Tell-tale signs that you’re stressed

We all experience stress at times and there are many triggers. Stress can be rooted in work, social, financial, health or lifestyle issues, or a combination of all of these. If left unchecked, stress can affect your life and your wellbeing significantly. Here are the signs.

Feeling tired

Stress has a physiological effect on your body by releasing hormones into your bloodstream which accelerate your heart rate and your breathing. This constant strain on your system can have an exhausting effect, leaving you feeling tired all the time.

Sleep loss

Stress can also prevent you from sleeping. Stress has been found to activate the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in the brain, which plays a part in sleep-wake regulation. You may experience sleep loss.

Headaches

Tension headaches are known to be brought on by stress. Lasting anything from half an hour to a few hours these headaches feel like pressure on either side of the head and can also be accompanied by tense neck and shoulders.

Irritable

Stress can affect our mood in ways that we find difficult to control. When we are stressed our nervous system is hyper-responsive and our sensory receptors are more sensitive to stimuli.

This can add to the feeling of perceived pressure, and make us more reactive. Often if you’re stressed some of the physiological side effects, such as a lack of sleep or a sore head, can also contribute to the effect on your mood.

Tearful

For some, these emotional responses can lead to tears. But tears are not just an effect of stress, they have a function in supporting you through stress too. When you cry you release excess stress hormones such as cortisol in your tears, like a safety valve.