Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to life experiences – whether they’re real or perceived. Everyone expresses stress from time to time. From everyday responsibilities like work and family to serious life events such death of a loved one can trigger stress. Sometime it helps you stay focused, take action, give you extra strength to defend yourself and help you rise to meet challenges. But after certain level, instead of being helpful and it start causing harm to your health, mood, productivity, relationships, and your life. During stress, heart rate increases, breathing quickens, and blood pressure rises. You’ve gotten ready to act. It is how you protect yourself.
Causes of Stress
Stress means different things to different people and causes of stress can differ person to person. Even there are no medical reasons for stress, and health care professionals often disagree over whether stress is the cause of problems or the result of them. This can make it difficult to identify the causes of stress, or how to deal with them.
It is not always true that stress is caused by external factors. It may be also be internal or self-generated, when you worry excessively about something that may or may not happen, or have irrational thoughts about life.
Common external causes of stress include:
- Major life changes
- Work or school
- Relationship difficulties
- Financial problems
- Being too busy
- Children and family
Common internal causes of stress include:
- Inability to accept uncertainty
- Rigid thinking, lack of flexibility
- Negative self-talk
- Unrealistic expectations / perfectionism
- All-or-nothing attitude
Symptoms of Stress
Even you may not realize that Stress symptoms are affecting your health. You get used to it and starts to feel familiar, even normal. You don’t even notice how much it’s affecting you, until it harms someone. In these situations it is necessary to discuss every cause with your doctor. Symptoms of stress include:
Cognitive symptoms– Finding difficulty in concentrating, Memory Problems, Poor decisions, Negative thoughts, constant worrying.
Emotional symptoms– Anxiety and Agitation, Anger, Loneliness, Feeling overwhelmed, Depression, Unhappiness, and other mental health problems.
Physical symptoms– includes pains, Constipation, Diarrhea, Dizziness, and Chest Pain, increase Heart Rate, Cold or Flu.
Behavioral symptoms– Eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little, Neglecting Responsibilities, Using Alcohol or Drugs to relax, Nervous Habits.
Consequences of Long-Term Stress?
While sometime it is normal to feel stress but excessive symptoms of stress can impact productivity and performance, hamper physical and emotional health, and affect your relationships and life. Ongoing stress, however, can cause many serious health problems, including:
- Problems such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders
- Heart Disease, high blood pressure, Rapid heart rate, heart attacks, and stroke
- Obesity and other eating disorders
- Menstrual problems
- Sexual dysfunction
- Skin and hair problems
- Gastrointestinal problems
Managing Stress
Stress is a part of life. By knowing Stress Symptoms one can prevent stress overload and the health consequences that may come with it. However, if you’re finding it very tough to handle situations or scenarios going on in your life and are experiencing different signs of stress, there are treatments available that could help. These include:
Talking Therapy- Talking with a trained professional can help you learn to deal with stress and become more aware of your own thoughts and feelings. Cognitive behavioural therapy and Mindfulness are common types of talking therapy which can help with stress.
Medication– Stress is due to reaction to things happening in life. As this is not a mental health problem so there is no specific medication for Stress. However, there are various medication available which can help in managing stress.
Eco therapy– It is related to nature. By spending time in nature one can improve well-being and self-esteem. This includes exercise in open spaces, taking part in gardening on meditation.
Other Therapies- These might include:
- Yoga and meditation
- Acupuncture
- Massage
- Aromatherapy
If you have taken required step to control stress and if you are not sure about the cause then it is advisable to see doctor. Also, if you are having symptoms like shortness of breath, chest pain, back pain, sweating, or dizziness, get emergency help immediately. These may simply not be stress symptoms but signs of a heart attack.
