Most people think that stress is cut and dry and that if you are enduring it, you will know it without a shadow of a doubt. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Instead, sometimes, we may show our signs of stress through our bodies, and misinterpret stress as a disease. In reality, our body shows its stress through various physical symptoms. And if the following sound about on point to you, then it’s likely you may have a stress ailment, rather than an actual sickness. As always, it’s best to check with your doctor if the following sounds like you.
1. You experience brain fog, and it is making day-to-day life impossible.
When you experience brain fog, you may think you are just being forgetful. However, when it reached the point of your day-to-day life is affected, it becomes a problem. If this is happening, it is likely that you are stressed to the max.
2. You have developed auditory and verbal hallucinations.
According to researchers from the University of Vienna, and the University of Dunham, verbal hallucinations are linked to high levels and anxiety. If you hear strange voices saying any number of things, it is probably linked to your major stressors, if this is the case, it’s probably stress.
3. You constantly have allergy issues.
During times of stress, we may feel more allergy attacks come on, and in turn, brush it off as ‘just allergies.’ However, when you constantly endure allergy issues, you may be extremely stressed.
4. Your weight is fluctuating.
Either up or down, when you are experiencing strange fluctuations in weight and also dietary changes out of the blue, stress is likely the cause. Harvard Medical School says that short-term stress shuts down our desire to eat, and can also increase it depending on which stress hormones are triggered.
5. Your energy levels have plummeted.
Due to our brain’s neural activity going into overdrive when we are stressed, our heart rates increase causing our body to become more quickly fatigued. This is especially so if our brain stays in the mode.
6. You are sighing on the regular.
2016 researchers from Stanford discovered that we sign around a dozen times per hour, and happens because our brain releases a flow of neuropeptides that trigger an emotional release. When we are constantly stressed, we may experience more frequent sighs.
7. You drop things…..a lot.
Stress causes distraction, which can lead to us not paying attention when we should. In turn, we may drop things, or encounter more frequent accidents.
8. Skin issues.
Is your skin dryer or oiler than usual? Are you experiencing breakouts more regular than you once did? Mark Mummert from the University of North Texas Health Science center states that when in times of stress, our body will release more hormones than usual. This causes physical wounds to heal slower, and our skin to fluctuate it’s texture more rapidly.
9. You have the urge to gamble.
From scratching lottery tickets to hitting a casino, those who are more prone to gamble are usually quite stressed. Know the Odds, a national non-profit dedicated to spreading gambling addiction awareness says that stress is a main contributor to the disease.