What is Stress?
Stress is a normal instinct of the inability to deal with specific requirements and incidents. However, it can become a lifelong illness if stress is not addressed properly. Jobs, relationship issues, economic burdens, and other circumstances can all create stress. When the body is triggered too easily or when there are too many stressors at once, it can diminish and damage a person’s physical and mental well-being.
Signs and Symptoms of Stress
Physical
- Sweating
- Pain in the back or chest
- Cramps or muscle spasms
- Fainting
- Headaches
- Nervous twitches
- Pins and needles sensations
Emotional
- Anger
- Burnout
- Concentration Issues
- Fatigue
- A feeling of insecurity
- Forgetfulness
- Irritability
- Nail biting
- Restlessness
- Sadness
Behavioral
- Food cravings and eating too much or too little
- Sudden angry outbursts
- Drug and alcohol misuse
- Higher tobacco consumption
- Social withdrawal
- Frequent crying
- Relationship problems
Chronic Symptoms
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Heart disease
- High blood pressure
- Lower immunity against diseases
- Muscular aches
- PTSD
- Sleeping difficulties
- Stomach upset
- Erectile dysfunction (impotence) and loss of libido
Causes of Stress
Some people are more susceptible to stress than others due to mental health conditions such as depression or a growing sense of frustration, injustice, and anxiety. Previous experiences can have an impact on how a person reacts to stressors.
The following are examples of major life events that can cause stress:
- Job problems or retirement
- Insufficient time or funds
- Illness, relocation, relationships, marriage, and divorce
- Abortion or miscarriage
- Driving in congested areas or fear of a disaster, fear of violent act or issues with neighbors, pregnancy and becoming a parent, excessive noise, overcrowding, and pollution, and uncertainty or going to wait for an integral aspect
- Following a traumatic event, such as an injury or abuse, some people experience ongoing stress. PTSD will be diagnosed by doctors.
Stress is usually treated through “Stress Management”. It can be done by:
- Removing or changing the source of stress
- Altering how a person views a stressful event
- Lowering the effects that stress might have on the body
- Learning alternative ways of coping
Stress management therapy pursues one or more of these approaches. A counselor or psychotherapist can connect an individual who has stress with personal development courses or individual and group therapy sessions.
