Overview Of The Signs Of Stress

Stress is natural! Most individuals deal with it regularly. In mild amounts, stress is also healthy. It helps with motivation and avoiding threats! Unfortunately, too much stress is harmful. It will negatively affect an individual's relationships, job, and academic performance. Their physical and mental health will be affected as well!

Stress relief is essential! Many individuals choose to engage in natural stress management. The good news is that home remedies for stress, such as exercise and meditation, are quite effective. Individuals will often benefit from taking natural supplements for anxiety and stress! However, some patients need prescription stress pills! Of course, they must understand their symptoms first.

Frequently Ill

Stress is a major risk factor for infections. It causes both viral and bacterial infections! Stress often means that patients are frequently ill. The reason is an impaired immune system! It leaves the body vulnerable. Usually, an individual's body makes antibodies to protect itself from infections and other external threats. However, stress interferes with the production of these antibodies! It is harder to make them. Thus, patients fall ill more often. It also causes vaccines for some infections to be less effective! Stress also reactivates certain dormant viruses, including the herpes simplex virus. This is what causes symptoms to reappear! Ultimately, stress means that the immune system cannot keep them controlled anymore.

Stress also causes hormone imbalances! Two affected hormones are cortisol and corticosterone, which usually protect the body. However, imbalances cause problems. For instance, elevated levels of these hormones for extended periods often causes the body to stop responding. The result is inflammation and being frequently ill. Patients often develop infections and even chronic health conditions!

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Nausea

Nausea is another major symptom of stress! It is quite common to feel nauseous during and after a stressful event. The reason is the many ways in which an individual's gut and central nervous system are connected. For instance, there is a neurotransmitter network that regulates the feelings and sensitivity in the intestines, abdomen, and stomach. This is the endocannabinoid system! It influences nausea. One of the ways this happens is the regulation of ghrelin. This hormone regulates an individual's mood and triggers hunger!

Stress causes this hormone to increase! A major side effect, due to the connection to hunger, is nausea. Many patients will also deal with anticipatory nausea. It comes when individuals expect the stress to return, even when the event is over. It is also triggered when individuals think about the stressful event!

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Dizziness

Dizziness is another physical sign of stress! In fact, it is often a symptom of many stress conditions! One example is post-traumatic stress disorder. Vertigo and dizziness are two major symptoms of it. Another condition that stress triggers is vestibular migraine. It often results in dizziness!

Stress also causes anxiety, leading to shallow breathing. Shallow breathing reduces the oxygen in an individual's blood. The result is feeling dizzy and lightheaded! Emotional, physical, and mental stress all trigger dizziness. However, research shows that emotional stress and mental stress have a stronger association with dizziness!

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Irritability

Many individuals experience irritability when they are stressed! This often comes before other symptoms, including mood swings, fatigue, anger, and depression. There is a well-documented link between stress and irritability! Researchers have proven that stress triggers this feeling in several ways. One is through the release of cytokines. This is how stress causes inflammation! Cytokines also cause mood problems, including irritability. They do this by disrupting the circuitry between the brain and the rest of the nervous system!

As mentioned, stress also increases cortisol and many other hormones. This increase often means that they are imbalanced. Evidence shows that irritability is a common result of this! Irritation affects an individual's quality of life. They will deal with damage to both their personal and professional relationships. Many studies show that irritability often results in worsened symptoms of health conditions. One example is severe symptoms of heart failure!

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Anxiety And Depression

Anxiety and depression are two more common signs of stress. These symptoms appear in both short-term stress as well as chronic stress! One of the major reasons for these symptoms is oxidative stress. This is a condition where the body's ability to protect and repair itself is compromised. It cannot do these tasks due to issues with free radicals and a lack of antioxidants. Research shows that mental stress is a significant trigger for oxidative stress in the brain. This is what leads to depression and anxiety!

High cortisol is another trigger for this type of stress in the brain. It is already clear that cortisol increases due to mental stress! However, cortisol also triggers anxiety and depression in relation to stress in another way. Specifically, as it increases, serotonin will decrease! Of course, this is an essential hormone. Serotonin keeps individuals happy! A lack of it is a major cause of depression and anxiety.