What are Your Stress Symptoms?
How do Your Stress Symptoms Impact You?
You are unique in how your body reacts to stress. Depending on the duration of the stressful event or situation, the body may be able to recover quickly or it may take longer to recover.
Acute Stress
If you experience acute stress, an intense feeling or unpleasant reaction that develops as a result of life demands, following a traumatic, or even engaging in a perceived fun activity you may feel various feelings.
When a traumatic even occurs, the stress is usually at the beginning of the event and may last a few weeks. Often times, you may feel like the world is unsafe. Poor sleep and a lack of concentration often occurs. Different emotions come into play such as feeling anxious, sadness, irritability and even emotional ups and downs. Some people experience intrusive thoughts in the form of flashbacks or nightmares. Physical symptoms during acute stress may include an increased heart rate, fast breathing, perspiration, and pupil dilation.
Episodic Acute Stress
Episodic acute stress happens when acute stress is experienced too frequently. Depending on the situation or circumstance of the stress, this level of stress may come and go. Situations that may cause this type of stress may occur when people have relationship difficulties, unrealistic expectations for themselves or others, experience challenges in the workplace, or are taking care of a sick or challenging loved one. When people catastrophes a situation, viewing a negative outcome to a situation and then deciding that the outcome will occur in that way, often causes people stress. They don’t have the skills to reframe the negative thought to a neutral thought or have position outlook on the situation.
People’s mood may fluctuate during this stress level which may include feeling overwhelmed and uncontrolled anger. During this time, an individual may experience tight muscles, hypertension, and headaches.
Chronic Stress
Continual stress over a long period of time leads to chronic stress. Various life circumstances such as an illness, a job situation, financial instability, or being in a challenging relationship may contribute to chronic stress. You may feel overwhelmed for a long duration of time. Chronic stress may impact interpersonal relationships, job performance, and even daily functioning.
This type of stress may impact the body and the mind. Moods may fluctuate often, including feeling anxious or depressed, and the body may feel as if it can’t function. Other physical symptoms may be weight gain, fatigue, headaches, and high blood pressure. Often times, sleep is impacted either when trying to fall asleep or in the ability to stay asleep. The body experiences higher adrenaline and cortisol levels.
Sources
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Stress effects on the body. American Psychological Association. Retrieved November 4, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/body
Gagnon, S. A., & Wagner, A. D. (2016). Acute stress and episodic memory retrieval: Neurobiological mechanisms and behavioral consequences. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1369(1), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12996
Hammen C, Kim EY, Eberhart NK, Brennan PA. Chronic and acute stress and the prediction of major depression in women. Depress Anxiety. 2009;26(8):718-23. doi: 10.1002/da.20571. PMID: 19496077; PMCID: PMC3380803.
Lepore, S. J., Miles, H. J., & Levy, J. S. (1997). Relation of chronic and episodic stressors to psychological distress, reactivity, and health problems. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1), 39–59. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_3
