how stress affects us

Feeling stressed? We often use the term “stress” in our culture, but what exactly IS stress? While sometimes difficult to explain, we all know how it feels. You lie down for bed, completely exhausted from the day, and while you want nothing more than to go to sleep, your mind begins to race with anxiety, thinking about that day, beginning to think about tomorrow and what you need to do, analyzing what you could have done better today and what you need to do better tomorrow. You begin to anticipate another stressful day. And all the while the clock keeps ticking towards tomorrow morning. You finally fall to sleep, but you wake periodically during the middle of the night, checking the clock frantically, hoping that it’s not time to get up, hoping for more time to sleep, and becoming more anxious about how tired you already are.

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what does stress feel like?

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Muscle tension in your body is a common sign of stress, as is fatigue and muscle aches. Mood changes such as being irritable with your partner or kids, or even with your coworkers, is common when you are stressed out. Feelings of resentfulness towards others, and daily overwhelm, not to mention your emotional exhaustion, also signify stress or work-related stress.

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Is Your Stress Work-Related?

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We often use the term “work-life balance”, although it can be a bit deceiving. This term implies that we can always balance our work and life equally. In reality, however, work-life balance for most of us means an acceptable way to give our best with both our career and our personal, or family, life. This “balance” may change on a daily basis and will likely continue to evolve.

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Work-life balance issues may present themselves as increased anxiety, depression, stress, or possibly even problems with alcohol or drugs. There is no one way that work-life balance issues presents in people. One person may have a mood change, being much more irritable than normal, and another may simply isolate and withdraw. When others around you notice that you are “off” or “seem stressed” or even encourage you to take a mental health day off from work, you may be experiencing work-life balance issues.

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Do any of these stress symptoms describe you?

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• You are having trouble with sleep, either getting to sleep or waking up in the middle of the night, thinking about your stressors or about work

• You have more difficulty motivating yourself

• You are more fatigued or tired than normal

• You feel bad about yourself

• You find yourself crying more often

• You begin to avoid being around people

• You are more irritable

• You anticipate bad things happening

• You have become more resentful of others

• You don’t feel well physically

• You are worrying excessively about work

• You have difficulty concentrating on just one task, or constantly multi-tasking

• You feel worthless, like you can never measure up to everyone’s expectations

• Your work hours are increasing as is your stress level

• You are spending less time with family/partner/spouse

• You are feeling hopeless about how you’re going to manage everything

• You are starting to resent your job due to its high demands

• You are unable to focus/be present with your family when not at work

• You have increased arguments with your partner/spouse/significant other about work

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What does this mean? The term “stress” has been defined as “physical, mental or emotional strain or tension” caused by “perceived demands and expectations that exceed” one’s abilities or resources available at a given time.

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