Stress
Stress related problems
Symptoms of stress often build up gradually before you start noticing them. Stress can affect how you feel, how you think, how you behave and how your body works.
It affects people in different ways but if you are stressed you may have some of the following symptoms:
Addiction is a complex illness with physical and psychological symptoms, affecting not only the patient, but their family, friends and social environment too.
Your Feelings
You may feel:
- irritable
- anxious
- low in self-esteem
- have a low mood
Your Thoughts
You may find that you:
- have racing thoughts
- worry constantly
- imagining the worst
- go over and over things
Your Behaviour
You may notice you're:
- having temper outbursts
- drinking more
- smoking more
- on the go all the time
- talking more or faster
- changing your eating habits
- feeling unsociable
- being forgetful or clumsy
- being unreasonable
- struggling to concentrate
Your Body
You may be suffering from:
- headaches
- muscle tension and pain
- stomach problems
- sweating
- feeling dizzy
- bowel or bladder problems
- breathlessness
- dry mouth
- sexual problems
It is important to learn how stress affects you as this will help you figure out what coping techniques work best for you. It will also help you avoid resorting to unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking and comfort-eating.