How to Detect the Warning Signs of Stress Early

Stress is the bodily response to demands made upon it. It must be emphasized that stress is caused by our bodily reaction to the external events or environment, and not the external events or environment themselves. The similar external event, for example when asked to make a speech, can have very different responses from different people. Some people may view that as an opportunity to show off his skills or to express their view or even to improve their public speaking skills. On the other hand, some people may fear their speech will display their ignorance or incapability.

While stress that is short and ends quickly may be good for the body, stress that goes on for a longer time without sufficient relief can cause much damage to not only our bodies but many other aspects of our lives, such as damage to our relationships or personalities.

It is therefore vital that we are able to detect when that stress period and level exceeds the healthy limit. Fortunately, it is not too difficult to detect the warning signs of stress, although to detect the signs during the early stage of stress is not so straight forward.

We shall discuss the warning signs and symptoms of stress under the following three categories:

1. Physical Signs of Stress

In the presence of a stressor, the body responds by the release of adrenaline to enable it to take explosive actions for survival or high performance. If the stress is relieved, the body goes back to normal conditions. On the other hand, after prolong period of stressful conditions many other physical conditions begin to exhibit themselves. The apparent signs include

- Heart beats faster and stronger

- Perspiration increases resulting in sweaty hands/ palms and even sweats may appear all over the body (even during sleep)

- Headaches and chronic pains in various parts of the body

- Pain or tightness of the chest, neck, jaw and back muscles. The jaw may clench, the teeth may grit resulting in stuttering and other speech difficulties, and the muscles may tremble and twitch

- Restlessness and nervous ticks

- Skin crawls and pales.

- Nausea and vomiting because the body tries to repulse foreign particles in the stomach. May also experience 'Butterflies in stomach'

- Diarrhea because the colon work faster and repel the waste before it has absorbed the water (and other materials).

The not so apparent physical signs of stress include

- Blood pressure may rise significantly which is bad for the arteries and heart in the long run and in the short term the pressure may rise above what the body can cope for one who already has high blood pressure

- Increased sugar and insulin levels in the bloodstream

- Increased cholesterol in the bloodstream

- Addition of coagulates to blood

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