Stress is something we deal with on a daily basis. There’s work, family, also our health and future. So many things we are stressing about that we’re not even aware of them. They’re lingering in the back of our minds, slowly taking away both our mental and physical health.
And while we’re so quick to recognize if one of our loved ones is over stressed, we’re not as quick when it comes to ourselves. We’re always saying to ourselves how we got this, how we can push it a little bit stronger and if we just hold on for a little while, everything will be fine.
But as much as working our asses off and accomplishing stuff sounds great, being healthy and at peace is even greater. Recognizing the symptoms of being over stressed is crucial for fighting it and preserving your health. After all, you can’t pour from an empty cup, so you need to take care of yourself first.
Like one college professor said, if we hold a glass of water for few minutes, it won’t bother us. If we hold it for a couple of hours, our arm will start cramping and aching. If we hold it an entire day, our arm will go numb and basically senseless. The weight of the glass never changes. It is the length of holding that weight which affects us. The same goes for stress. Holding it in your mind for days will eventually break you—which is why dealing with your stress is incredibly important.
If you have any of the following 5 warning signs, it would be a good idea to start dealing with your stress.
1. Headaches and chronic pain
Stress often leads to problems with physical health and the first sign that appears is frequent, intense headaches followed by chronic pain. Your body is too worn out to heal itself during your sleep because even when you are resting, your mind is running and working like crazy. This is why your body is aching all the time. Your back, your head, your stomach and digestive system, and sometimes even period cramps—all are affected by too much stress.
2. Decreased energy and insomnia
Stress can disrupt sleep and cause insomnia which leads to low energy. Stress makes it hard for you to fall asleep or even stay asleep once you do which drains you of your energy. The paradoxical thing is that no matter how tired you are, you just can’t fall asleep. This is why you just want to go to bed and fall asleep, but the moment you do, sleep seems like a distant memory.
3. Memory problems and decreased concentration abilities
Lack of sleep causes lack of energy, but it also causes memory problems and decreased concentration abilities. This is why so many teenagers have trouble keeping up with the school work and classes. It’s not because they’re lazy or they don’t want to do it. It’s because they are too stressed about all the expectations that are set.
4. Changes in libido and extreme mood swings
Many people experience changes in their sex drives during stressful periods. Their sex drive disappears and their overall activity and satisfaction with their sex life is extremely low. Too much stress also causes a lot of mood swings and most of them are extreme. Your body is warning you that something is wrong by sending you all of these signals, but it’s up to you if you’re going to ignore them or work on them. The bottom line is, in this case, you should be your own number one and you should fight stress for yourself and yourself only. Once you’re okay, everything else will follow.
5. Anxiety and depression
And lastly, anxiety and depression. Stress acts like a trigger to many defense mechanisms in our body, but unfortunately, many of them start acting against us. When you are constantly over stressed, your heart rate is racing, you are sweating and you are constantly worried—worried about your future, your family, your job and many other things. And all of that can bring out the anxiety and depression and, in that case, you need to seek professional help.
Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with being depressed or with having anxiety, but it’s wrong to try and hide it. Not because of the people around you—in this case, you shouldn’t even give a damn about them. It’s wrong because of you, because your health is what’s at stake. Your health, your mind and your heart.