How Can I Recognise The Symptoms Of Stress?

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Have you ever been told to get a grip on yourself?

If you do feel like you’re losing a grip on yourself, it may be because you’re in the grip of stress.

If you’re feeling like your life and career is unravelling around you and you don’t have control, take time to reassess the situation.

Check in with how you’re feeling, both physically and psychologically. Chances are that it’s due to stress.

You may have been underestimating the impact stress is having on you. Your stress may have become chronic without you realising it. Living with constant stress might have started to feel normal to you, but it shouldn’t be.

Have you checked in with your therapeutic practitioner lately?

This is not medical advice by any means, but it’s worth being aware of some not so obvious symptoms of stress that can often be attributed to something else.

Maybe you’ve already presented to your practitioner with some of these symptoms and you’ve undergone tests to rule other things out. And the findings may not have been conclusive.

You may have been aware that you've been under stress, but it's possible you underestimated just how much it has affected you.

The impact of stress can be powerful and should be taken seriously. Here are some symptoms that could be due to stress.

Physical symptoms:

• Increased heart rate

• Blood pressure

• Tensing of the muscles

• Fatigue

• Sleep disturbances

• Insomnia

• Heart palpitations

• Headaches

• Muscular aches and pains

• Weakened immune system

• High blood pressure

Psychological symptoms:

• Worry

• Fear

• Irritability

• Anxiety

• Helplessness

• Anger

• Tearfulness

• Poor memory and concentration

• Overwhelm

Have you been reluctant to reveal just how hard it has been for you?

It's not easy to be this vulnerable, and to admit that we’re not coping. Especially when trying to protect that confident and in control external image we'd like others to have of us.

But it does help to find someone you can trust and share how you feel. And it’s important to disclose the full extent of what you’re going through with a healthcare provider so that they can make the correct assessment and treatment plan.

Whether the stress you’re living with is acute or chronic, and whether the signs are physical or psychological, you can and need to do something about it to prevent it from getting out of hand. And the sooner the better!

In Part 3, I will talk about what living with stress is costing you.