10 Conditions Caused by Stress

Stress looks different for different people. How much stress you experience and how you handle that stress, have big health implications. Here are 10 conditions that can result from negative physical or mental stress. If you see any of these stress-related conditions, it's time to refocus, alleviate stress, and do what you can to protect your health.

1: Behavioral Changes

If you start to behave in ways that are foreign to your character or your usual behavior, it may indicate a level of stress that you've not known before. You may not jump off the deep-end, but you may be shocked at your response to others or to a situation.

2: Life Pattern Changes

Stress can turn a people-person into a hermit or a happy-go-lucky person into an anxious, fearful person. In an attempt to escape stress, you might make lifestyle changes that take you in a whole different direction. Sometimes choices made under stress can actually lead to more stress.

3: Memory Lapses

If you find yourself forgetting serious matters, you may be under a great deal of stress. Not all memory lapses are age-related. Some may be a result of mental or physical tension.

4: Toileting Changes

To be discrete, let me say this. Stress can wreck havoc with both the digestive and the elimination systems. If you find yourself visiting the toilet more than usual or less than usual, stress might be the cause.

5: Anxiety or Anger

Anxiety can cause people to go without eating or overeat. It can cause people to shut down or erupt in fits of anger. Reaction to stress is individual. If your response to a situation is not common for you, chances are you're caught in a very stressful condition.

6: Sleep Habit Changes

A normal night's sleep is one you get when you're not under stress. If you're waking multiple times throughout the night, you're having difficulty falling asleep, or all you want to do is crawl into bed and sleep, something is wrong. Stress can cause sleep habit changes.

7: Chemical Addiction

Addictive substances are not a sensible answer to stress; however, many people turn to cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol in an attempt to deal with stress. Unfortunately, addictive substances create more problems than the situation that first caused the stress.

8: Body Aches and Pains

If you suffer muscle aches and tension headaches, your aches and pains may be your body's response to a stressful situation.

9: Blemishes and Colds

Are you one to get cold sores under stress? Some people break out in pimples or rashes under stress; others become physically ill. These common ailments might actually be a result of excessive stress in your life.

10: Eating Pattern Changes

Stress causes some people to overeat; it causes others to find food nauseating. If your eating pattern is out of the norm, you may be responding to stress in your life.

Although positive stress in your life can motivates you to succeed, negative tension or stress can affect your health. You don't want to ignore the psychological or physiological effects of stress, or a tolerable condition may become intolerable.

Your goal should be to find a place of harmony or calmness as you seek to alleviate the stress. Some active steps you can take to reduce stress in your life include: relaxation techniques, exercise, healthy diet, prayer, meditation, gratitude, and a positive attitude.