The Signs of Being Stressed Out

People experience stress in all sorts of different ways. You might not use the term “stress” to describe how you’re feeling, but maybe you notice constant tension in your neck and shoulders, or start to panic whenever you think about something you need to do or a person you have to interact with.

What is stress?

Stress is a normal reaction to a threat. It’s a physical response that increases our energy and alertness and spurs us into action. Back in the day, stress helped us survive in dangerous situations like running from vicious animals in the wild.

These days, most of us aren’t chased by wild animals, but we do still feel stress. Plenty of things in our day-to-day lives can feel like modern “threats” to our wellbeing, from frustrating traffic jams and fights with our partners to demanding bosses and malfunctioning computers.

Stress can still be a good thing sometimes, giving us a boost of motivated energy and efficiency to work on a task. It can also help alert us to when things don’t feel quite right.

Stress becomes a problem when we feel a lot of stress over little threats, or keep feeling stressed out for long periods of time. Our bodies are built for stress to be a fleeting experience, like the short burst of time when we’re running from an animal. Unfortunately, some stressors do last a lot longer than that. Finding ways to deal with stress becomes more important as our stress levels increase and stick around for longer periods. Long-term stress can do serious damage to our physical, mental and emotional health. Here are some of the signs of being stressed out.

What are some of the common signs of stress?

Physical signs

• Headaches, backaches, or stomachaches
• Tight neck and shoulders
• Jaw pain
• Frequent illness
• Heartburn
• Lack of sexual desire
• Constantly feeling tired or fatigued

Mental signs

• Having trouble concentrating
• Forgetting things
• Worrying all the time
• Having trouble making decisions
• Pessimism

Emotional signs

• Irritability
• Hostility or anger
• Depression or hopelessness
• Boredom or apathy
• Loneliness
• Anxiety or panic attacks
• Feeling empty
• Joylessness
• Feeling directionless

Behavioural signs

• Substance abuse or chain smoking
• Eating too little or too much
• Losing your temper
• Crying
• Rushing all the time
• Having frequent accidents
• Failing to get things done

Social signs

• Isolating yourself
• Getting into arguments
• Losing friends

By attending to the signs of being stressed out you can begin to find ways to reduce the sources of your stress or to make any necessary lifestyle changes. If stress has become a persistent part of your life, it’s also important to find some ways to manage your stress so you can lead a richer and more fulfilling life. It’s not realistic to avoid all the things that stress you out, but you can find ways to reduce the stress itself.

There isn’t one perfect method of stress relief that works for everyone. Some people may find breathing exercises useful while others may find relief through a walk in the bush or by taking hot bath. There are many possible methods for stress management.

Stay tuned for our next post; we’ll give you instructions for 3 different types of stress reduction techniques. Try them to find out if one of them works well for you.

Counselling is also a great support for managing your stress. The team at Paul the Counsellor can help you identify the causes of your stress and explore ways to reduce your stress, improving the quality of your life.

0458 090 687
paulthecounsellor@gmail.com
253 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Tagged as: Anger, Stress