Stress affects the mind as well as the body. People who experience a large amount of stress will be exhausted, sick, and unable to concentrate or think clearly. One of the worst case scenarios is that they can also suffer from mental breakdowns, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
The below points will provide you with the effects of stress in the body which reflects in your mood and how it ultimately reflects in your behavior:
- Effect on your body- headache
- Effect on your mood- anxiety
- Effect on your behavior- overeating/undereating
- Effect on your body- tension in muscle/pain
- Effect on your mood- restlessness
- Effect on your behavior- angry outbursts
- Effect on your body- chest pain
- Effect on your mood- no focus or motivation
- Effect on your behavior- misuse of drug or alcohol
- Effect on your body- fatigue
- Effect on your mood- having an overwhelmed feeling
- Effect on your behavior- excess usage of tobacco
- Effect on your body- change in sex drive
- Effect on your mood- anger or irritating mood
- Effect on your behavior- social withdrawal
- Effect on your body- stomach upset
- Effect on your mood- depression or emotionally upset
- Effect on your behavior- less or no physical exercise
When to seek help?
- You need to seek help from your doctor when:
- You start getting the symptoms; however, you are not certain if stress is the cause
- You have taken the measures to control the stress, however, it does not seem to be under control
- If you have chest pain, shortness of breath, jaw or back pain, pain radiating into your shoulder and arm, sweating, dizziness, or nausea
Depending on the requirement your doctor might recommend you to a professional counselor or therapist, who can help you identify sources of your stress and learn new coping tools.
How to manage stress?
Here are some of the points to help you can manage stress:
- Exercise regularly
- Allow your body and your mind to relax. You can do yoga, deep meditation, breathing techniques, tai chi or a message
- Keep away from the dark content form the screen (movies, series documentary) and watch happier related content. Preferably watch more of comedy content which will make you happy and cheerful.
- Spend time with your friends and family. Speak to them. Let your thought flow out and their love will heal it eventually.
Do not sit idle. The famous proverb “An idle mind is a devils workshop” is indeed true. You will feel the need to think about your past, evaluate your present, worry about the future, compare yourself to others when you are idle. Find a hobby/passion which suits to your personality and keeps yourself engaged from these thoughts.