Headaches, weight fluctuations, mood swings: Some common symptoms of stress

Stress is not always bad. When it is in small doses, it can help you perform under pressure and motivate you to do your best. But too much of it will surpass your capacity to manage it. When you are over the top, it means you have exceeded your stress threshold.

Know your limit
It is the stage when an individual loses the capability to tolerate or withstand stress. It will result in a person’s performance declining to the minimum. Stress thresholds may vary from person to person, situation to situation and are based on individual strengths (mental and physical), said Dr Naveen Jayaram, consultant psychiatrist at Sakra World Hospital, Bengaluru.


Stress is the ‘wear and tear’ our minds and bodies experience as we attempt to cope with our changing environment. Stress threshold can be monitored based on the parameters — that is when someone badly wants to escape or avoid the source of stress. The desire to avoid the major stressor is a key indicator of stress, Jayaram added.

Dr Vihan Sanyal, psychotherapist and founder of Mind Factory, a mental health portal, said: “Many people continue to live and work in high-stress environments. They are often unaware that some symptoms such as frequent headaches, frequent temper outbursts, disturbed sleep and racing thoughts are linked to stress. One should be aware of the common symptoms of stress and do a self-check. Your stress threshold is when it starts to impact your day-to-day activities.”


How stress hits you
Stress affects the cognitive processes. Common signs may include frequent headaches, weight loss or gain, disturbances in sleep patterns and eating patterns, frequent illness, inability to concentrate, mood swings, and turning hyperactive and oversensitive. In some cases, the individual may suffer from depression as well, said Jayaram.

“Stress often results in an individual to come up with suicidal thoughts, harming oneself or his or her dear ones. It also makes an individual to lose self-esteem. Take the help of a professional, engage in stress-free activities. Counselling does help in getting out of stress. If the stress goes beyond the limit of a person to bear it, and medicines don’t work, consult a therapist,” he said.

According to Dr NK Venkataramana, neurosurgeon at BR Life SSNMC Super Specialty Hospital, Bengaluru, “Prolonged stress may affect the body’s immunity and hormones. It may result in excess anxiety and lack of concentration.”

Sanyal said: “When stress hits you, you try to avoid stressful situations like attending meetings at work, avoid making phone calls to people you find difficult to deal with, avoid conversations with your spouse, etc. You start to feel helpless and begin to lose control of the situation.”

Prolonged stress and health
Chronic stress, experienced over a prolonged period, can contribute to long-term problems for the heart and blood vessels. Also, continuous stress can affect our musculoskeletal system, respiratory system, oesophagus, bowel movement, nervous system and reproductive system.

Prolonged stress will increase stress hormones in the body. These stress hormones like corticosteroids can cause depletion of chemicals in the neurons of the brain, resulting in emotional and cognitive symptoms like decreased memory and lack of interest. Gradually, if these disturbances are not addressed, they can get converted into chronic diseases. If you are facing any of these symptoms persistently in the absence of any medical problem, it might be because of stress, Jayaram said.


Act, don't postpone
It is never too early or too late to seek help from a professional, said Sanyal.

“Many people in foreign countries attend weekly and biweekly sessions with a mental health specialist to help deal with their levels of stress. Seeing a mental health professional doesn’t mean that you are mentally ill. It is always better to seek help early in order to prevent many mental health disorders which are linked to stress, like clinical depression, anxiety and OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder),” Sanyal explained.

If there is a sudden increase in stress levels, it causes changes in the sympathetic nervous system that controls involuntary body processes and can lead to sudden rise in blood pressure. A diabetic patient should make sure not to get overstressed, as stress in a diabetic patient could lead to a sudden rise in blood pressure and controlling the blood sugar becomes difficult, said Venkataramana.

Prevent Burnout
Whenever a job requires constant focus and fire-fighting, it can lead to a state of burnout. If a person lacks the required knowledge or skill to do a job, it can lead to burnout. To prevent burnout, we need to ensure that we are able to cope with the responsibilities. If we find that we can’t, then we need to find alternative options and coping mechanisms. It may require us to acquire additional skills and even to delegate tasks to others and to be vocal about feeling stressed and seeking help, explained Sanyal.

According to Jayaram, “There are some activities to follow to achieve a stress-free life. One should have good sleep and healthy food; one should practise meditation and do exercise. One should also develop a habit which he or she is passionate about, thus cultivating a way to divert the mind from unnecessary thoughts.”


Small changes, huge impact
Making key lifestyle changes can result in reduction in stress and thereby achieve better health overall. Jayaram advised: “Identify whether you are comfortable with your current work pattern, do not allow your past work experiences to affect your current work. Change your thinking: reframe the situation to change the way you look at things. Forget powerlessness, dejection, despair, failure; focus on your strengths and seek out the positive. Change your behaviour: be assertive (learn how to say ‘no’), prioritise objectives, duties and activities, make them manageable and achievable. Don’t overload your mind, develop a support network through friends — sometimes sharing your feelings helps. Change your lifestyle to include regular exercise, deep breathing exercises, pranayama and good diet.”