Am I stressed?
If you’ve asked yourself the question ‘Am I stressed’ then it’s quite possible that you are!
Stress is an important topic for two reasons:
1. Stress is a word that is thrown around and it’s not really taken seriously
2. Most of us don’t know what the signs and symptoms of stress are, and they can quite often be dismissed for something else.
So let’s talk about stress.
Stress is a natural part of our life. There’s always going to be stressful things happening, and our bodies release the stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, to get us through these stressful situations.
And if everything’s working as it should, when the challenge has passed, our body should return to a nice calm, relaxed state. But, the way that we live today, the fast pace of the world, the technology, the demands the rush, rush, rush, the go, go, go makes things very different!
It means we are in a heightened state of stress all the time, and that’s when it becomes a problem, when it becomes chronic, when it’s long term.
Some of the symptoms I want to share with you here, are symptoms that I’ve personally experienced. It’s not an exhaustive list of symptoms (there’s a link at the bottom where you can read more).
Stress can have various different effects on you…
It may be that you feel more tired than normal, which will probably eventually be utter exhaustion where you struggle to get through the day.
Sleep could be a problem, getting to sleep and staying asleep.
You might feel irritable and anxious.
Your mind could be racing all the time and you find it hard to switch off.
The ability to relax and wind down is impossible!
You feel more emotional, more tearful.
You might have aches and pains, headaches, digestive problems, and then you might also notice that you’re finding it really hard to concentrate. You are finding it hard to focus, to get your motivation. It’s almost impossible for you to make a decision.
You start to feel detached…
It is possible to get to the point where you feel like you’re a bit robotic and that you’re just going through the motions and you’re not really there.
And, the enjoyment out of life’s gone. There’s no fun anymore. And who wants that?
Can you see how these symptoms could be dismissed for something else?
So a headache, everybody gets headaches.
I feel a bit emotional and irritable – it’s my hormones.
Digestive troubles – it’s something I ate.
I didn’t sleep well and that’s why I’m tired.
Can you see how we can think that’s down to something else? And that we just dismiss it and we don’t think anything of it.
But there’s a problem.
These signs, these symptoms, whatever you want to call them, are our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong.
And if we ignore them, our body says, Hmm, well, she’s not listening, and it gives us something else as a warning sign. And then we ignore that. And it gives us another warning sign. And the longer we continue to ignore these warning signs, and the longer we continue to not realise that we’re stressed or acknowledge that we’re stressed, or we just keep saying to ourselves, well, that’s just the way life is and I’ve got to get on with it.
The more it becomes a problem because these signs, these symptoms they build up. They kind of like layer one on top of another and then it becomes a really big problem.
Stress becomes chronic.
The body doesn’t know a different way. We’re in this heightened state of fight and flight all the time, and that eventually does lead to burnout which you can read more about HERE.
Burnout wipes you out, it, it knocks you off your feet, and it takes a really, really long time to get back from that and find yourself again. (I know as I’ve been there – twice!)
And that’s why I’m sharing this because I want to raise awareness so that women understand and recognise these signs and symptoms and can do something about it sooner rather than later.
My final message…
It isn’t normal to feel this way,
It isn’t just the way life is,
It isn’t just a case of getting on with it.
It’s time to make some changes
Can you relate to any of this? Is it time for your to acknowledge and admit to yourself that you are stressed.
There’s help and support out there, you just need to reach out and ask!
DOWNLOAD my FREE Guide on ‘4 Ways to Reduce Stress’
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