As it is Stress Awareness Month, I think it is essential to know the relief strategies for stress and potential causes to either eliminate these causes or adjust but also to know the symptoms of stress. It’s not just feeling run down, burnt out, or angry/frustrated, but there are several symptoms you might not even recognise to be stress. These can be physical and mental symptoms.

Here is a list of less-known stress symptoms:

–         Anxiety / a feeling of dread

–         Neglected or lonely

–         Worried and tense

–         Sleep problems / fatigue / vivid dreams

–         Sore eyes / blurred vision

–         Bowel problems

–         Feeling dizzy or nauseous

–         Rashes / itchy skin

–         Sudden weight gain/loss

–         Changes to menstrual cycles

–         Spending too much/other forms of compensation

–         Biting/picking/itching skin

–         Loss of libido

–         Muscle pain

Stress is something almost everyone will experience in their life. In this day and age, there is a lot to cause stress. The stress could be financial worries, health worries, job worries, relationship worries, and the list goes on. What is important is to recognise stress and its many symptoms and get appropriate help or make tweaks to your life to make it less stressful. If you find your stress is your job, try speaking with your line manager to see if there can be any adjustments to your role. Speak to your friends and family to see if they can suggest any ideas or have gone through something similar themselves. Your GP will also be able to point you in the right direction for help.