Signs and Symptoms of Stress Overload

Learning how to manage stress starts with becoming aware that you are under
too much stress. You need to know the signs and symptoms of stress overload
in the following areas of life: emotional, social, physical and cognitive.
Too much stress can affect any or all of these areas of life.

Once you are aware of how stress overload shows up in your life, you can
make a plan to keep your stress within a manageable range. The elimination
of all stress is not the goal. Since both negative and positive events in
life can be stressful, without any stress life would be boring and you
wouldn't have anything to look forward to. The goal is to keep your stress
in a range that is motivating and not let it spill over into a debilitating
range.

So what are the commons signs and symptoms of stress in each of these four
areas? Emotionally, stress can manifest as anxiety, panic, depression,
irritability, moodiness, and feelings of being overwhelmed and burned out.

Physically, stress can manifest as headaches, tension, unusual aches and
pains, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, chest pains,
unexplained rashes, sweaty palms, jitteriness, clumsiness and an increase
susceptibility to infections (because chronic stress weakens the immune
system). Further, stress contributes to the onset or worsening of the
following diseases: ulcers, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, hypertension,
irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and alcoholism. In fact, it is
estimated that between 60 - 90% of all doctor's visits are due to stress.

Stress also affects your social life. When you are under stress how you
related to others may change. Some of us withdraw from social contact and
need a lot of quiet time alone to rest, recharge and regroup. Others need
more people contact when they are stressed to distract, discharge and dumb
(seek support). Plus, if you are already feeling the emotional impact of
stress then problems may arise in your interpersonal relationships. Signs
of this may be increase bickering or discord, a change in the level of
interest in sexual contact, and a change in your patience with the other
person. Yes, if your sex life comes to a screeching halt, look at the level
of stress in your life first as the likely culprit. Also, stress may
increase addictive behaviors, like drinking or smoking. These can also
affect your social life, especially if the people you are around object to
these behaviors.

Finally, stress affects how well your brain works. Cognitive signs of stress
include: forgetfulness, poor comprehension, inability to learn or retain new
information, reduced ability to access or recall information (ever forget
your kids names?), and difficulty making decisions. In short, your mind has
too much to think about because it's dealing with too many other things. It's
full and nothing is going in or coming out quickly or easily. I like to say
you need a dose of "Braino" - time to rest, let go of worries and cares,
daydream, meditate, listen to music or just watch your thoughts go by like a
train on a track, except your not on the train of thought. You are standing
aside and just watching it go by.

My recommendation to you is to identify your unique constellation of stress
overload indicators, so when you start to notice them, you can take action
to reduce the stress and let it become chronic. Chronic stress can kill.

Annette Vaillancourt, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and motivational speaker - www.GotStressGetHelp.com