Stress matters! It’s so important that it’s the number one contributor to mortality. The American Medical Association has found that stress is a cause of more than 60% of all human illnesses and diseases. Stress has enormous negative mental, emotional, and physical consequences—and despite this, we often forget how saturated with stress our lives are.
Please review this list of fifty common signs of stress, drawn directly from the American Institute of Stress.
- Frequent headaches, jaw pain
- Teeth grinding
- Stuttering, stumbling over words
- Shaking, trembling of hands or lips
- Neck or back pain, muscle cramps
- Lightheadedness, numbness, mental “fog”
- Ringing, buzzing, or crackling in the ears
- Frequent blushing, sweating
- Cold or sweaty hands and feet
- Dry mouth, trouble swallowing
- Frequent colds, infections, cold sores
- Rashes, itching, goosebumps, hives
- Unexplained or very frequent allergy episodes
- Heartburn, stomach pain, nausea
- Excessive belching, bloating
- Constipation, diarrhea, loss of bowel control
- Breathing difficulties, frequent sighing
- Sudden episodes of life-threatening panic
- Chest pain, heart palpitations, rapid pulse
- Frequent urination
- Reduced libido or sexual performance
- Excessive anxiety, worry, guilt, nervousness
- Increased anger, frustration, hostility
- Depression, frequent mood swings
- Increased or decreased appetite
- Insomnia, nightmares, disturbing dreams
- Poor concentration, racing thoughts
- Problems learning and retaining new information
- Forgetfulness, confusion, poor organization
- Difficulty making decisions
- Feelings of overload or being overwhelmed
- Frequent crying or suicidal thoughts
- Loneliness, loss of self-worth
- Little interest in appearance or punctuality
- Nervous habits, fidgeting, foot tapping
- Greater frustration, irritability
- Overreactions to trivial matters
- More frequent minor accidents
- Obsessive–compulsive behaviors
- Reduced work performance or productivity
- Lies and excuses to cover poor performance
- Rapid or mumbled speech
- Over-defensiveness and suspicion
- Communication and sharing problems
- Social withdrawal and isolation
- Constant fatigue, weakness
- Frequent use of medications (including OTC)
- Weight gain or loss without diet changes
- Heavier smoking, alcohol, or drug use
- Gambling or impulsive shopping
For illustration, here is an image that clearly shows how stress acts on our body.
Facts about stress
FACT 1: Your body doesn’t care whether the stress is big or small
The human body doesn’t distinguish between BIG and small stress. Regardless of its perceived importance, stress affects the body in predictable ways. A typical stress response that most of us experience daily launches a cascade of about 1,400 biochemical events in the body. If these responses aren’t interrupted in some way, we age prematurely and our cognitive functions are impaired.
FACT 2: Stress can make smart people do dumb things
Stress causes what brain researchers call cortical inhibition. This phenomenon explains why smart people sometimes act foolishly. Put simply: stress hampers the proper function of certain brain areas, and we can’t perform at one hundred percent.
By contrast, when we are in coherence (alignment), our cognition remains intact, we are emotionally balanced, and we think and feel far more clearly—the brain, heart, and nervous system work in harmony. This coherent state supports optimal mental, emotional, and physical performance—we operate at full capacity.
FACT 3: People can become desensitized to their own stress
We can be physically stressed yet unaware of it because we’ve grown used to it. Some people adapt so much to daily pressure, irritations, and hassles that it all feels “normal.”
But small stresses accumulate very quickly, and we may not notice how much they cloud our mental and emotional clarity and our overall health—until it shows up as a bad decision, an overreaction, or an unpleasant medical diagnosis.
FACT 4: We can control how we respond to stress
We don’t have to be victims of our emotions, thoughts, and moods. We can influence our stress reactions and become more aware of stressors and their effects before they turn into physical, mental, or emotional problems. There are simple—now even scientifically validated—approaches that let us “rewire” (neuroplasticity) our responses to stress.
FACT 5: The best strategy is to handle stress at the moment it arises
The best time to deal with stress is the moment you feel it. Millions of people try the “wait it out” tactic: they stress all day and hope to recover later with an hour of yoga, a gym session, or a weekend relax. Unfortunately, by the time we postpone it, the mind and body have already generated the stress response—our body and health pay the price.
Research from HeartMath (heartmath.com) shows how emotions change heart rhythms and their patterns. Positive emotions create a consistent rhythm that looks like smooth, rolling hills—a steady, repeating pattern. Negative emotions produce a chaotic, unpredictable pattern.
Note to image: Top – frustration; bottom – gratitude.
Article and graphics translated from the English original on PositiveMed (www.positivemed.com).
So how will we defend ourselves against stress?
First, let’s repeat what stress actually is (our working definition):
Stress is the body’s reaction to our perception.
That means: to remove stress from our lives, we must change how we perceive given situations.
Let’s try it right now.
I’ve got a freshly designed overview of the acupressure points we use in FasterEFT, and this is a perfect moment to test how it works.
Follow the visual guide below. Notice how you know you feel stress in a given situation. Notice the situation (the images and sounds), notice the internal feelings, and tap according to the attached guide.