The four main symptoms of stress

We are all affected by an episode of stress from time to time. Some more than others. It is a fact of life. Part of understanding how to deal with stress when it hits us is having an overview of the four main symptoms of stress and what they are: psychological, emotional, physical and behavioral. So let’s dive in and take a look.

Psychological symptoms

There are several psychological symptoms of stress. These often include not being able to focus because you are distracted. This can go further by causing you to forget or become so stressed that it affects your ability to make rational choices and decisions.

Usually you will feel down and depressed as stress weighs on your mind.

That, in turn, affects your mood, which can lead to deeper psychological problems as your mood worsens and your mind races faster and faster looking for a way out of whatever it is. stressing out.

Emotional symptoms

We mentioned the mood above. Mood swings are an emotional symptom of stress.

You are likely to feel irritable and tense as your mood worsens. You may even be angry and overwhelmed as you struggle to cope.

It is not a good place to be as your emotions get out of control due to whatever is stressing you out.

The greater the stress, the greater the effect on your emotions. It is important to recognize the emotional symptoms of stress at an early stage to recognize what is causing it and assess how to address it.

Physical symptoms

Stress also has physical symptoms. For example, a loss of appetite that leads to weight loss and other associated problems, such as a weakened immune system that leads to increased susceptibility to disease.

Stress can also make our natural body rhythms go haywire. For example, our bowel movements can become more or less regular. You may also experience chest pains due to increased heartbeat and even vomiting from that familiar feeling of a hole in your stomach.

When the stress event has passed, your body generally adjusts and returns to normal.

We all undoubtedly have some experience of the physical symptoms of stress, as we know our bodies and how they react to different situations.

Behavioral symptoms

Another symptom of stress is behavioral. Here is a cross between psychological and physical symptoms. For example, we have already mentioned loss of appetite.

The ability to sleep soundly is a behavioral symptom of stress. Our minds do not rest. When we go to bed, our minds race so much with what bothers us that we just can’t sleep. Round and round trying to find comfort and sleep, but it won’t.

Depending on how stress is affecting you, another behavioral symptom is that you may withdraw from social contact and prefer your own company while trying to cope.

Below, we briefly discuss the four main symptoms of stress and their typical characteristics. You can probably recognize them all and how they affect you when you feel stressed.

The important step you should take is positive action to try to reduce and control whatever is stressing you out.