Everyone experiences a small amount of stress from time to time. This is what is known as healthy stress. Healthy stress is necessary to keep your brain and body communicating. In the event of an emergency, or better known as a “flight or fight” situation it’s essential that your body receives the message from your brain to either fight or flight. Without this message you would not know what to do and the results could be life threatening.
It’s when we become overloaded with stress that emotional and physical signs start to appear and raise havoc with our lives. There are several signs of stress, listed below are the most common.
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Easily distracted
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Forgetful
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Unable to concentrate on simple tasks
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Lack of energy
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Loss of interest in things you enjoy
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Easily aggregated
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Mood swings
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Cry easily
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Loss of appetite
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Early signs of anxiety (fear, edgy or nervous a lot of the time)
You can determine if you are suffering from stress by how many of the ten signs of stress you have.
To gauge the severity of your stress level rate the signs listed above on a scale of one to five. With one being the lowest and five the highest. If you find that you rate three or more of the symptoms at a level five then you have moderate stress. Any more than three signs rated as a five is an indication you are on your way to severe stress.
If stress is not addressed and taken care of it can develop into an anxiety disorder. To prevent your stress from getting any worse, take note of what is causing you stress. If you need to, write it all down and try to come up with a solution to resolve the situation(s) before they get any worse.
The best ways to lower your stress is to get organized, delegate responsibilities and stop putting so much pressure on yourself, you are only human after all!