Stress Effects on Your Body: 10 Best Ways to Get Relief

Stress significantly impacts your mood as well as cause physiological changes in your body.  But first you have to identify stress  Then, use ways to get relief.  Also, new technologies help you discover your stress.

First step is to identify stress. Furthermore, there are two types of stress: acute and chronic. Also, of the two, chronic stress affects your body, thoughts, feelings, and behavior.  So, it is important to recognize and identify stress symptoms. Because, if you don’t identify stress symptoms, bad things happen to your body.  Therefore, the sections, below, help you identify stress symptoms.

Cognitive symptoms include: a) memory lapses, b) inability to concentrate, c) inability to focus, d) inability to make simple decisions, e) becoming rather vague, f) easily distracted, g) lack of motivation, h) poor judgment, i) seeing only the negative, j) anxiety, k) depression, l) restlessness, m) constant worrying, n) sadness and, o) sense of being overwhelmed.

Emotional symptoms include: a) tearful, b) extra sensitivity to criticism, c) defensiveness, d) general unhappiness, e) agitation, f) moodiness, g) irritability, h) anger, i) frustration, j) feeling out of control, k) feeling overwhelmed, l) lack of confidence, m) lack of self-esteem, n) lack of motivation, o) loneliness and isolation and, p) other mental or emotional health problems.

Physical symptoms include: a) headache, b) aches and pains, c) chronic pain, d) achy mouth, e) out of nowhere acne, f) muscle tension, g) grinding teeth, h) bleeding gums, i) diarrhea or constipation, j) nausea, k) chest pain, l) rapid heart rate, m) cramps from periods, n) frequent colds, flu or infections, o) loss of sex drive, p) loss of libido/sexual problems, q) allergies/rashes/skin irritations, r) immune system, s) weight loss or gain, t) indigestion/heart burn/ulcers, u) stomach aches, v) hyperventilating, w) lump in the throat, x) pins & Needles, y) dizziness, z) palpitations, aa) panic attacks, ab) physical tiredness, ac) heart problems, ad) high blood pressure and, ae) fatigue.

Behavioral symptoms include: a) no time for relaxation or pleasurable activities, b) absenteeism, c) uncharacteristically lying, d) prone to accidents, e) self-neglect, f) procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, g) forgetfulness, h) change in appearance, i) abusing use of alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax, j) eating more or less, k) relationship problems, l) nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing), m) a sweet tooth, n) social withdrawal, o) overeating, p) difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, which can lead to insomnia, q) reckless, r) under eating, s) sleeping too much or too little, t) aggressive/anger outburst, u) not exercising as often, v) odd dreams, w) nervous, x) becoming a workaholic and, y) poor time management.

Also, people don’t always recognize the physiological signs of stress, and their memories of past stressful events can be colored by their current mood.  But, taking the steps, to recognize and identify stress, helps people cultivate a more mindful attitude towards their bodies. And, once you recognize that you have stress symptoms, you act to manage the stress.

Furthermore, this video refers to ten of the most popular symptoms that show your body is being affected by stress.

Also, there are several web sites that provide a quick indicator of your stress level.  (Note: We cannot judge and are not responsible for the accuracy of the results.)

Moreover, in addition to the listed methods to identify stress, wouldn’t it be nice to have a device that confirms or warn you that you are stressed.  Knowing you are stressed, you take action and go for a quick run or a brisk walk.

Most noteworthy, heart rate variability is one of the most robust, noninvasive measures of stress response.  Furthermore, heart rate variability is due to a host of diseases, from heart disease to diabetes.  Especially relevant, the interval between heart beats naturally varies.  When someone is in a distressing or scary situation, the autonomic nervous system activates the fight or flight response. Consequently, this reduces the variability in the interval between heart beats.  Furthermore, a stressed out heart may only vary by two beats per breath cycle.  However, the trouble with using heart rate variability to identify stress is that both distressing and exciting events can trigger this nervous system response.

In addition, a fitness tracker uses your state for interpreting its results.  You know the state you are in (are you excited or are you stressed).  If you are not excited then the fitness tracker is indicating you are in stress.

If you want the device to do that interpretation, computing algorithms exist that can identify stress, however they require too much computing power to fit on your wrist.  Bottom line is that the current crop of devices have a ways to go before they can tell you with reasonable confidence whether you are under stress or not.

With that caveat, there are many kinds of wearable devices that can indicate stress.  Some are headbands, wristbands, thumb sensors, clip on devices.  Some of their features are listed below.

Headband.  Headband devise monitor brain signals (activity) and interprets the results to let you know such things as your level of attention, focus, engagement, interest, excitement, affinity, relaxation, and stress.

Wristband.  Wristband device monitors any changes in your skin that indicate stress, emotions and excitement.  It also monitors you heart rate and can track emotions.

Thumb device.  Holding your thumb against this device will measure your stress level.  It works by measuring your skin’s electro thermal activity.

Clip-on device.  Clip-on devices tracks your respiration patterns and body movements to detect whether you are tense or stressed.

Managing your stress improves your health.  Some of the ways, you can get stress relief, include the following:

However, activities, such as watching television, surfing the internet or playing video games, while they may seem like stress relief techniques and relaxing, they really increase your stress over time.

Chronic stress results in detrimental physiological changes.  So its important to recognize and identify stress.  Once you know you are in stress, get stress relief using the described methods.