All of us can relate to feeling overwhelmed by some symptoms of stress.  If you have never experienced stress you are probably dead or you are a robot. Inevitably life circumstances and attitude bring us stress.  People do let us down and things do go wrong here on planet earth.

If you are unsure whether you are under stress, check out for yourself these symptoms of stress and see how you fair or where you are.

*You are a regular complainer and criticize everything you see. You make sure you point out everyone’s mistake and not let it pass. You are so good at spotting mistakes…someone else’s.  You scream and yell showing no mercy over the slightest action or word that does not meet your demand which to you is absolutely reasonable.

*You feel that you are a victim of everyone and everything. You pass the blame around as much as you can because you believe you are never at fault for anything. The fault is always the other person.

*You agonize and waver over a decision even over a small matter for fear of making a mistake. You often choose not to decide because it’s safer.

*Worries fill your mind. You worry about almost everything. When something unfortunate happens you assume you are the next victim. Then you begin to worry and think about it. You fill your mind with the tragedies of the nightly news or tales from others. *Paranoia rules you.  You read into everyone’s behavior thinking they probably don’t like you or trying to compete with you.

*You stay away from happy people. You do not want them to rub off on you and cause you to cheer up. You are too comfortable to have them disrupt your unhappy flow and miserable feeling.

*You drink as much alcohol as you can to numb your pain or to escape. You may even turn to illegal drugs to escape the reality of life’s problems and expectations.  

*You begin to dishonor your body with lots of fast food or unhealthy food. You stay up late at night and sit around and vegetate.   

If what I just shared describe you then it is time to take stock of your activities and responsibilities and make changes to your lifestyle before you become so overstressed.  It is time to break free from stress and live life before you break down from stress. You have only one life to live. Let’s live its fullest. 

Do you allow stress to mess up or wreak havoc on your body? If you are among the living stress will happen to you.  It cannot be avoided. When stress is present our physical bodies react and cause various symptoms of stress.

You can fall prey to a host of ills from stress.  These symptoms of stress affect differently on different individuals.

 Headache, neck pain and backache –You get uptight when too much is demanded of your time and resources. When these demands do not let up you unconsciously tense up muscles over the head and shoulder areas and cause tension headache. Then this pain travels down to the shoulders and neck.

Chest pain – Stress, fear and anxiety also tightens the chest muscle which sometimes gives you the sense of a heart attack. Heart disease and high blood pressure are mostly the other two problems.

 
Tummy ache – Stress induces the overproduction of acid in the stomach which can lead to ulcers.  The bloated and queasy feeling is just normal response of the stomach to stress.  Sometimes, you get the runs or sometimes even possibility of constipation.

Weight gain, weight loss – It is common to find comfort in food. Binge eating is often the result of stress and nervousness. It is so hard to quit and you see your weight increase.  At the other end, you may be so stress, uptight and anxious that you completely loss interest in food. Without enough food and nutrition, your energy level falls and this leads to fatigue and eventually sickness and infection and pre-mature aging.

Rashes – The chemicals from the nerve endings in the skin when activated by stress causes the skin to become red and itchy. Then the spontaneous reaction of scratching will further aggravate the situation.

Acne – Cortisol, the stress hormone, thickens hair follicle cells and makes the skin oily. Too oily skin is a breeding ground for pimples! And, more pimples!

Infertility – Stress affects your hormones and a woman will have difficulty conceiving.

 
General-  Impaired immunity – extended period of increased cortisol, the stress hormone, damages white blood cells. White blood cells are your soldier cells deployed to fight when viruses attack.  When more and more of your soldier cells go out of action then your immunity suffers and diseases set in. Low energy – you are not sleeping, resting or eating well because of the stress. So, is it a wonder you’re feeling burnt out and tired out all the time or constantly falling ill? Depression – When you are more prone to anger, fear, anxiety and panic you will more likely get into an emotional turmoil. This often leads to feelings of hopelessness and loss of control and eventually may bring on depression. Short-term insomnia – When you are worried, whether it is a project, an examination or perhaps even a relationship, sleep is elusive. Poor memory, poor concentration – When you are forced to stay focused and alert for an extended time, stress will weaken your concentration. It may cause damage to brain cells.  
These symptoms of stress are only as permanent as you allow them.  If you would get yourself out of that situation that is causing you stress or if would learn ways to live around a situation you cannot get out off you can slowly see those symptoms of stress reversing.