12 Symptoms of Too Much Stress
Stress is a state of emotional or mental strain caused by severe circumstances. It is a natural feeling that people get in response to things happening or changing around them, most of which they can’t explain or have no control over.
While sometimes stress is supposed to give your body fight-or-flight responses, most times it makes people feel low. Everybody has to deal with stress related to work, relationships, or financial hardships at one point in life.
According to one recent study, 33% of adults experience high levels of stress. Stress causes a lot of mental and physical symptoms. However, some of the most common ones include;
1. Headaches
This is one of the most common symptoms of stress, according to many studies. Headaches related to stress are characterized by pain in the neck region or at the back of the head. Studies have shown that stress increases the occurrence and intensity of headaches that people experience.
One study that included 267 people suffering from chronic headaches indicated that stressful events preceded the occurrence of chronic headaches in around 45% of the people. Another more extensive study indicated that higher stress intensities lead to more headaches than people experience in a month.
Researchers also conducted another study on 150 military service members, which found that around 67% of the participants suffered from chronic headaches triggered by stress. That made stress the second most common trigger for headaches.
2. Rapid heartbeat and increased breathing
When you are stressed, the muscles in your breathing system tense up, which leaves you short of breath. That results in you breathing faster and heavier. Your heart also beats faster and harder to supply blood to your vital organs and muscles.
That happens due to the flight-or-fright body response to stress, which prepares your body to react to the stressful situation. The stress hormones also tighten your blood vessels, raising your blood pressure. These increase your chances of getting a heart attack over time.
In one study, researchers exposed 87 students to stressful tasks and found that it increased their blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. However, playing slow relaxing music helped reverse those effects.
3. Insomnia
Insomnia is another common symptom of chronic stress. If you are stressed, it could be challenging to fall asleep or remain in a deep sleep for a long time. It could be so severe that it interferes with your daily activities.
When you are stressed, your hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to release more hormones. Those hormones trigger the adrenal glands to produce more steroid hormones known as glucocorticoids. Two of those hormones are adrenaline and cortisol, which are stress hormones.
The increased cortisol levels cause you to be alert during stressful moments, interfering with your sleep pattern.
One study indicated that high work-related stress levels caused restlessness and increased sleepiness during bedtime. Another study of 2,316 participants indicated that people experiencing high-stress levels had a higher risk of insomnia than those without stress or low-stress levels.
Another reason why you have trouble sleeping during stressful situations is tensed muscles.
4. Reduced energy levels
One way that stress reduces your energy levels is by interacting with your sleep pattern. If you don’t get a lot of sleep, your energy levels the following day will be low. Stress also causes a depletion of nutrients that help you produce more energy, like magnesium and B vitamins.
Under stress, the liver produces extra blood sugar or glucose to boost your energy levels. However, under chronic and prolonged stress, the liver might be unable to keep up with glucose production, which reduces your energy levels.
The body also releases many hormones under stress, and that hormone rash could leave you feeling fatigued and with low energy levels.
5. Changes in appetite
Stress causes different changes in appetite in different people. Some people experience low appetite levels, while others have increased appetite and cravings.
When you experience high-stress levels, the body’s flight-or-fright response is activated, preparing the body to react physically to the stress. It also causes the production of many hormones, one being the corticotropin-releasing factor, which affects your digestive system and lowers your appetite.
Stress increases cortisol levels in the body, which increases the speed at which your body digests food. That could lead to an increased appetite and a craving for sugary, fatty, or salty foods.
Over time, these changes in appetite could cause drastic weight changes like obesity or chronic weight loss, which could eventually cause serious health issues.
In one study, researchers found out that 81% of college students experienced changes in their appetite because of stress. 38% of them had a decreased appetite, while 62% experienced an increased appetite.
Another study, including 129 people, indicated that some people experienced different behaviors like eating when they were not hungry.
