• 1Manage Your Stress (VIDEO)
  • 2What Is Stress?
  • 3Fight Or Flight
  • 4Stress vs. Rest
  • 5The Stress Response
  • 6Stressed Out! Signs & Symptoms
  • 7Chronic Stress
  • 8Stress Takes a Toll
  • 9Stress Harms the Heart & Blood Vessels
  • 10Stress & The Growing Brain
  • 11Stress Harms the Brain & Nerves
  • 12Stress Harms the Immune System
  • 13Stress Causes Psychological Problems
  • 14Stress & Epigenetics
  • 15Your Genes Are Affected by Stress
  • 16Inheriting Stress
  • 17Stress & Aging
  • 18Stress Makes You Age Faster
  • 19How Stressed Out Are You?
  • 20Coping with Stress
  • 21Beat Stress with Friendship & Community
  • 22Beat Stress with Healthier Foods
  • 23Beat Stress with Better Sleep Habits
  • 24Beat Stress with Exercise
  • 25Meditation
  • 26Beat Stress with Mindful Awareness
CHAPTER 6

Stressed Out! Signs & Symptoms

Stress is stealthy. Its negative effects may appear to be caused by an acute illness. Stress may just seem like fatigue. But it wears away at you physically and emotionally if you don't recognize the warning signs and find a way to manage it.

PART 1

How Does it Feel?

Infographic
Adapting to Stress
Describing the symptoms of the stress response is easy. Everyone recognizes at once the heart-pounding adrenaline surge they feel when a stressor has presented itself. But describing the physical symptoms of the cumulative effects of stress is somewhat trickier. For one thing, people have different levels of success at addressing, responding to and recovering from stress. Secondly, the physical symptoms can begin in any of the many areas of the body that are affected by the stress response. If your digestive system has been thrown into low gear by stress too frequently, the result may feel like a slight upset stomach before turning into painful hyperacidity or even an ulcer. Headaches and feelings of fatigue can come from many sources, but those derived from stress might be resolved with stress-management techniques.
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PART 2

Your Mood and Habits

Top 10
Top 10 Symptoms of Stress
Feelings of anxiety, sadness, and general malaise are even harder to pin to stress. Everyone feels negative emotions sometimes. If you have had many challenges at work or home, and start experiencing negative feelings more frequently, that could be a red flag that stress is altering your mood. The same goes for any changes in behavior that come on suddenly after you have been stressed out. Watch for a big departure from your usual routine. It could indicate that your body is trying to combat the effects of stress, and you should pay attention to those warning signs. If your use of tobacco, alcohol or other drugs increases, or you feel like avoiding social situations, be careful about chalking it up to a temporary phase or a lark. You may be able to feel more like your old self if you identify the root cause as stress, and take steps to manage it better.
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PART 3

Check In

Do you think you may have some fallout from stress, but you just aren't sure? Don't miss our self-assessment in Chapter 13. It's a simple tool to get a quick idea of whether stress has been more pronounced in your life lately. There are other assessments, too. But if you have any symptoms whose origins are unclear, always check in with your physician and let him or her know what has been going on in your life. The longer stress-relate symptoms go unchecked, the more likely it is that they will become serious.
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