The most frequent signs of stress

One of the most common and disabling psychological problems for humans is stress and anxiety. This problem is characterized by a response of anticipated fear and emotional tension before certain stimuli called anxious.

While it is true that, in some people, this response goes completely unnoticed, in many others it produces very obvious effects, these are an alarm signal that shows us the need to start treating this imbalance. Next, in this Psychology-Online article, we will show the most frequent signs of stress.

Tension is our body's first response to stress. Tension is the result of the difference that exists between the way we interpret a certain situation and the level of comfort or discomfort we perceive with respect to the resources we have to deal with her. Naturally, the less comfortable we feel, the more tension we will experience. Consequently, the tension arising from a situation is fundamentally based on the way we perceive, assess and interpret said situation.

There is no confuse tension with anxietyWell, even if I can accompany her, it is not the same.

Anxiety is an emotion closely related to fear and although it is not the same, it produces effects very similar to tension. Tension is not just muscle contraction, although it may be caused by it. Lastly, tension isn't necessarily a bad thing either. A moderate level of tension is not only healthy but it is motivational and necessary on many occasions. When we are under a lot of stress or we cannot manage it adaptively and adequately, we can experience a wide variety of symptoms, which are interesting to know and learn to detect:

Among the most frequent signs of stress, we can find physical symptoms. These are usually the most obvious since they are visible manifestations of discomfort, we highlight the following signs:

• Shortness of breath. Great sensation of suffocation due to lack of oxygen.
• Stomach and digestive system decomposed with nausea or vomiting.
• Tense, stiff muscles with muscle aches and / or contractures.
• Headaches, neck or back.
• Dry mouth
• Excessive sweating in hands and body in general.
• Intense cold or heat on the body or limbs.
• Numbness in the hands or feet.
• Tremors in the hands, legs or body in general.
• Increased heartbeat and consequently tachycardia and chest pain.
• Arrhythmias
• High blood pressure
• Blood glucose increase ...

If these physical reactions persist over time they can damage the vital organs of the body to cause serious and chronic diseases.

Although the physical symptoms of stress are more obvious, they are not the only ones. Mental sequelae can seriously affect our health and therefore we must learn to detect them. A station box has the following characteristics:

• Fatigue.
• Courage.
• Anger and frustration
• Dejection.
• Boredom and apathy.
• Irritability, bad mood in general.
• Depression.
• Anguish.
• Emotional stress
• Sudden mood swings
• Excessive worry with great anticipation of problems.
• Continual restlessness and high levels of anxiety.
• Despair.
• Concentration difficulties.
• Memory problems.
• Becoming extremely detailed but focusing attention exclusively on absolutely negative aspects.
• Insomnia.
• Poor performance on tasks with attention difficulties.
• Ruminative and obsessive thoughts related to inappropriate perceptions.
• Mental speculations that cause problems.
• Mental blocks

Once exposed to high levels of stress and anxiety, these may take a toll on our mental stability, Responses in our behavior derived from this type of disorder are characterized by being inadequate and oriented towards the self destruction.

Self-destructive habits

• Smoking excessively.
• Abusing alcohol or other drugs.
• Great use of medications.
• Eating excessively or, on the contrary, loss of appetite.
• Impulsiveness.
• Discussions at the wrong time or out of place.
• Behaviors that generate accidents.
• Tendency to respond aggressively and inappropriately to comments or opinions.
• Removal and isolation from the environment.
• A lot of movement but ineffective.
• Frequent crying.

Inappropriate responses at work

In the workplace, stress can be characterized by the following behaviors:

• Burning and general malaise (burnout syndrome).
• Short labor moral.
• General dissatisfaction at work.
• Work absenteeism.
• Poor relationships with co-workers.
• Poor execution.
• Constant changes in personnel.
• Inability to tackle new challenges.
• Work accidents.

Emotions: great anxiety, continuous irritability, fear with a multitude of negative anticipations, mood swings, confusion or embarrassment, feelings of guilt, depression ...

Thoughts: excessive self-criticism, difficulty concentrating and making decisions, frequent forgetfulness, excessive worry about the future, negative and repetitive obsessive thoughts, excessive fear of failure and ridicule ...

Behaviors: stuttering or other speech-related problems, continuous crying, impulsive and inopportune reactions, nervous laughter, rough handling of others, grinding the teeth or clenching the jaws (even damaging the teeth), increased consumption of tobacco, alcohol or other drugs; greater predisposition to have or to cause accidents; sleep problems, inappropriate behaviors ...

Not only does it have psychological repercussions, but it also affects our health condition

• Digestive system: the stomach secretes more acids. If the situation continues, the walls end up irritating. Blood is diverted from the stomach and the digestion process is disturbed. Many of the gastroduodenal ulcers as well as the ulcerative colitis are related to continuous situations of stress.
• Muscular apparatus: tension appears in the form of contractures at different levels: jaws, neck, back, leg pain, lumbago ...
• Respiratory system: breathing quickens and becomes ragged. There is the feeling that the air does not reach the lungs, therefore the body suffers from a lack of oxygen (anoxia occurs).
• Cardiovascular system: epinephrine and norepinephrine are released, causing the heart rate and blood pressure to increase, causing cardiovascular damage.
• Skin: increased sweating. If stress is prolonged, various dermatological pathologies linked to states of anxiety may arise.
• Physical changes: contracted muscles, cold or sweaty hands, headache, back or neck problems, sleep disturbances, upset stomach, flu and infections, frequent herpes, fatigue, rapid breathing or palpitations, tremors, dry mouth, dizziness, vertigo, cardiovascular and respiratory problems and in general a wide variety of manifestations psychosomatic.

When these "functional" symptoms appear (without organic cause that justifies them), a feedback is produced that It reactivates again the biological alarm processes and redoubles the symptoms, notably increasing the problem.

However, stress,Although it has a negative connotation, it is not necessarily negative. It depends on how long the system is active. In short periods, it produces more active, more dynamic, more productive people, who better explore the world and make better use of situations. It also generates attention, memory, fixation of the senses and in general greater alertness to any situation.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.