Emotional Symptoms of Stress

Everyone has to deal with stress from time to time: life isn't always easy and the pressures of work and relationships can lead to inordinate amounts of frustration and anxiety. Stress is our body's reaction to such pressures: the instinctive "fight or flight" response that allows us to respond to danger. In small amounts, it can increase our productivity, but long periods of stress can affect our physical and emotional health. The mental signs of stress can often be even worse than the physical signs.

Irritability

• Stress has a profound effect on mood. We tend to be grouchy and irritable, or engage in negative thinking far more often than we normally would.

Outbursts

• Going hand in hand with irritability is a pattern of emotional outbursts---getting angry or crying over comparatively minor incidents.

Concentration

• Stress makes it difficult to focus on particular tasks. It becomes tougher to make decisions and when we do, they are often fraught with anxiety.

Hopelessness

• The anxiety created by stress can leave us feeling overwhelmed, with the sense that there are no viable solutions to our problems.

Restlessness

• Stress is often accompanied by a profound restlessness and an inability to keep still.