Stress
Signals
When stress
accumulates, you may experience certain physical, emotional,
or behavioral stress signals. This is your body's way of telling
you it's time to take action to reduce the amount of stress
in your life.
Everyone's
stress signals are different. You might withdraw or isolate
when you are under too much stress, while your boss may "blow
a fuse." Take a look at the common stress signals below,
and identify the ones that you experience. (Note: the following
list is not exhaustive. There are an infinite number of ways
people respond to excessive stress.)
Physical
Stress Signals
- dry
mouth
- fatigue
- headache
- muscle
tension
- rapid
heart beat
- shakiness
- shallow
breathing
- stomach
upset
- sweat
or moist skin
- teeth
clenching/grinding
Behavioral
Stress Symptoms
- becoming
a workaholic
- clamming
up/not communicating
- compulsive
eating, gambling, sex, TV-watching
- excessive
drinking, drugging, or smoking
- facial
tics, other tics such as leg bouncing, pen tapping, or finger
drumming
- isolating/withdrawing
from family, friends, community
- lashing
out at others/blowing up
- sleep
disturbances (unable to fall asleep, toss and turn thinking
about problems, wake too early and can't get back to sleep,
nightmares)
Emotional
Stress Signals
- angry
more than usual
- crying
more easily than usual
- edginess
- excessive
guilt
- feeling
blue
- feeling
empty, spent
- feeling
helpless
- feeling
out of control
It's important
for your health to pay attention to your stress signals. If
you notice your signals are getting stronger or new ones are
starting to appear, take steps to reduce the level of stress
in your life (see the page on stress
busters for hints). Unchecked, long-term stress can increase
your risk for numerous diseases and health problems such as
- alcohol
and drug dependencies
- asthma,
allergies, and skin diseases
- anxiety
- backaches
- cancer
- depressed
immune system/increased likelihood of colds and infections
- depression
and suicide
- headaches
(migraines, too)
- heart
disease/heart attack
- high
blood pressure
- high
cholesterol
- sleep
disturbances
- stroke
- TMJ
(temporomandibular joint) syndrome
- ulcers
and digestive disorders
You owe
it to yourself to learn how to manage your stress, lower your
risk of disease, and improve your health and quality of life!
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