Stress and the Symptoms

Stress is normal and happens to everyone, to adapt to new situations, although once stress is prominent in everyday lives, it can affect your mental and physical health. This website outlines the ways to manage stress, ways that stress can be minimised and prevented.

What is stress exactly? Below are possible symptoms that arise when you experience longer periods of stress. There are physical and mental health impacts.

Physical Symptoms of Stress

After a long period of stress, the body is affected by it, and the effects are felt. This often includes:

Chest pains and tense pains around the body
Exhaustion or stress keeps the body from resting and sleeping
Frequent headaches or dizziness during the day
Frequent high blood pressure and muscle tensions
Experiencing digestive problems
Weaker immune system, less resistance to (external) factors

These are ways to be conscious of and to know when the stress levels are too high, and thus ways to lessen stress.

Ways to relieve overwhelming stress:

Exercising or meditation can be relieving of stress if it is the right amount of exercise
Reflecting on what you can and can’t control, allows you to reflect on the unnecessary stress.
Talking to a trusting person, parents or a therapist can help and support you.

Check out our page of managing everyday stress and exam stress to find ways to manage these physical symptoms

Talk to a doctor or therapist about the stress levels if the suggested activities do not help, or if you are still overwhelmed with stress.

Impacts on Mental Health

Stress can also cause serious mental health conditions, including:

Emotional exhaustion: irritability to small things and constant/frequent tiredness
Depression: frequent sadness and/or lack of motivation and self-esteem, increasing negative thoughts
(Increase in) Anxiety: constant nervousness or worry

This could also result in unhealthy habits, such as:

Overeating, undereating
Use of drugs (smoking, drinking)
Gambling, compulsions to buy (shopping)

Stress can negatively affect your emotional and intellectual health, although there are some ways to minimise this.

Ways to relieve overwhelming (emotional) stress:

Try to get the right amount of sleep: 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Maintaining this everyday, becomes a routine and can also provide more restful sleep.
Try to maintain the correct amount and healthy food intake.
Exercising can also improve your mental health
Try to stay connected with friends and family, if possible

Remember, even small changes can make a big difference, such as changing sleep schedules or exercise. The resources outlined on the resources page can help with your personal stress management. You can also check out the everyday stress and exam stress pages on this website.