What are the symptoms of stress? What is the best way to live a stress-free life?
Stress can manifest itself in many ways. What we call “stress” is simply our physical and emotional reaction to change. The body perceives any sudden change in our environment as a potential threat to our safety — regardless of whether it’s a positive or negative change. This potential threat causes the release of several hormones, particularly adrenalin, that prepare the body to “fight or flee.” Stomach aches are only one of the symptoms. Also common are stress headaches, acid stomach that mimics acid reflux, occasionally diarrhea, sleep disturbance or insomnia, sweating (adrenalin reactions), emotional volatility or flat affect. If you have some combination of these symptoms, it is also possible that what you are dealing with is not stress, but clinical levels of depression or anxiety. There is considerable overlap in the range of symptoms. Likewise, men and women sometimes cope with stress in very different ways. For both sexes, if you are in significant discomfort, then one of you
