Symptoms of Stress

The warning signs of stress carry certain symptoms, and these symptoms of stress are the body’s way of telling us something is wrong.

Learning what the symptoms of stress are is one of the first lessons in stress relief. A lot of us go through our lives being stressed but not knowing what is wrong.

We think that this is normal or that there is nothing that we can do.

But by outlining what these symptoms are, we can then start to recognise and do something about them.

A doctor can only heal an ailment once he has diagnosed what the condition is. Once this is done he can then prescribe the correct medicine.

The same is true of stress, only when we have identified if what we are suffering from is stress, that we can then prescribe the correct treatment.

The following list is my account of how stress affects me. What I may see as a stress symptom, the next person might see as something else.

If in doubt it is always worth consulting a health care professional, either a doctor or a nurse.

The symptoms of stress are as follows:

• Muscle ache (I generally get sore shoulders when I am stressed – it is a warning sign to me to have a break)

• Loss of appetite

• Lack of clarity in your thinking

• Headaches

• Nausea and feeling sick

• Stomach ache or upset stomach

• Unable to sleep/ insomnia

• Mental or physical breakdown

• Depression

• Unable to switch off – the mind keeps playing things over and over in the mind.

• Blurred vision or difficulty in focusing your eyes

• Memory loss

• Feeling tired like you’ve never felt tired before. Really sapped of energy and oomph.

• Unable to concentrate

• Difficulty in stringing a sentence together

• Short temper – quick to anger

• Feeling physically run down, quick to pick up colds and other ailments

• Weaknesses and illnesses in your body flair up with stress eg cold sores and migraines

• Dizziness

Again each person has different symptoms. These are the symptoms that I have personally come across in myself and my classes.

What do these symptoms really mean?

But we can go a little deeper.

These symptoms are a little like warning signs for you. They are like warning lights in your car. If you don’t listen to them your car could have serious problems.

The same goes for the body, if you don’t listen to the warning signs of stress then your body could break down.

So in the next chapter we will be looking at what happens to the body when you have causes for stress in your life and you aren’t listening to those symptoms.

What are the effects of stress on our overall health?

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