Your Immune System

The Answers to Stress

Stress Relief Aids

Symptoms of Chronic Stress

What is PTSD?

Stress and Carbohydrates

Diets to Reduce Stress

Exercise and Stress Reduction

Sleeps Effects on Stress

Meditation For Stress

Stress Reduction Breathing

Yoga for Stress Relief

Adaptogens for Stress

Stress over 40

Stress Reading List

What Are Common Symptoms of Stress?

Manifestations of stress are numerous and varied but they usually fall into four categories (these are a few of the most common symptoms):

Physical: fatigue, headache, insomnia, muscle aches/stiffness (especially neck, shoulders and low back), heart palpitations, chest pains, abdominal cramps, nausea, trembling, cold extremities, flushing or sweating and frequent colds.

Mental: decrease in concentration and memory, indecisiveness, mind racing or going blank, confusion, loss of sense of humor.

Emotional: anxiety, nervousness, depression, anger, frustration, worry, fear, irritability, impatience, short temper.

Behavioral: pacing, fidgeting, nervous habits (nail-biting, foot-tapping), increased eating, smoking, drinking, crying, yelling, swearing, blaming and even throwing things or hitting.

The Stress Cycle figure, above, shows the portion of the central nervous system, which applies in the case of stress. The subsystems shown are an essential part of man and have been used over the years to produce (among others) the psychophysiological mechanisms necessary for man to defend himself.

In the stress cycle "feedback" loop, the following reactions occur, all of which are obviously useful to a person threatened by a predator or a mortal enemy. However, they are harmful to the modern person under long term stress as exemplified by the [bracketed] statements :