Stress is a state where your body is exposed to several symptoms, which manifest themselves physically, psychologically, and in your behavior. It is important that you watch out for symptoms of stress, as it is the body’s way of sending signs of danger, that something needs to be dealt with.
Are you in doubt about which symptoms of stress to look out for? Find an overview of the many signs of stress to be aware of in this blog entry.
Protracted stress – symptoms of a stressed body
If you are experiencing stress, your body will react defensively. For a certain amount of time, your body will easily be able to handle this state, even though the body is in an imbalance.
However, if your body is stressed during a longer period of time, you will experience, that the effect of the defensiveness will deteriorate. Instead, it will be replaced with more symptoms of stress, which is a clear sign, that your body is overloaded.
In protracted stress, there can be several symptoms to be aware of. The physical symptoms of stress can be headaches, pain in the stomach, indigestion, sleep issues, and dizziness.
You may also experience mental symptoms of stress, which may include difficulty remembering, difficulty concentrating, aggression, anxiety, rumination and bad moods.
Stress can also show up in your behaviour, wherein some ways you become a different version of yourself. For example, you may be more indecisive, isolate yourself from others, have difficulty engaging, take more medication, be more tearful and have increased sickness absence.
How long do stress symptoms last?
It can take a long time to fight stress. However, it will be very different from person to person whether it is a break for a few weeks or whether we are talking about several months before you are completely on top again.
If you end up with a sick leave as a result of your stress symptoms, be aware that the symptoms will not just go away. When you are ready to get back to work again, there may still be some symptoms of stress present, though to a milder degree.
Therefore, there is no definitive answer. You must arm yourself with patience when you are feeling stressed and are affected by symptoms. However, it is beneficial to work out the cause of your stress. There will be some of your symptoms that will subside or disappear completely once you look into what lies behind your stress state.
Test your stress symptoms
There are many different stress symptoms. It can therefore be challenging to link it all together and find out if you have stress or not.
If you are in doubt about whether you have stress, you can take a test. In a stress test, you will be asked some questions that relate to symptoms of stress, how you feel both physically and mentally, and whether your behaviour has changed.
We refer to our own stress test which has been prepared in collaboration with psychologists and a doctor. If the test shows that you have stress, action must be taken so that you can get out of the condition and get over the symptoms. For example, it can be courses and personal sessions that help you get to the other side.
