Look out for Hidden Signs of Stress

WELLNESS

According to research, when you're under stress, your adrenal glands produce the hormone adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, which causes receptors in your heart to react by accelerating your heart rate. If you're anxious, your racing heart can merely make you feel more anxious, creating a vicious cycle.

Anxiety is a catch-all name for a collection of dreadful emotions that can be challenging to manage, such as fear, worry, restlessness, and tension. Many individuals use the word "anxiety" to describe common, everyday tension, but they're still able to let it go and go on without feeling completely overcome by it. However, anxiety can also become extremely debilitating and even chronic, which is when it enters the realm of a diagnosable mental health illness. Your brain is signalling the development of potent stress hormones while it dwells on a concern or fear that feels all-consuming. Actually, this is your body's attempt to defend you from imagined harm or danger. However, since the majority of your anxious thoughts most likely don't come from life-or-death situations, you just end up coping with a series of symptoms that leave you feeling terrified, worn out, or just overall bad.

Here are some physical symptoms which might be a sign of anxiety:

Pounding heart: A classic indication of anxiousness is feeling as though your heart is suddenly beating twice as fast (or three times as fast). According to research, when you're under stress, your adrenal glands produce the hormone adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, which causes receptors in your heart to react by accelerating your heart rate. If you're anxious, your racing heart can merely make you feel more anxious, creating a vicious cycle.

Rapid breathing or shortness of breath: Your bloodstream carries oxygen throughout your body. When your racing heart increases the rate at which your blood is circulating, your breathing might increase to provide you with more oxygen. But because it disturbs the equilibrium of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body, breathing too quickly—which can result in hyperventilation, or over-breathing to the point where you feel out of breath—can actually exacerbate many of the physical symptoms of anxiety.

Constant Feeling of Exhaustion: Another bodily sign to pay attention to is feeling as though you are constantly exhausted or worn out. For one thing, the increase in stress hormones brought on by worry can keep you on high alert all the time, which is incredibly taxing. But there's another element that contributes to fatigue: sleep and anxiety.

Tightness, discomfort, and pain in the muscles: Your muscles stiffen up as part of your stress response. Additionally, holding some body parts firmly for an extended amount of time might result in stress and pain. Many anxious persons claim that their shoulders, back, or neck are stiff. Additionally, you might clench your teeth or have head-high levels of muscle tension, both of which can cause headaches. For individuals who are susceptible, this can range from a simple tension headache to a full-blown migraine.

Restlessness: Some persons may experience restlessness, which, like muscle stiffness, can result in a range of nervous behaviours such as repetitive foot tapping and excessive handshaking. Stress reduction is generally aided by exercise. If you are unable to exercise, consider sitting outside every day. According to research, spending time in nature has positive effects on mental health.

Problems in Digestion: Anxious people may experience general stomach pain, diarrhoea, constipation, or other types of digestive distress. Bloating and gas can develop into common physical symptoms of anxiety. The gut-brain axis, a communication mechanism between your brain and the enteric nerve system that controls your digestion, is thought to be the source of all the unpleasant stomach symptoms. Additionally, anxiety-related lifestyle decisions, such as consuming meals that you don't enjoy or skipping workouts, might have an impact on your digestion.

A change in or an increase in appetite: The odd thing about anxiety is that it can make you completely lose interest in food or make you long for a huge bowl of comfort. Adrenaline and other hormones have the tendency to suppress hunger when your fight-or-flight reaction is in full swing. However, the hormones like cortisol that are released when you experience long-term anxiety or stress might actually increase your desire for fatty, sugary foods.

Difficulty sleeping: Anxiety may be to blame if you have trouble getting asleep or if you wake up in the middle of the night and are unable to fall back asleep. Hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that are elevated make it difficult to fall asleep since your buzzing body might not be able to unwind sufficiently to sleep. Additionally, anxiety's erratic thoughts do not make for restful sleep. The issue can frequently become a vicious cycle, which only makes things worse. You become more worried as a result of not getting enough sleep, which makes it increasingly harder to fall and stay asleep, and so on.

There are strategies to handle anxiety, and you're absolutely not alone. Although anxiety might feel overpowering to the point that it seems utterly out of your control, you can come out of it.