Behavioral Signs of Stress

It’s still Mental Health Month and it’s so important for you to know the different signs of stress you may be experiencing.  Today, I want to go over the Behavioral Signs of Stress.

Signs of stress

There are many different symptoms you be experiencing.  Whether they be cognitive, physical, emotional or behavioral, you need to recognize them in order to deal with them effectively.  Please click on the links for each to get more detailed information on the various symptoms but today I will focus on the Behavioral Signs of Stress.  Understand though, that any stress can lead to depression.

Behavioral signs of stress

When we’re stressed, there are certain things we do and maybe don’t realize that it’s a symptom of the stressor we are experiencing.  Have you noticed any of these in your behavior?

• Withdrawal – do you ever shy away from people when you are depressed?  Maybe you don’t ‘feel’ like going to a social gathering or decide even to not go to the grocery store.  This may be a sign that you are stressed.  This could be a sign of an anti-social act.
• You aren’t able to relax – if you ever find yourself restless, take note!
• Pacing – Do you have a lot of anxiety and you pace the room a lot?
• Appetite – sometimes when we’re stressed, we can’t eat – our stomachs are upset and we don’t even feel like eating.  On the flip side, though – some people eat a lot more than usual when they are stressed.  Either way, a change in your eating can signal you are stressed.
• Drinking more alcohol – are you finding that you are drinking more than you should?  This obviously isn’t good behavior – for obvious reasons – but remember that alcohol can age you, damage your skin, and can affect your hormones!
• Alertness seems superhuman – if you feel always on alert, such as when you here the slightest noise, this can be another often overlooked sign of stress.

Know it’s OK

Listen, stress is a normal part of life.  We ALL go through it from time to time and it’s OK.  There is nothing wrong with you.  If stress becomes chronic, it can really start affecting our lives both physically and emotionally.  This is when we need to do something about it.  Everyone is different so not everyone will respond the same way to the options.  It’s important to remember that you are OK and you will be OK – you just need to work your way out of stress in any way that you can.  Keep going, and be strong, and when you need the extra help, get it.  There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.

Take Care of yourself

It’s easy to neglect ourselves, especially when we have other priorities like taking care of children or our parents (by the way, if this is you, this is known as the sandwich generation).  On top of that, we have our jobs, general life situations, and households to tend to.  So, it is not easy to take care of ourselves.  But, we all know deep inside that we need to and sometimes we just need to do it.  The behavioral signs of stress will start to slip away.

During those busy times, what I try to do is to just take a few minutes.  Even if that means only 5 minutes.  In that 5 minutes, I can sit quietly, meditate, or stare out the window.  All that is needed is just to be still.  I can also just savor my cup of coffee in the morning, without the feeling of needing to rush.  I really do know it’s hard and sometimes 5 minutes isn’t even possible – maybe it’s only 1 minute.  Whatever time you can spare, remember to be mindful – take it all in and be in the present.  That one minute will eventually turn into 5, and then 30 or more.

For other Stress Buster Activities, click here.