Life is stressful. Stress comes in many forms and can sink its teeth into just about anyone. The important thing to remember is that stress is temporary. The symptoms of stress should be fleeting. If you feel longer-lasting effects, you may be dealing with something more significant than just stress alone.
How stress can make you feel and behave
Sleep Decline: Significant changes in sleep can be related to stress but can also be indicative of something more serious. Do you find yourself having a harder time falling asleep or staying asleep? On the other hand, are you wanting to sleep more often than not?
Less Interest In Your Interests: Are you feeling unmotivated to do your day-to-day tasks? Do you find that your leisure or social activities are not bringing you joy right now? Maybe this also looks like reduced presence when you are with your friends/family or at your job.
Drinking or Substance Use: If you are noticing more participation with substances, this is a red flag that your mind needs a crutch to manage its chaos. The majority of the time, substances only make stress and matters worse.
Anger: When times get stressful, are you noticing more irritability or rage? Mood swings are normal, but if you see intense changes, it could be something bigger at play.
Running On Fumes: Are you always feeling drained of energy? If simple tasks feel like chores or just about anything feels taxing, you could be dealing with stress side effects. It could also be burnout or a more significant mental health issue.
Appetite Changes: Stress can cause momentary changes in appetite, but shifts towards the ends of the spectrum can indicate more severe problems. Have you noticed a sudden drop in your craving for any type of food? Are you eating more to calm your nerves? Both of these can be red flags.
When To Be Concerned: Is It Stress or is it Burnout?
Stress can be tricky in that it causes a lot of different symptoms and can be difficult to sift out when you should be concerned. Things to consider in your self-evaluation process:
Duration: Stress is temporary. A moment in time. Your symptoms should be similar time framed. Have you been having symptoms or any of the above feelings for a long period of time? This could be cause for concern. Are your symptoms lasting longer than the stressful event? You may have something more chronic than just stress.
Change: Are any of your symptoms completely out of the norm for you? If they are something that typically describes you, but just slightly elevated, it may not be cause for concern. If they are unusual traits for you, they could indicate something more.
Amount: How many symptoms of stress are you experiencing? If it’s only one or two, that could be stress. If you are having multiple symptoms or if more keep getting added to your list, it could be concerning.
Severity: Are your symptoms or feelings manageable, or do they feel rather intense? If you feel overwhelmed or have any physical side effects, be very mindful. Physical symptoms can include headaches, stomach/GI issues, pain points, cardiac issues (increased heart rate), or even dizziness.
THE STAGES OF BURNOUT
Excitement: At first signs of a new project or undertaking, we can get very excited, have high levels of satisfaction, and take pleasure in diversifying how we spend our time. This is especially true if you are a natural problem solver, people pleaser, or love a new challenge.
Stress response: Things don’t always go smoothly, but you feel up to the challenge. We are able to tackle hiccups in the new project and it might cause temporary disruption in our life, but we take that as proof that we are capable.
Continued stress response: This is when it starts to feel like “one thing after another.” It happens when we don’t get to re-regulate after a stressful event. We might have a number of “bad weeks” in a row, where we skip meals, don’t sleep right, feel on edge, and notice our performance slipping.
Burnout: When continued stress takes hold, it builds on itself and doesn’t even need a triggering event anymore. This is when even tasks that are usually easy for you start to take all your energy and focus. At this point you need radical changes in your life to recover.
Continued burnout: This is when burnout is your natural state, and it’s no longer “temporary.” This period can last years and become so normal that you don’t even realize you’re in it.
Overall Impact of stress in your life
What are your symptoms doing, and what are they affecting? If there is any impact on your relationships, job status, overall health, or safety, any and all of them are huge red flags. Often, stress can affect us in ways we don’t realize. We can still be performing at work, but it takes longer to do tasks or we lose motivation. We can still show up for our loved ones, but we have a shorter temper and have more conflicts. We can even continue our favorite self-care routines, but find they are less effective.
ask for help
The best thing you can do is to let others support you. Most people tend to isolate and hide their problems, especially if they have perfectionist tendencies. Social help is great because it creates resilience and reminds you that you are not alone. Professional help is a great option if you prefer to keep things private but still want some support.
If you believe you are experiencing something more than just stress, don’t hesitate to turn to a professional for help. Reach out to us to discuss your symptoms further and ways they can be managed more effectively.
Read more about Therapy for Anxiety here.