Nine Signs You’re Overstressed (And Don’t Know It)

Modern way of living comes with a high toll – stress. Although we often underestimate it, stress is the underlying cause of a number of serious health issues.
Now, you may also think that you can keep stress under control, but in reality, this is not as easy as it seems. And being overstressed, especially for a long time, can put your health at serious risk.

These are some of the warning signs of being overstressed:

Insomnia

The first thing excessive stress affects is your sleep quality, or even ability to fall asleep. You may even feel fatigued and worn out, but still be unable to get some quality sleep. This is red alert that you’ve entered the dangerous stress zone and that you need to change something about your lifestyle.

The first thing to do is identify the root cause for your stress. This will make it easier for you to cope with it. Also, relaxing techniques like yoga exercises and meditation can be extremely beneficial for reducing stress. Last, but not least, we don’t want to undervalue the importance of a healthy diet.

Hair loss

Carolyn Jacob, MD, founder and medical director of Chicago Cosmetic Surgery and Dermatology, explains:

“Typically, people shed about 100 hairs a day. Most people don’t even notice. Sometimes, a significant stress of sort may spark a change in your body’s routine physiological functions, and cause a disproportionate number of hairs to go into the resting phase at the same time.

Then three to four months later, sometimes longer, all those resting hairs are shed. The effect can be alarming. The types of events that disrupt the normal hair cycle can be caused by the substantial physiological stresses on your body.”

If you are experiencing severe hair loss (exceeding 100 hairs a day), you should have your stress levels examined.

Mood swings

Aside from your sleep and overall life quality, your hormones also suffer from excessive stress exposure. This often results in major mood swings including anxiety, addictions, obsessive compulsive disorders and other mental health issues. Talking to a specialist can help you identify the cause of your issues, and also prevent further complications.

Weight fluctuations

Stress affects your appetite, slows down your metabolism and may lead to sudden weight fluctuations. But, if you experience these without an evident cause, it’s best to consult your doctor.

Pain in the body

Pain in the body is often disregarded as trivial, which couldn’t be more wrong. The thing is pain in the body can point toward a serious health problem. Stress, for instance, can lead to pain in the chest, stomach upset, ulcers, diarrhea, tense muscles, and palpitations.

Also, it intensifies headaches and arthritis, and eventually results in pain all over the body. At this point, stress must be managed by all means.

Inability to relax

Being overstressed also makes you restless, anxious, and uncomfortable in your own body. Addressing this issue, and facing your fears and thoughts can help you soothe your troubled mind. However, whatever you do, never ignore the problem.

Being preoccupied with your job

Being preoccupied with your work, finances, obligations can put you under a lot of stress. Only when you detach from your problem, can you cope with it.

Obsessing about things only complicates things further causing serious psychological and physical issues. Give yourself some time to enjoy life and relax whenever your body needs it. Spending quality time with your loved ones is priceless.

Weakened libido

As mentioned earlier, stress affects your hormones, including your sex hormones. This results in weakened libido, exhaustion and the inability to experience intimacy.
Trying some relaxation techniques can be beneficial in case you experience a loss of libido. Discussing the problem with your partner can also help a lot.

Low patience

Your closest family is usually the first target to your stress issues due to the fact that stress is making you impatient, angry, intolerant, and irritated. Learning how to manage stress and relax more often is a must as stress will eventually take over all aspects of your life.

Important: Learning how to relax and reduce your stress exposure is vital for your overall health.

yogaesoteric
July 17, 2017