Stress Introduction

Stress is something that has become synonymous with our everyday life. Though everybody has problems, tragedies, challenges, and frustrations, being stressed for long time, and habitually can drain you out physically, as well as mentally. A stressed mind requires you to make certain adjustments in your attitude, your priorities, your life style, your habits and the way you respond to certain situations. However, when you fail to do so, for one or more occasion, you are stressed. Gradually, it becomes a part of your life and as medical practitioners say, stress is a disease that becomes chronic over a period of time.

Stress adds misery to your life, making you pessimist and negative in perception, and reacting negatively to different situations. The specific signs and symptoms of stress may vary from person to person; however, all symptoms are harmful for your health. It also affects your emotional well-being, and your relationships with others. Generally you can see and tell whether a person had been leading a happy and healthy life style or has been leading a stressful life. There are some common symptoms that are seen in most of the people who are under stress. Symptoms of Stress

The symptoms of stress are seen in one’s body language, physical health, behavior and habits, and one’s mindset as to how one responds in certain situations. One category of symptoms is related to one’s intellectual self. The patient may experience memory loss, inability to make decisions, not able to concentrate, and the person is always in confused state of mind. You lose your power of judgment and are not objective in your approach to life.

Stress can lead to emotional drain of a person. Since you might have lost your judgment and ability of objective analysis of situations, you tend to be emotional. An emotionally stressed person becomes moody and hypersensitive to situations. Depression overpowers you and you are often angry. You lack confidence and are always looking for sympathy from near and dear ones. Since people with high level of emotional stress are moody, you may tend to laugh or cry in such situations where it is not required at all.

Apart from the mental effects, stress also weakens you physically. A person who is stressed and remains tense is not physically healthy. One of the most common symptoms of stress is frequent headache. You may have improper digestive system and a weak immunity. Your body loses strength to fight diseases and you can not sleep properly. Over a period of time, your body loses energy and you are easily fatigued. You may lose weight, or you gain weight astonishingly quickly, even without any change in your diet. Many a times, it develops into some serious disease such as chest pain, breathlessness and irregular heartbeat as well. You blood pressure will rise to above normal will stagnate there, almost permanently. This may lead to life threatening situations.

Stress leads to anxiety disorders and behavioral problems. You may suddenly notice yourself eating too less or eating too much. Same with you sleeping disorder; either sleeping too much, or not sleeping at all. Such patients like to remain isolated, and they overreact to emotional and confrontational situations. You may get used to alcohol or using drugs, thus further affecting your health. You get short-tempered. The situation where you are not comfortable or when you are nervous, nail biting and jaw grinding becomes a habit.

There can be some external factors that contribute to stress. If you notice a few of these symptoms of stress, consult a good doctor and communicate your behavioral changes. It is the job of your physician to identify the core reason of your stress and to guide you out of the situation. Why Symptoms of Stress Vary

Different people respond to same situations in different ways. Even if many people feel stressed because of same situation, the effects on them may vary – physically, mentally, and psychologically. For example, one can feel frustrated because one is not able to convince the colleague or spouse, and is stressed. The other may avoid conflict and still can be stressed. You can be stressed because of your relationships, some issue at your workplace, your neighbor, some social issues that you can not avoid, financial problem, handicap or a prolonged ailment. Stress symptoms vary because of one’s education, upbringing, and the kind of social support system that one gets.

When you tend to avoid conflict because of stress, you develop withdrawal symptoms. You dislike social gatherings, parties, functions and meetings for the fear of conflict. However avoiding the situation further aggravates the problem. People around you should make an effort and support you to come out of this shell. First of all, it is important to understand that this is a medical problem. Next, one should try to understand the reasons that cause stress and then figure out options to overcome that.