Symptoms of Stress

As we learned from the "Causes of Stress" entry, stress impacts our lives on many levels. When experiencing stress we can experience physical, mental, emotional, as well as behavioural symptoms. Take a look at the following information and give some thought to what you experience when you are stressed. If you can, list your symptoms under each of the four categories. This will enable you to clearly see the impact stress has had on you. This list will also help you to compare later on how you are managing your stress. 

This comes from the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Group I attended. I take no credit for the information I share here. Please also understand this information is being provided for informational purposes only, and I would strongly encourage you to speak with your doctor or health care professional if you have any questions about what you read here. I hope you will find the following information is beneficial.

Physical Symptoms

• headache
  
• dizziness
  
• clenching jaw, grinding teeth, facial twitching
  
• chest pain or tightness, palpitations, shortness of breath or air hunger
  
• nausea, vomiting, heartburn, indigestion, cramps, diarrhea, constipation
  
• shaking, trembling, tremor of hands, clenched fists
  
• agitation, restlessness, feeling hyper
  
• sleep disturbances (trouble falling asleep, disrupted sleep and or early waking)
  
• fatigue, weakness, appetite loss
  
• loss of interest in sex
  
• frequent colds, flu or respiratory infections
  
• increases in pre-existing conditions such as migraines, colitis, ulcer, asthma
  

Mental Symptoms

• decrease in concentration and increased in forgetfulness
  
• loss of decisiveness
  
• decrease in sense of humour
  
• mind racing, drawing blanks or confusion
  

Emotional Symptoms

• anxiousness, tenseness or nervousness
  
• depression, sadness, or unhappiness
  
• fear, worry, pessimism
  
• irritability, impatience, anger, frustration
  
• apathy, indifference, loss of motivation
  

Behavioural Symptoms

• fidgeting, pacing, restlessness
  
• compulsive smoking, drinking, overeating
  
• nail biting, foot tapping, knee jiggling
  
• blaming, yelling, swearing
  
• crying, weeping, feeling on the verge of tears