Do you remember the commercials for Pepto-Bismol? The medication had a fun skit with the actors describing upset stomach, indigestion, heartburn, nausea, and diarrhea as possible reasons to need the medication after eating and drinking led to physical complaints. While Pepto-Bismol wasn’t designed for mental health conditions, it is a great jingle to help you remember some of the physical signs of stress you shouldn’t ignore. Many people’s stress levels have increased in the last several months due to the changes in their schedule, job duties, and possibly a declining financial situation. Although stress might not be new in your life, you may find the level of stress you have been experiencing is more than you are used to and can handle. When people become stressed, their body will often respond with physical symptoms. You may present to your primary care doctor with concern for your physical health, and your doctor tells you that it is stress causing many of the symptoms you are experiencing. There are several signs of stress you shouldn’t ignore, and we will go over some of those in today’s blog. When you can recognize your stress in yourself and make changes to lessen the stressors in your life, you will notice an improvement in physical symptoms.

Before we go forward, it is worth noting here that stress and anxiety are not the same thing. Stress is in response to an external cause, such as work deadlines, an upcoming test, or relationship issues. Once the stressor passes, your stress level decreases because it was in direct response to the situation. Anxiety usually has an internal origin and is often in response to things that aren’t actually threatening. Anxiety will remain even after the stressor has passed. Stress can be a pre-cursor to anxiety. For the purposes of this blog, we will discuss both stress and anxiety because they activate similar systems and can have similar effects on your body.

Many of the symptoms below are due to the activation of the fight/flight/freeze response. This has been discussed in other blogs on the role it plays in anxiety. As a quick reminder, the fight/flight/freeze response is activated when you are placed in a dangerous situation. When there is an actual danger, you experience fear and your body prepares to deal with the dangerous situation by releasing a stress hormone called cortisol, and you find your heart rate increases, breathing gets faster and shallower, muscles get tense, blood goes out to your extremities, and things like digestion might stop. What anxiety is, is this same system being turned on in response to a perceived danger, or something that isn’t a matter of life or death in that moment.

Upset stomach, indigestion, heartburn, and nausea: Your stomach is a complex organ that secretes acids and enzymes to aid in digestion of food. Your stomach is full of nerves to ensure it works correctly in the digestion process, however, as stress appears in your life, it can set off the balance of this complex organ. When the fight/flight/freeze response is activated by the sympathetic nervous system the stress hormone cortisol is released to prepare for the threat. This can lead to an increase in heart rate, changes in breathing, and increase in muscle tension. All these things can impact the stomach and digestive system, which have various muscles and nerves involved in the digestive process. Imbalance might lead to the experience of an upset stomach, indigestion, heartburn, and nausea.

Diarrhea: Prolonged stress and the development of anxiety can lead to further digestive issues such as diarrhea. The fight/flight/freeze system has been activated due to the increased stress. One effect of this activation is muscle contractions due to muscle tension. When the muscle contractions are increased in your colon, you might experience diarrhea. The presence of diarrhea can also increase if you worry about having an episode of loose bowels when you are in public. Worry about this can increase your anxiety and lead to the increase in having loose stools by turning on the fight/flight/freeze response.

Difficulty sleeping: When people are stressed and activate the fight/flight/freeze response, they may experience difficulties sleeping. The system is activated to increase your survival, and as a result you become more alert to better handle your surroundings and to find the possible danger. While this is an excellent system to have activated when faced with an actual danger, when you are stressed and anxious, there is not that same actual danger present that requires your protection. As a result, things like sleep are affected because your body wants to stay alert while you want to go to sleep. Difficulty sleeping might be a temporary issue, or something more prolonged. Insomnia is a sleep disorder in which you have ongoing trouble falling and/or staying asleep.

Eating too much/too little: When people are stressed they might find they eat more or less than normal. One reason someone might have an increased appetite is because there is increased cortisol in your system due to activation of the fight/flight/freeze response. High blood levels of cortisol have been found to lead to increased hunger. You may crave high energy foods because your body thinks it needs the energy to deal with the matter that is causing the stress. However, there are some people that eat less when stressed. As I mentioned above, when the fight/flight/freeze system is activated, you may experience upset stomach and nausea. For some, the thought of eating doesn’t cross their mind, or if they do eat it is an unpleasant experience. As a result, their appetite decreases and they begin to eat less.

Fatigue: When your body keeps a system on regularly that is meant to keep you alert and safe, you can imagine that the longer this system stays on, the more your body will feel worn down. Fatigue is not the same as being sleepy. When you are fatigued, you feel tired or lack energy, but cannot fall asleep. It makes it difficult to do everyday tasks because you don’t have the energy. Fatigue can be caused by mental and physical symptoms, with ongoing stress and anxiety being a factor in increased fatigue. Even a good night’s sleep might not work in helping you feel more alert and ready for the day.

Tense muscles and pain: When we are stressed and anxious, our body tends to tense up and muscle tension is common. As the muscles remain tensed, you might notice pain in various areas. Tension with stress and anxiety is carried in different parts of the body, but common locations are the shoulders and face. Headaches can also be present if you tend to hold tension in your face. Right now, think of loosening your shoulders and relaxing them. Did it feel different? If the answer is yes then you were likely holding tension in your shoulders. Become more aware of your tension and actively relax your muscles at points during the day to see if that helps decrease pain and headaches.

It is important to manage your stress because stress can develop into anxiety. Prolonged stress and anxiety can have negative effects on your body physically and mentally. People will often present to their primary care doctor with complaints of their physical symptoms, not realizing that there is a mental health cause. Take an assessment of your stressors and see if reducing your stress levels leads to a decrease in your physical concerns.

At Mindset Therapy we provide mental health services in Texas and Washington from trained professionals, via telepsychology, which allows you to attend the appointment from the location most convenient for you. Visit Mindset Therapy at https://www.mindsettherapyonline.com/ to learn more about the services offered and make an appointment. Also visit our YouTube page, Mindset Therapy, PLLC, for the Mental Health Minute series that provides quick pieces of information for common mental health issues.