We all experience stress and no one can escape that. But do you remember the time when you felt all stressed out? Can you remember how your body reacted?
Read on to find out if stress is taking over you — and what you can do to combat the effects.
1. Forgetfulness
Experts say that stress can shrink the size of the hippocampus, which is known to be responsible for some of your memories. But it usually returns to its normal size once your stress level returns to normal.
To combat this experts advised that you should engage in exercise to keep your brain sharp and prepare yourself to handle stress.
2. Lack of Focus
Experts stated that stress causes distraction and lack of focus. Just as simple as it may seem when you can’t decide what to cook for dinner, what to wear for work or just doing a simple ordinary routine, you are stressed. She added that stress hormones lodge longest in the brain.
To bring back focus, try to take a walk. You can remove stress by exercising large muscle groups like the legs.
Walk out in the light (natural sunlight) and you’ll be able to reset your natural rhythm while you remove stress. Sunlight can help your body release serotonin to improve the mood, and vitamin D to help you improve your immune system—a great perk. Through this, she said you will gain back your clarity.
3. Hair Loss
When you are under emotional or physical stress your hair loss can speed up to the normal 100 hairs shedding a day. This hair loss induced by stress however does not happen right away and if this happens this condition often improves after six to eight months.
4. Sleepiness
Feeling sleepy or sluggish? According to Mande, it could also mean stress. Mandel stated that stress hormones cause our body to surge with adrenaline and then into sleepiness. Stress can also ruin the quality of sleep resulting in waking up tired and irritable.
It is advisable to go to bed earlier or catch a 30-minute nap midday and don’t feel guilty about doing so.
5. Skin Issue
When you are stressed out your existing skin problems and condition can worsen. Examples of this include acne, psoriasis, rosacea, etc.
6. Cavities
Experts explain that teeth grinding at night or during the day can be a sign of stress especially for women. She further stated that slacking off on dental hygiene is the first way to get cavities, but stress can also be the cause.
Teeth grinding may lead to a bad habit that can erode dental work that will damage your teeth and make them more susceptible to cavities. If the teeth grinding is severe you might as well see a dentist about getting a mouth guard.
7. Substance Abuse
For those individuals who have abstained from substance and alcohol abuse stress can play a role in a relapse. When you are feeling stressed out you’re more likely to turn to alcohol and drugs.
8. Nausea
Experts stated that stress can upset our stomach and nausea can be one of its effects due to excessive worrying. It’s normal to worry about our health or a loved one’s but becoming obsessed about it is unhealthy.
You might try this trick if your anxiety is causing nausea: Let tepid water run over your fingers this is believed to keep nausea at bay.
9. Eye Twitching
Eye Twitching can also be triggered by stress. Debbie Mandel, MA, a stress and wellness expert says that “This condition is known as blepharospasm (not to be cod with Benign Essential Blepharospasm—a form of dystonia).
Mandel also suggested that closing our eyes and visualizing our happiest place on earth closet is a great help. Especially if your eyes get stressed from detailed work at the computer, you can ‘stretch’ them every 20 minutes by looking out the window at a larger landscape or a clear space. If there’s no available view just close your eyes and imagine a panorama.