9. KNOW HOW TO MANAGE OWN STRESS
9.1 Identify common signs and indicators of stress
Different people deal with stress in different ways, but here is a list of mental and physical symptoms to help you understand if youʹre stressed.
The mental symptoms may involve an individual being:
• Angry
• Depressed
• Anxious
• Always hungry, or having no appetite
• Crying often
• Have trouble sleeping and feel tired
• Have trouble concentrating
The physical symptoms may involve:
• Chest pains
• Constipation, or diarrhoea
• Cramps, or muscle aches
• Feeling dizzy, or fainting
• Engaging in nervous behavior like biting your nails
• Twitches, or experiencing pins and needles
• Feeling restless
• Having sexual problems, from erectile dysfunction to lowered sex drive
• Feeling breathless
• Canʹt sleep
Having just a few of these symptoms may indicate stress, and should be addressed..
9.2 Identify circumstances that tend to trigger own stress
When someone is in a stressful situation, their body releases the hormones cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, and these go on to cause the physical symptoms of stress.
They may start sweating, and your blood pressure and heart rate may rise. This, in turn, may undermine their immune system, making them more susceptible to illness, as well as lead their body to release fat and sugar into your blood stream, which may lead you to gain weight.
As stress raises your blood pressure, if you are stressed in the long term, an individual can develop high blood pressure, which in turn can increase the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.
So, whatever it is that causes stress is called a “stressor”. This could be a situation or a person that is directly involved in an individuals life. We tend to associate these stressors as negativities in life just like endless family or work feuds and