What does stress feel like?

Pamela, a homemaker, often feels tense. Her days leave her feeling frazzled and drained. Sometimes she is unable to cope with the demands that her family places on her. She feels as if she is being pulled in several directions at once. Sometimes she becomes irritable and has emotional outbursts over minute details. Lately she has even had trouble sleeping at night, though she is exhausted.

Pamela is under stress. Though it is a commonly used term, many people do not understand the physical and emotional implications of stress. The effects of stress make daily tasks difficult. Stress affects the performance of the brain. When people are under stress, their memory suffers. Stress can cause irritability and nervousness. The following are ten key stress indicators:

• Sleep disturbances (insomnia or too much sleep)
• Changes in food consumption (loss of appetite or increase in appetite)
• Poor concentration or memory retention
• Uncharacteristic mistakes or forgotten appointments
• Anger or tantrums
• Violent or anti-social behavior
• Emotional outbursts
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Nervous habits

Constant stress can trigger physical ailments such as high blood pressure. When the body is under stress, certain physical responses are triggered including:

• Increase in heart rate and blood pressure to increase blood flow to the brain for improved decision-making ability
• blood sugar rises to furnish more fuel for energy as the result of the breakdown of glycogen, fat and protein stores
• blood is shunted away from the intestines, where it is not needed for purposes of digestion, to the large muscles of the arms and legs to provide more strength in combat, or greater speed in getting away from a scene of potential danger
• blood clotting occurs more quickly to prevent blood loss from lacerations or internal hemorrhage

When left untreated, stress greatly affects one’s quality of life and the ability to complete daily tasks.