 

What to Understand about Stress?

 

You have to understand the fact that there are situations that are disorienting you, and only then can you start to think what you can do about them.

 

 

There are people who think that if they speak about their stress, their near and dear ones will begin to worry.

 

There are also those obstinate people who believe that they can do everything needed to eliminate their stress factor all by themselves and hence they do not think they need to tell anyone about it.

 

Whatever be the situation, keeping your stress to yourself is highly counterproductive. Not only are you not going to come out of your stressful situation, but you are actually going to aggravate it.

 

To understand what you can do to remove your stress, the first and most important thing is to accept that you are stressed.

 

You can do this by looking out for the signals. Are some of these things happen to you?

 

 

Here, we are going to classify the stress signals as indicators of short-term and long-term stress.

 

Signs of Short-Term Stress

 

The following is a list of the bodily symptoms of short-term stress.

• Your heartbeat becomes quicker.

• You sweat more profusely.

• You experience sweat on the palms of your hands and the undersides of your feet. There is also a cold sensation there.

• You find different sets of muscles in your body suddenly go tight despite your attempts to control them.

• Your breath becomes heavier.

• Your mouth runs drier.

• You have a sick feeling in the stomach.

• You have to go to the bathroom repeatedly.

• Things like muscular spasms, extreme fatigue, headaches and shortness of breath happen to you.

 

Here are some ways in which short-term stress can affect your productivity.

• You are not able to think clearly.

• You find it difficult to make choices.

• You find it difficult to build strategies.

• You become disinterested in things that previously used to interest you.

• You feel guilty about entertaining yourself.

• You feel bad about the simplest and the most necessary things in life too. For example, you may want to feel bad about eating your food.

• You become either very dejected or very short-tempered.

• You feel worried when you laugh.

 

If any of these signs start appearing, then it means that you are facing some stressful situation.

But, that situation is definitely solvable; only you have to put in the right efforts once you have detected what it is.

 

Signs of Long-Term Stress

The signs of long-term stress are often quite radical.

You need to be more worried about them because it is possible that you have long forgotten what caused the stress in the first place.

 

People suffering from long-terms are usually prone to the following signs and signals:-

• Several of your habits change.

  This refers mainly to food and sleep. If you are eating differently than before or sleeping in any way that is different, then it might mean that you are suffering from some kind of stress, which may not be quite apparent at that moment.

• Mood changes happen within you. You feel disoriented and confused. You act in a very emotionally-driven manner.

• Vices take hold of you. You start smoking and alcoholism, maybe even drugs.

• You neglect work and relationships and spend more time doing nothing.

• You become careless of your looks.

• You become uncaring for the people around you.

• You talk more gloomy things as the days pass by.

 

These signals indicate that there is some long-standing stress within you.

Something has snapped and you have to take stock of the situation as soon as you can.

 

Signs of Stress

These are the warning signs and symptoms of stress under the following three categories:

 

1. Physical Signs of Stress

In the presence of a stressor, the body responds by the release of adrenaline to enable it to take explosive actions for survival or high performance.

If the stress is relieved, the body goes back to normal conditions.

On the other hand, after prolong period of stressful conditions many other physical conditions begin to exhibit themselves.

 

The apparent signs include

• Heart beats faster and stronger

• Perspiration increases resulting in sweaty hands/ palms and even sweats may appear all over the body even during sleep

• Headaches and chronic pains in various parts of the body

• Pain or tightness in the chest, neck, jaw and back muscles. The jaw may clench, the teeth may grit resulting in stuttering and other speech difficulties, and the muscles may tremble and twitch

• Restlessness and nervous ticks

• Skin crawls and paling.

• Nausea and vomiting because the body tries to repulse foreign particles in the stomach. May also experience ‘Butterflies in stomach’

• Diarrhea because of the colon work faster and repel the waste before it has absorbed the water and other materials.

 

The not so apparent physical signs of stress include

• Blood pressure may rise significantly which is bad for the arteries and heart in the long run and in the short term the pressure may rise above what the body can cope for one who already has high blood pressure

• Increased sugar and insulin levels in the bloodstream

• Increased cholesterol in the bloodstream

• Addition of coagulates to blood

• Indigestion and constipation

• Urinary hesitancy or increase frequency

• Increased cortisone from adrenal glands

• Increased thyroid hormone in bloodstream

• Increased endorphins from hypothalamus

• Decrease in sex hormones in the bloodstream

• Premenstrual tension.

• Fall sick more easily because of weak immune system

• Excessive fatigue

 

 

2. Emotional Signs of Stress

 

Stress affects the emotional life too.

 

It often causes emotional upsets in people such as

• Aggression, hostility, and jealousy.

• Impatience, anger, and anxiety.

• Stammering and other speech difficulties

• Loss of sexual desire and even infertility

• Withdrawal from social life because of difficulty in coping with group situations.

• Loss of peace of mind and become restless, anxious and feeling of insecurity

• Nightmares as a natural attempt to solve problem during dreams

• Emotional upsets

• Loss of positive spirit and become critical

• Impulsive behavior, irritable and moody

• Irregular, over or under eating

• Crying for no apparent reasons

 

 

3. Cognitive and Perceptive Signs of Stress

 

Stress often leads to a significant decline in the cognitive faculties in human beings.

 

People lose the capacity to think rationally such as

• Forgetfulness and memory loss and people fail to remember even small things

• Carelessness and irresponsible acts

• Lack of attention to detail and fail to think from a broader perspective

• Compulsive behavior and loss of clear thinking ability

• Reduced capacity to think creatively

• Disorganization of thought and productivity falls

• Use of intoxicating substances such as cigarette, alcohol or drugs

 

Some of these signs and symptoms, such as heart beat rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar, can be measured objectively.

 

For the rest, you have to rely on your own awareness and the alertness of other people around you to the signs and symptoms that you may exhibit.

 

It is, therefore, vital that you observe and notice your own self as well as others’ signs and symptoms of excessive stress so that corrective actions can be taken before stress take a better hold on you.

 

Identifying stress at the early stages makes it so much easier to treat. Good habits can be adopted to ensure that you have a good work-life balance and stress reduction becomes a manageable exercise.

 

Learn to recognize the signs that stress is starting to build up and be prepared to act quickly on the problems causing this because problems seem to grow in intensity if they are not dealt with.

The relief will be instant and you’ll be glad that you did.

 

It’s important to realize that you always have choices and learning how to properly manage stress will make you a happier person and really will improve your life.

 

If you are honest with yourselves, you can recognize the signs that stress is reaching an abnormal level. But of course, it’s different for everyone.

 

The situation can become more serious when the sufferer is in denial of the obvious, when stress levels can then reach intolerable levels before the sufferer has a serious, sometimes catastrophic health crisis.

 

You may experience any combination of these symptoms. As everyone is different you may react in different ways.

 

Recognizing and admitting your problems, if only to yourself, is an important start. The next stage is discovering what you can do about it.

 

You owe it to yourself to discover what’s best for you.

 

 

 

• 5 Healthy Recipes for Dinner
• Facial Exercise for a Firmer Skin
• Plant-Based Diet: The Complete Plant Based Recipe Cookbook