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Signs You Are Uptight

Everyone feels anxious and uptight from time to time, but when those feelings persist or when you're under stress to the point of being in pain, it's time to make some changes. Make a point of taking a break several times throughout the day. Take deep breaths and focus on relaxation techniques. Find solutions you do at your desk and you'll find feeling uptight a thing of the past.

  1. Shoulder Position

    • Pay attention to how you're holding your shoulders. When you're feeling uptight or anxious about something, your shoulders rise and become tense. Lift your eyes so you're looking at the ceiling and allow your shoulders to drop. You'll feel the muscles shift and relax as you change your shoulder and head position. Take a few moments every day to rotate your shoulders both forward and back to release the stress and help ease the tension in your shoulder and neck muscles.

    Tension Headaches

    • Think back over the past several days and make a note of how many times you've experienced a headache. Feeling uptight and overwhelmed often leads to stress or tension headaches. The intensity of the pain associated with tension headaches is directly related to the stress that causes them. Once the stressful issue is dealt with, the headache usually goes away. Combat these headaches by looking at the spot where the wall meets the ceiling. With your eyes, trace that line all the way around your room in both directions. This helps ease the knots in your neck and helps you relax.

    Ulcers

    • Stomach upset from stress sometimes leads to ulcers. There is some concern that pain medications taken to relieve stress headaches aggravate ulcers, making feeling uptight and anxious bad for your health. Ulcers are treated with antibiotics and pain-relieving medications, and treatment is generally very successful. Talk to your doctor for ulcer treatments.

    Insomnia

    • Feeling uptight and stressed out often means being unable to turn off your thoughts enough to relax and fall into a restful sleep. If being unable to fall asleep isn't bad enough, that same uptight feeling sometimes intrudes into your sleep, waking you up in the middle of the night with worry. Being tired only adds to the feelings of anxiety, making this a vicious circle. Combat stress before bedtime with a 15-minute walk or a long bath. Avoid alcohol, as it's a depressant and increases insomnia.

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