All of us experience stress to some extent or the other, however, how we respond to and engage with it is where our narratives take different directions. Stress is a subjective process. It is typically an individual’s response to change, regardless of whether the nature of change is positive or negative. Changes lead to reactions at multiple levels, which can be behavioural, emotional, and physiological. Each individual’s stress response patterns tend to be unique and may or may not have visible changes across all these aspects. This week in our ''Mental Health Matters" series we list behavioural red flags of being stuck in a stress loop.
Role Of Perception In Stress
To a large extent, stress depends on how we perceive a situation and our ability to cope with the situation and/or need for change. “If the needle points towards ‘I can manage’, an individual might experience mild or no stress at all. On the other hand, if the needle were to point at ‘I can’t do this’, the individual is likely to experience moderate to severe stress”, said Shama Shah, Consultant Psychologist, Mave Health, Bengaluru. This might further be compounded by several other factors like health conditions, belief systems, access to resources, and conditioning through prior experiences.
Also Read: From Headache To Skin Problems: Expert Explains Physical Symptoms of Too Much Stress
The Recurrent Stress Loop
“Unfortunately, some of us might find ourselves stuck in a recurrent stress loop. Given the subjective, perception-driven nature of stress, some of us may experience moderate to high-stress levels repeatedly across different situations. Such a recurrent experience might compromise an individual’s ability to cope and further add to challenges in terms of health and daily functioning”, added Shah.
The Stress in America 2020 report reveals that almost half of all adults acknowledge that stress adversely affects their behaviour in some manner.
According to Frontiers in Psychiatry, many risk factors can trigger or exacerbate stress and its associated symptoms, including age, gender, marital status, personal characteristics, academic level, academic performance, the nature of one’s studies, living conditions, financial issues, work environment, sleep quality, chronic illness, significant life changes, and global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also Read: Complexities of Chest Pain: Expert Explains The Nature Of Cause And Connection With Stress
Identifying Behavioural Red Flags
Stress is something we all deal with, but recognising the signs early can make a huge difference. By being aware of these behavioural red flags, we can take steps to improve our mental well-being and build resilience, which is now more crucial than ever, added Dhawal Jain, Co-Founder, Mave Health, Bengaluru.
It's essential to address the current stress and develop healthier responses for future situations to prevent getting stuck in a stress loop. The following patterns of behavioural changes can be the first step to building better awareness of your patterns and then further planning to address them:
Lifestyle Changes
Changes in your sleep patterns, appetite, and disruption to your routine might be an early (and easily observable) indicator of difficulty coping with ongoing situations. Please note that these changes might vary across individuals. While some people may experience a loss of sleep and appetite, others might experience an increase in the same.
Changes in Mood
People often experience and report a change in mood, which may show up as irritability, lowered motivation for usual tasks, withdrawal from social engagements and conversations, bouts of unexplained crying, feeling more sensitive than usual to unpleasant situations, and so on.
Change in Ability to Focus/Concentrate
This might often be the easiest to spot since most of us are engaged with formal commitments, whether in education or at work. Differences in our ability to pay attention, lowered efficiency with tasks, running low on creativity and ideas, and poorer memory for routine tasks and situations can all be visible signs of stress responses.
Changes in Health
Stress can aggravate existing medical conditions or may trigger aversive physiological responses, including poor gut health, vague aches and pains, recurrent headaches, recurrent illnesses due to compromised immune functioning, and so on.
Restless Behavioural Patterns
Another easy-to-observe change is increased impatience and restlessness. People may often display reduced tolerance for delays and unpleasantness or may be harder on and more critical of themselves, adding to the restlessness in their behaviours.
Bottomline
The points highlighted above are indicative and not exhaustive. Given the subjectivity of the entire experience, people may have different signs that help them identify they are stressed. The end in mind is to keep an eye out for changes and the suddenness with which they might occur, regardless of which direction the changes might be in. As long as the person is feeling and behaving differently from their baseline, those are important details to note and address.
[Disclaimer: This article contains information provided by an expert and is for informational purposes only. Hence, we advise you to consult your expert if you are dealing with any mental health issues to get the necessary treatment.]