Do you know how your body responds when stressed?
When I present stress workshops I’m often amazed at how many participants do not understand how their body and/or mind responds to stress. I often hear comments such as, “Wow, I didn’t know that was stress.” Even worse, sometimes folks are so blind the response they don’t think they have stress at all. In one session I had a younger woman claim she didn’t have stress yet she pulled out her phone and sent 3 text messages during a 15 minute relaxation exercise. That’s a response to stress – she wasn’t present and instead was worrying about other things.
According to the American Heritage dictionary stress is:
A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression.
Stress is the body’s response to various situations. Below is a list, certainly not all inclusive, of how the body and the mind may respond to stress. Note that the way you respond may vary based on the situation you are experiencing and not everyone responds the same.
Behaviorally
- Arguments
- Withdrawal
- Obsessive behavior
- Controlling/Perfectionist behavior
- Accident Prone (car, bumping into things or people, tripping or falling down)
Physically
- High Blood Pressure
- Headaches
- Muscle tension/aches/pulls (common muscle tension Back, neck, shoulder pain)
- Trouble sleeping
- Weight gain/loss
- Lack of sex drive
- Digestive issues
Mentally
- Racing mind
- Forgetfulness/Loss of memory
- Inability to make decisions
- Multi-asking/inability to focus on one thing (including talking on the phone while driving)
- Worry
- Mood swings
Stress is also linked to:
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease/Stroke
- Stomach illness (Chrone’s disease, cholitis, diverticulitis, digestion issues, etc)
- Cancer
Why? Because folks with chronic stress tend to have habits that include (but are not limited to):
- Smoking
- Excessive drinking
- Over or under exercising
- Over or under eating
What do you think? Do you recognize any of these in yourself? Are there more you would add to the list? Managing your stress is managing your health. Without your health, in my opinion, you have nothing. None of us can be effective from a hospital bed. Self-care is a necessity in order to achieve success in all areas of your life – personally and professionally.
I am in stress and i have ulcers in my mouth. I think this is also the byproduct of stress.