3 Reasons Why You May Find It Difficult To Identify Stress

3 Reasons Why You May Find It Difficult To Identify Stress

It is common for people to attribute the word ‘stress' to something negative, like severe physical or mental pressure. However, that is just a one-sided definition of the word. Contrary to popular belief, stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is an unavoidable part of our lives and most times, the anxiety and nervousness that comes with stress is needed to get things done quickly – with such excitement, performance and productivity is increased greatly.  

Nonetheless, stress, if not managed properly, can degenerate into a serious problem. This usually happens when you lose your ability to recover and get better quickly. When stress becomes excess, the body signals us in so many ways, but the problem is that we find it difficult to recognize these signs as symptoms of stress. It’s easy to conclude that your stomach pain was caused by poor diet, but that can be a major sign that you’re suffering from too much stress.

The symptoms of severe stress vary from individual to individual, however, they are generally grouped into four different categories – emotional, cognitive, physical and behavioural. Some of the symptoms associated with each category include:

• Physical: headache, stomach upset, etc.
• Emotional: depression, anxiety, etc.
• Behavioural: appetite loss, nervousness, etc.
• Cognitive: memory loss, inability to focus etc.

The symptoms listed above are just a few of the various signs experienced by individuals suffering from prolonged exposure to severe stress. You may think that having a knowledge of these symptoms would make recognising stress-related health issues more easier, but that isn’t the case. You could have all that information and still find it difficult to figure out where stress is coming from.

Let’s take a look at three reasons why you find it difficult to easily Identify stress.

• You Think Stress Is Always Negative

Like we mentioned earlier, stress doesn’t always happen as a result of negative experiences. You can get psychological stress from lovely experiences such as anticipating for Christmas, going out with someone new, graduating from college etc. While it may be difficult to notice the stress that comes from positive experiences, there is a high probability that having too much of a good time can take a toll on us. For instance, eating chocolate cake is great, but consuming too much of it can be harmful to the body.

• Stress Is Not Always Psychological

You may think that mental pressure is the cause of your stress, but physical or emotional stress may be the culprit. Your daily lifestyle has an effect on your stress levels. It could be that you spend most of your time in a noisy place or you have poor relaxation methods. When seeking relief from stress, most people usually resort to alcohol consumption. As effective as it may seem, alcohol is just a short-term fix to the problem and excessive consumption could give the body more stress.

Instead of consuming alcohol, you could reduce your stress levels by working out. Research has shown that constant exercise helps the body adapt to stress.

• Stress Could Arise From The Way You Feel About Something

Most times, it’s difficult to figure out where stress emanates from because it may not be anything specific. The things that stress us aren’t always tangible.  For instance, you might feel that your boss isn’t satisfied with the amount of work you’re putting in. This may not be true, but just thinking of it could take your stress levels to the roof, and trying to please your boss by working overtime will just worsen the situation.