Time to Deal with Your Stress

What is stress?

Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any demand or threat. It happens when we feel unable to cope pressure that we faced in our life. Many of life’s demands can cause stress, particularly work, relationship and money problems.

Stress can affect how we feel, think, and behave. This is known as the “fight or flight” stress response. This response is the body’s way of protecting you. Thus, it helps us to stay focused, energetic and alert. Stress can also help us rise to face the challenges. For example, it keeps us on our toes during presentation, sharpens our concentration when attempting the game-winning free throw or drives us to study for an exam. Yet, stress stops being helpful and causes consequences to our mind and body if beyond comfort zone.

Health problems of stress overload

When we repeatedly experiemce the fight or flight stress response in daily life, it may raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, speed up aging process and leave us vulnerable to a host of mental and emotional problems.

Insomnia
Body pain
Heart disease
Constipation
Stomach discomfort
Depression
Weight problems
Auto immune diseases
Skin conditions such as eczema

Sign and symptoms of stress overload

The more signs and symptoms experience, the closer you may be to stress overload.

Cognitive symptoms

Inability to concentrate
Poor judgement
Anxious
Seeing only the negative

Emotional symptoms

Moodiness
Irritability or short temper
Feeling overwhelmed
Sense of loneliness and isolation

Physical symptoms

Aches and pains
Diarrhea or constipation
Chest pain
Frequent colds

Behavioral symptoms

Binge eating
Appetite loss
Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
Nervous habits such as nail biting, pacing

Take action to tackle stress

Stress is not an illness itself, but it can cause serious illness if it isn’t addressed. It’s important to recognize the symptoms of stress early and prevent adoption of unhealthy coping methods and health problems. There is no quick fix cure for stress and no single method will work for everyone. However, there are simple things that we can do to change the common life problems that can cause stress or make stress a problem.