Reasons Why You Could Be Stressed About Nothing
The first three points are likely causing you to feel overwhelmed at times . The latter two are the probable results and are signs that the demands on you outstrip your resources.
And, lets face it, on top of everything else that could befall you in life, youre probably now also have to cope with the fall-out from the pandemic. Covid lockdowns, quarantines and/or closures with all their financial, social consequences are, of course, super-stressful with an inevitable impact on our mental health.
Then there are the less obvious things that contribute to you feeling stressed for no reason.
Your Hair Is Starting To Fall Out
If youre waking up with more than a few strands on your pillow, you may be suffering from alopecia areata. This is an autoimmune skin disease brought on when the bodys immune system attacks the hair follicles. It causes small round patches of hair loss on the scalp. Its not dangerous, but its likely to be associated with a severe stressor, like an assault or significant traumatic event in ones life, says Dr. Colgan. This disease is more likely to occur in young women or adolescent girls.
What to do: In most cases, this is typically a temporary condition and your hair will grow back once stress is minimized. But dont be afraid to talk to your doctor about whats going on, says Dr. Colgan. While your MD might recommend injectable scalp steroids to help with hair growth, its best to have an examination. The hair loss could possibly be a sign of a scalp fungal infection, a bacterial function or even a thyroid disorder.
Can Happy Events Cause Stress
Some of the situations listed above are often thought of as happy events for example, you might feel expected to be happy or excited about getting married or having a baby.
But because they can bring big changes or make unusual demands on you, they can still be very stressful. This can be particularly difficult to deal with, because you might feel there’s additional pressure on you to be positive.
“I’ve never been more stressed in my life than the 6 months leading up to my wedding… everyone kept asking me if I was happy and expecting me to be excited all the time, but I just couldn’t feel it. I ended up getting really ill.”
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Youre Perpetually Sick And Just Cant Seem To Get Over It
If it seems like every week youve got a cough, sore throat or a fever, you might want to blame your workload and not just your sneezing coworker. When we are under extreme pressure, our bodies secrete a stress hormone called cortisol that can help us short-term, says Richard Colgan, MD, professor of family and community medicine at University of Maryland School of Medicine and author of Advice to the Healer. But if youre stressed out constantly, these hormones arent as helpful and can become depleted over time. Colgan says cortisol and other hormones are components of the immune system that help the body cope with stress. But when these hormones are withdrawn, we become more susceptible to sickness.
And the side effects dont end there. Stress can also slow wound healing, contribute to the reactivation of latent viruses and increase vulnerability to viral infections, says Keri Tuit, clinical psychologist at Yale University.
What to do: Listen to your body when you feel tired or drained. Make time for rest and extra sleep. Whether you recently spent time traveling or finalizing a huge work project, allow your body the time it needs to recover.
A tired body is not well prepared to cope with stressful situations and ward off illness.
Youre Having Trouble Thinking Clearly
If youve been having a tough time concentrating on one task at a time, remembering things accurately, or just generally operating on a higher level, stress could be to blame. Stress makes it difficult for you to think clearly, as it clouds your thinking and makes it difficult to focus.
This mental fatigue sometimes happens when small stressors pile in at a volume with which we cant keep up. Things like making multiple tough decisions at work, handling ongoing interruptions, and juggling social commitments all of these can accumulate and start to weigh on you . If you don’t have a chance to hit the pause button and reset, brain fog could set in. Focus is a finite resource and when stretched thin, it falters.
The unfortunate reality of this mental fatigue is that it can affect your physical energy levels, too. If youve spent the whole day feeling exhausted just doing the tasks you that you normally knock out in one afternoon, your body will feel tired. For some, this perpetuates the stress cycle no energy for stress-busting outlets like meditation, creative endeavors, or exercise means nowhere to release that stress, and it remains a looming burden.
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Why Do I Get Stressed So Easily
I’ve noticed lately that I get stressed pretty easily.
One example is like a two weeks ago I was playing an online video game and made an lobby, but then someone asked me to turn on a game-made I didn’t know how to turn on so I panicked and left the game. I didn’t go back on the multiplayer servers till’ the next day cause I didn’t want to mess up.
Another example is when I went to virtual math class yesterday and we were reviewing math from the previous year, and I forgot how find percent errors. I told my teacher and she asked me stuff about how to do it, but then I got stressed and turned off my camera because I was about to cry.
Another example is when I was taking a walk, and I saw some neighbors that are my age hanging out, but I got nervous and didn’t walk on that street because I didn’t want them to judge me.
One more example is that like two days ago, I went to my neighbor’s house to hang out with my friend but I got nervous while I before I rang the doorbell because I was afraid that I would be wrong and I wasn’t supposed to be there even though I already had permission from them to go there.
Is it normal to get stressed this easily? Does everyone else get stressed this easily because sometimes I feel like I’m overreacting.
Can Stress Be A Good Thing
Sometimes, stress can have a positive effect on your thoughts, emotions, behaviours and body reactions. Stress is more likely to result in positive outcomes if you see it as a challenge or something you can strive to overcome. It can help motivate you to work hard. Stress can also lead to positive effects if you respond with healthy behaviours that improve your situation. You can experience the positive effects of stress even in the face of some negative effects.
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What To Do When Youre Stressed Out Control Your Thoughts
Since your thoughts are often the things that stress you out, you must proactively control them. The first thing you want to do is monitor your thoughts.
Youll notice that its the same negative and worrying thoughts that keep reappearing.
It could be worries at work or anger towards someone who wronged you or something someone said that is unfair, etc.
Whatever it is, these thoughts are stressing you out.
The cure is to write them down.
Start by writing in caps: WHY DO I GET STRESSED OUT SO EASILY?
Now analyze your thoughts, write them down, and replace them with pleasant thoughts.
If its something someone said to you, write down a positive thought about yourself.
Anytime you notice the negative thought rising, immediately think of the positive one you replaced it with.
By doing this repeatedly, youll develop the habit of only focusing on the positive.
Do not allow negative people and thoughts to rent free space in your mind. Focus on the positive.
How To Get Stressed Out Less
Yep, you want to know this. Me too. Who doesnt?
I believe that you need to understand what is stressing you out. What are your stressors? Firstly, you need to alter your mindset by understanding that you dont need to worry about things that you cant change.
You may ask how to alter my mind? It is a long process, and it is not so easy because when we were young, we have learned to understand and know things, and now its hard to change our perception. I know it will take time. But if you want to live a happier and less stressful life, you will do it. That includes meditation, relaxation techniques, and exploring and understanding yourself. Only you can know what makes you tick, what makes you happy, and how your mind truly works.
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Behaving Anxiously Activates The Stress Response And The Stress Response Can Cause A Heightened Sense Of Urgency
This heightened sense of urgency can cause anxious personalities to want to analyze quicker and more effectively. But if others arent living up to your expectations of doing things more quickly and effectively, you might become more easily frustrated with the less effective pace of others. And, as anxiousness and hyperstimulation increase, so can the urge to do things more quickly and effectively, which can cause an increasing sense of frustration.
When you combine this factor with the previous point, many anxious personalities become more easily frustrated as their anxiety and stress elevate.
People Cope With Stress Differently
When presented with a stressor, a person makes two kinds of judgement:
- What is needed to cope with this situation?
- Have I got the resources to cope with this situation?
A stressor can be interpreted as a threat or as an opportunity. People vary along a personality dimension of optimism versus pesimism. Optimists are more likely to see the future as benign and a stressful situation as giving rise to an opportunity. People vary in the extent to which they believe that they have the resources to deal with new and threatening situations. Poeple high in hardiness or resilience believe that they have the competence to control the world around them. This perception of competence and control makes them find a threat less stressful than others might.
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Youre Too Busy To Cope
Overscheduling yourself with activities and tasks has become commonplace as of late. Almost everyone you talk to shares this notion of being busy. Its slowly becoming a characteristic of modern culture.
However, staying busy is also a coping mechanism for many people, and they are generally unaware of how they are using it. If you use your business as a coping mechanism, you are avoiding many underlying causes and triggers for your stress. By masking them with busyness, you will always feel as though you are stressed for no reason.
If you find it hard to slow down, are overly social, have a cluttered calendar, and people are often pointing out how busy you are, you may be making yourself busy to avoid underlying emotional stressors.
Chronic busyness also leaves you with little to no downtime. Your mind and body require recharging, just like any battery does. Being always on the go increases the levels of stress hormones in your body. It is essential to make time for yourself to be present with the people and things around you.
Mindfulness and being present daily will lead to feeling more grounded and involved in your life and can be beneficial to stress reduction.
You Dont Get Enough Physical Activity
A recent study set out to link sedentary behavior to feelings of stress. With all of the technology around us and our hectic lives, many of us do not take the time for physical activity. We end up spending most of our time sedentary.
As we absorb the everyday stressors in our lives, day in and day out, our stress hormones build up, and our sleeplessness becomes more chronic. Poor sleep leads to more stress, and more stress leads to more inadequate sleep. Its a vicious cycle.
Couple that with a lack of physical activity, and you are bound to be left feeling stressed all the time, with little to no explanation.
Exercise and physical activity combat stress hormones in the body. Taking a brisk walk, going for a jog, a bike ride, or doing some yoga can all have incredibly powerful effects on your mood and mental state.
Exercise releases endorphins, which is a neurotransmitter that is known to make you feel good. It is also a natural pain reliever and can lower your levels of cortisol, your stress hormone.
Making the time to exercise also helps you clear your mind and offers a distraction to the underlying cause that may be temporarily causing you to feel stressed. And exercise has been proven to help improve your sleep, which we know is crucially important to our overall mood and cognitive function.
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Questions To Ask Yourself
Whos in my support network? Everyone should have people in their life who are positive influences, support providers, and role models for healthy living. They can be friends, family members, mentors, spiritual leaders, colleagues, and mental health professionals.
What activities do I enjoy? Your work might be enjoyable, but everyone needs hobbies that arent about competition or personal accomplishment. What helps ease your worries and makes you more mindful about your body? These activities might include reading, dancing, gardening, board games, crafts, etc.
What are my sleep habits? If youre getting roughly 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night, youll be able to think more clearly, boost your immune system, and concentrate better on work and relationships. A simple step such as turning off screens an hour before bed can make a huge difference in your sleep quality.
Am I saying no to unnecessary tasks? Ideally you should be able to pass on tasks that demand too much of you, arent your responsibility, or dont fall in line with your personal values and objectives. If youre not sure where to start, take a look at your schedule and to-do list, and see what can be delegated or removed completely.
Am I organized? Start to declutter your life. When you can manage tasks with an accurate schedule and prioritized to-do list, you reduce the unnecessary anxiety that can accompany a cluttered and confusing agenda.
When To See Your Gp About Your Stress Levels
If you’ve tried self-help techniques and they aren’t working, you should go to see your GP. They may suggest other coping techniques for you to try or recommend some form of counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy.
If your stress is causing serious health problems, such as high blood pressure, you may need to take medication or further tests.
Mental health issues, including stress, anxiety and depression, are the reason for one-in-five visits to a GP.
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Why Am I So Sensitive And Cry Easily
People cry easily for many different reasons. Its important to think about why you are so sensitive and prone to crying when things happen.
Here is a list of the most common reasons:
- You dont like it when people hurt your feelings
- You find yourself in negative thought spirals
- You feel emotions more intensely than other people
- You are very sensitive to your environment
Lets take a closer look at each of these in order to better understand them.
Why Does Stress Make Me Feel So Awful
Your body is designed to react to stress in ways that protect you from threats, such as predators. Although facing life-threatening predators is not common today, you do have many daily demands, such as paying bills, working, and taking care of family. Your body treats these demands as threats and the fight-flight-freeze response is activated in your body. At times, stress can have a negative effect on the basic dimensions of mental health . Stress may affect your health if you use unhealthy behaviours to cope. The negative effects of stress on your wellness can become a source of stress in and of themselves. Just talk to anyone who isnt sleeping well due to stress! For more information about the dimensions of mental health that can be influenced by stress, see Wellness Module 1: Mental Health Matters at www.heretohelp.bc.ca.
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Different Responses To Stress
The following are different potentially unhelpful responses to stress, but it’s important to note that we can only do the best we can in the situation we are in. There are many reasons why someone might respond to stress in the following ways, and if any of these resonate with you, you should not judge yourself too harshly.
Shutting down or detaching yourself
This can happen emotionally, mentally and physically. Under severe stress, you may find that you emotionally close off, the original stress-induced feelings of anxiety or worry instead replaced with numbness or apathy. You may also find that you have a tendency to detach yourself from people physically, spending less time with your friends or partner. You may also find that you mentally shut down, unable to access the more abstract or creative parts of your thinking. Falling asleep, or suddenly feeling immensely tired, in the face of stress is also a coping mechanism whereby the individual chooses to disengage from what is happening around them, or inside them.
Turning to substances
If we respond to stressful situations by turning to alcohol or drugs, we can become dependent on these substances and our primary response when faced with new stress might be to self-soothe using our chosen vice.
Getting angry
Self-sabotage
