Stress is a psychological state of mind that has effects on the body and our body in turn has effects on our psychology. It is this intertwined nature of stress that can make it difficult to understand – and even more difficult to treat.
Stress manifests in our lives in all areas. When we are stressed, we can experience physical, emotional, psychological and cognitive symptoms. Here is a list of some ways your body might be trying to tell you something. You may be surprised by some of them:
Physical
· Tension around the neck and shoulders, or down the back. Neck spasms or tension headaches from involuntarily tightening the muscles.
· Upset stomach, ulcers, diarrhea or constipation – stress can make our stomach muscles behave erratically.
· Changes in appetite, or cravings for sugar and caffeine.
· Disturbed sleep, nightmares, oversleeping or waking up too early and being unable to fall asleep again – the sign of an overactive mind.
· Weight loss or weight gain – especially around the waist due to increased levels of cortisol.
· Low energy levels.
Emotional
· Feeling overwhelmed.
· Feelings of sadness, hopelessness or resignation.
· Lack of motivation or passion to do what once interested you.
· Irritation and being bothered easily by small things; snapping at people, having a “short fuse”.
· Feelings of low self-esteem and apathy
Psychological
· Procrastination and avoiding responsibility.
· Being suspicious or even paranoid about others.
· Loss of sex drive or interest in your partner.
Cognitive
· Forgetting things easily.
· Getting “brain fog” and being unable to concentrate on the task at hand.
· Being easily distracted.
· Having trouble following things through, feeling scattered and “all over the place”.
The above list is by no means exhaustive. It may surprise you to know that some people respond to stress in exactly the opposite way you’d imagine: they become withdrawn and sluggish, even depressed.
The way we respond to stress has a lot to do with our personal make-up, our upbringing, whether we are male or female, the culture we live in and how we have responded to stress in the past. For many, the above symptoms lead to the need to self-medicate with alcohol or substances and so this becomes part of the response to stress, too.
Before we go on, we should take a quick look at Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a situation in which stress has gone far past the normal range. PTSD follows a very traumatic event in which the person felt their life to be in jeopardy. The body’s response to this can last months or even years.
If you are experiencing “flashbacks” or nightmares of a traumatic event that happened to you, if you feel permanently stress and “wired” and if you have been avoiding thinking or talking about the experience, you might benefit from booking an appointment with a mental health professional to see if you might be suffering from PTSD.