Stress can be a good thing – it can make us feel alive, important, useful and energised. But, it can also bring about health problems and changes in our bodies that aren’t so useful – in fact, it can make our life completely miserable. ‘
As a Naturopath, I thought I knew all I needed to know about coping in my busy life. But a few years ago stress crept up on me and I found myself sick, extremely fatigued and anxious. It was not something I was expecting.
Our stress response is designed to protect us in moments of fear (like meeting a bear in the woods), but unfortunately our nervous system cannot distinguish between the bear or the fact that we are overloaded at work – our body is simply sensing danger.
Over time, our bodies respond to chronic stress with tell tale signs.
Here’s a checklist of the 9 most common signs that your body is not coping with the stress in your life and you’re heading towards burnout:
- Feeling tired is probably the most common symptom that your adrenals are in “go slow” mode. So, if you are getting plenty of sleep and are still tired, you are probably stressed.
- Poor sleep – Do you toss and turn all night and then fight fatigue during the day, or you just can’t get enough sleep? Your adrenals may be depleted or your body clock is out of sync.
- A “spare tyre” – starting to put on weight round the middle? High levels of cortisol from stress will make you store fat, especially around your waist.
- Too many colds/flu and the onset of a health condition – a suppressed immune system is a very common sign that your body is not coping. Read more about 4 Common Illnesses Driven by Stress here.
- Feeling anxious or panic attacks – this could mean that you are “tired and wired”, and your body is flooded with stress hormones
- Aches and pains – depleted adrenals will cause you to be more pain sensitive. You may be experiencing more muscle aches, joint pain or headaches than usual.
- Cravings – cortisol affects your blood sugar levels. High sugar foods are the first choice of the fatigued and stressed.
- Gut problems – stress hormones directly affect your digestive system. Symptoms can include bloating, reflux, constipation, diarrhoea and stomach pain.
- Low mood/depressed – high levels of cortisol can affect our happy neurotransmitter serotonin. Not only are you tired, but feeling blue also.
You can heal from stress and burnout as well as its associated illnesses and symptoms.
Recognising you have a problem is the first step.
Treating the cause as well as the symptoms will help you get back on track faster. If you can check off even one or two on the above checklist, it’s time to get help.
With you health in mind,
Catherine
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