(The podcast episode for this post can be found here: https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-m3uwf-1474751)

When you hear (or see) the word stress, what do you think of? Do you immediately tense and see it as the enemy or give a shrug and think: “I’m doing ok”?

Stress means different things to different people. Does any of the following resonate with you?

Stress is:

Pressure – makes you feel tense, nervous, anxious or upset

Tension – when you are exposed to people or situations that threaten irritate or even excite you

Fight or flight – stress is often described as the fight or flight response to danger. The automatic response which tenses muscles, makes the heart beat faster, pumps adrnaline to give extra energy and strength needed to fight or run from danger.

Almost every situation has stress – its a fact of life. Its important to realise that stress can be a positive thing, in the right amounts. It can spur you on to solve a problem or challenge you to go the extra distance. Ever had a job interview that went well? Were you nervous beforehand but still perfomed well? Thank you stress – the natural performance enhancer!

On the other hand, too much of a good thing really can be bad for you. I’ll cover some of the physical, emotional and behavioural signs in just a moment…

The trick with stress is 2-fold:

1 learn to recognise when you are stressed as well as what are your stressors/causes of stress

2 learn some techniques that work for you to help you deal with it. We all know the basics, but how many people actively take action to deal with their stress level?

Here are some of the signs to look for to help you recognise stress in yourself:

Physical Signs of Stress

We all know what it feels like to have butterflies or feel nervous but some of the other physical signs of stress might not be so obvious, especially if you are dealing with a long term stressful situation.

If you experience some of the following signs of stress, maybe now is the time to action to reduce your stress levels:

• palpitations
• pains and tightness in the chest
• indigestion
• nausea
• muscle twitches
• breathlessness
• tiredness
• vague aches and pains
• skin irritation or rashes
• palms sweating
• susceptibility to allergies
• clenched fists or jaw (the jaw clenching leading to headaches)
• fainting
• frequent colds, flu or other recurring infections
• recurrence of previous illnesses
• constipation or diarrhoea
• rapid weight gain or loss
• IBS
• alteration of menstrual pattern in women

This isn’t an exhaustive list and with a lot of these symptoms it should be noted there could be a real physical cause so it is essential to have these ruled out, eg. are you constipated because of a stressful situation or are you just not eating enough fibre?

Emotional Signs

Some of these will be obvious to you, others will be obvious to those around you:

• mood swings
• increased or constant worrying
• iritability
• feeling tense
• drained, no enthusiasm
• a more cynical attitude than normal
• feeling nervous, apprehensive, anxious
• feelings of helplessness
• loss of confidence
• lack of self-esteem
• lack of concentration
• withdrawal into day-dreams

If you are aware of these signs of stress in yourself, its important not to worry about it! Now you are aware of it, you can do something about it.

Behavioural Signs

Are you noticing any of these behavioural signs of stress in yourself?

• being more accident prone
• poor work
• increased smoking/alcohol drinking/drugs taking
• overeating or loss of appetite
• change in sleep pattern: difficulty getting to sleep and waking up tired/not refreshed
• loss of interest in sex
• poor time management
• withdrawal from relationships
• taking work home more
• too busy to relax
• not looking after yourself

It all starts with the fight or flight I mentioned earlier; if the problem is resolved the tension is released and all is well in your world. If repeated stress isn’t dealt with however, you’ll start to notice some of these signs and symptoms.

A lot of these symptoms might feel uncomfortable and useless but there are natural physical changes that happen in our bodies as a result to stress.

So what is our body doing?

Eyes – pupils dilate so they can take in more light and help you spot dangers coming at you

Lungs – breathing speeds up because the lungs need more air to get extra oxygen to muscles which are tensing, ready for action

Heart – pumps faster to get blood to the muscles; this increases blood pressure

Skin – starts sweating to cool body down as preparation for dealing with combat. Can look paler as blood is drawn from capillary blood vessels to the muscles

Muscles – tense up as a way to guard against injury

Saliva – salivary glands stop producing saliva so the mouth dries up (digestion not being a priority under threatening situations)

Digestion -slows down or stops completely

Immune system – subdues as in its normal state, it would be more of a hindrance in a fight or flight situation

Now we are aware of some of the effects stress has on us physically, emotionally and behaviourally and we are also aware of what the body is actually doing; why it reacts in certain ways.

That leaves us with a big question:

How do we deal with it?

I’m going to bring you some ideas for just that in Part 2, but I’m also interested to hear if anyone has recognised symptoms not mentioned here.

What are your responses to stress? Personally – I sleep, a lot!