Am I stressed?

If you ask people are they stressed, most people will say no.  The reality is that people rarely feel stressed out.  So I wanted to publish a guide to helping you becoming more aware of when your stress goes to high.

Psychologist Connie Lillas uses a driving analogy to describe the three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:

  • Foot on the gas – An angry, agitated, or “fight” stress response. You’re heated, keyed up, overly emotional, and unable to sit still.
  • Foot on the brake – A withdrawn, depressed, or “flight” stress response. You shut down, pull away, space out, and show very little energy or emotion.
  • Foot on both – A tense or “freeze” stress response. You become frozen under pressure and can’t do anything. You look paralyzed, but under the surface you’re extremely agitated.

Signs and Symptoms of Stress Overload

The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress. The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.
Cognitive Symptoms Emotional Symptoms
  • Memory problems
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Poor judgment
  • Seeing only the negative
  • Anxious or racing thoughts
  • Constant worrying
  • Moodiness
  • Irritability or short temper
  • Agitation, inability to relax
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Sense of loneliness and isolation
  • Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms Behavioral Symptoms
  • Aches and pains
  • Diarrhea or constipation
  • Nausea, dizziness
  • Chest pain, rapid heartbeat
  • Loss of sex drive
  • Frequent colds
  • Eating more or less
  • Sleeping too much or too little
  • Isolating yourself from others
  • Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities
  • Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax
  • Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)

Related Posts

  • Mindfulness versus Meditation

    Mindfulness is gaining popularity as is meditation. Advocates recommend both as tools to assist us with our modern 24/7 non-stop busy lives that are packed with conflicting demands and uncertainty. But Mindfulness and Meditation are not synonymous. Meditation is one technique for practicing mindfulness but not the only one. I know many people, including myself, find meditation difficult as it requires dedication and practice. So I was very interested to read Ellen Langer, (of Harvard University) who is considered the mother of mindfulness, define mindfulness as the "simple process of noticing new things.". One of the things that puts busy people of Mindfulness is the misconception that is requires effort. So if you thought mindfulness was just as easy as mindlessness would you be more mindful?

  • Does nature restore you? – Part 2

    In my previous post, I shared the evidence of how nature can restore you.  I appreciate that not everyone in London lives within easy access to a green space, and it turns out that it may not be necessary to visit the green space just look at a green space. This first occurred to me a few weeks ago, when I was in Manchester.  In the hotel reception they had screens playing a short video clip of a roaring log fire.  A roaring log fire just happens to be another of those things that I find both calms me, reduces my stress levels and restores me.  What I noticed is that I had a positive response to the video clip, even though it was just a film of a log fire rather than an actual log fire.  So this made me think, would just looking at a picture of nature on your PC have the same positive impact as going out in nature. Li & Sullivan in a randomised controlled experiment demonstrated that views to green landscapes promote attention restoration and help individuals to recover from stress.  In another study, researches in China, have discovered that viewing nature based scenes were restorative and those with more openness but no people were more lived to reduce stress.  So maybe you could just look at a picture instead. So for those of you where its not practical to spend 5 minutes in nature per day, why not look at a picture of a green landscape (without people) on your mobile phone  or tablet or pc, and see if it boosts your attention levels and restores you. References D Li and W C Sullivan, Impact of views to school landscapes on recovery from stress and mental fatigue.  Landscape and Urban Planning, vol 148, 2016, pp 149 - 158.

    Wang et al Stress recovery and restorative effects of viewing different urban park scenes in Shanghai, China.  Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 2016, 15, pp 112- 122

  • Benefits of being Mindful

    In my last post, I distinguished between meditation and mindfulness and described mindfulness as the process of noticing things. If we go on holiday to somewhere exotic, its very easy to be mindful as we are surrounded by new interesting sights, sounds & smells. But what are the benefits of practicing mindfulness in during the working day? There is scientific evidence to suggest we are

    • Seen as more authentic and trustworthy1
    • More productive2
    • Deemed to produce work that is superior3
    I find the above list of benefits, very compelling reason to start being more mindful. References 1. Mindful and Masculine: Freeing Women Leaders From the Constraints of Gender Roles - Kawakami - 2002 - Journal of Social Issues - Wiley Online Library. 2016. Mindful and Masculine: Freeing Women Leaders From the Constraints of Gender Roles - Kawakami - 2002 - Journal of Social Issues - Wiley Online Library. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0022-4537.00151/abstract. 2. Mindful multitasking: The relationship between mindful flexibility and media multitasking . 2016. Mindful multitasking: The relationship between mindful flexibility and media multitasking . Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074756321200088X. 3. Orchestral performance and the footprint of mindfulness . 2016. Orchestral performance and the footprint of mindfulness Available at: http://pom.sagepub.com/content/early/2008/10/15/0305735607086053.short.