When it comes to stress, there's nothing as destructive as negative emotions (fear, guilt, shame, resentment, blame, rage, jealousy, contempt), especially when they are repressed, ignored, or dwelt on. Chronic negativity causes a host of physical symptoms and significantly contributes to disease because emotions change DNA. After just five minutes, anger decreases immunity for five hours, while laughter increases immunity for 20 hours or more.
Emotional/Mental Causes of Stress
- Significant life changes or events (marriage, divorce, pregnancy, relocation, health concerns, death)
- Illness and disease
- Relationship complexities (negative people, inflexibility, red flags, abuse)
- Children and family concerns
- Money and finances, as well as pressures at work or school
- Staying too busy
- Environment (home, office, city, state, country)
- Lack of support
- Lack of purpose, direction, or meaning
- Pessimism, victim mentality, perfectionism, and negative self-talk
- Avoiding dealing with something emotionally painful
- Happiness deficiency
- Suppressed emotions
- Excessive need for approval
- Childhood experiences or environment
- Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, financial), including neglect
- Oppression, including being the victim of narcissism
- Traumatic experiences (physical or emotional)
Spiritual Causes of Stress
- Spiritual disconnect (lack of purpose)
- Spiritual attachments, attacks, or possession
- Past life experiences
- Near-death experiences (NDEs)
Physical Causes of Stress
- Addictions
- Drug or sugar withdrawal
- EMFs (interferences in your electromagnetic energy field)
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Hormonal imbalances
- Poor pH balance
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Inner ear and lung disorders
- Genetic factors
- Hypoglycemia and Diabetes
- Neck and spinal misalignments or injuries
- Food and chemical sensitivities and allergies
- Medications, including anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications
- Damage to the amygdalae from injury or alcoholism
- Being a Highly Sensitive Person
- Illnesses, bacterial, fungal, and viral infections, such as Herpes Simplex Virus
- Enzyme deficiency and imbalances in the gut microbiome
- Mitochondrial Dysfunction
Symptoms of Stress
Emotional Symptoms of Stress
- Becoming irritated, frustrated, angered, or hostile easily
- Excessive defensiveness or suspiciousness
- Overreaction
- Low self-esteem and low self-worth
- Lonely much of the time.
- Moodiness, sadness, crying spells, anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts
- Apathy or emotional numbness
- Feeling overwhelmed and as if you have no control over your situation or life.
- Avoidance behaviors (including phobias)
Physical Symptoms of Stress
- Insomnia, fatigue, and low energy
- Muscle ache, loss, pain, or spasm (especially in the head, neck, shoulder, and back)
- Chest pain in the heart area, rapid heartbeat, and palpitations
- Indigestion, nausea, stomach pain, constipation, or diarrhea (often alternating)
- Frequent colds, infections, or herpes outbreaks (a weakened immune system)
- Loss of interest in sex or the ability to perform
- Weight gain or loss without dieting
- A continuous feeling of nervousness, anxiety, worry, or guilt
- Trembling or shaking of the body, hands, or lips
- Frequent allergy attacks (and Histamine Intolerance)
- Tinnitus (ringing, popping, buzzing in the ear)
- Cold or sweaty hands and feet
- Blushing, sweating, and hot flashes
- Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing
- Clenched jaw and grinding teeth
- Frequently sighing (taking deep breaths) or having difficulty breathing.
- Light-headedness, dizziness, faintness, or a feeling of being off-balance
- Panic attacks when danger is absent
- Being accident-prone
Mental (Thinking) Symptoms of Stress
- Constant worrying or seeing only the negative side of things
- Unrealistic expectations of self or others, or excessive idealism
- Racing thoughts and the inability to silence mind chatter.
- Stuttering, stammering, rapid, or mumbled speech.
- Forgetting things or confusion
- Lack of focus or concentration
- Trouble being punctual
- Problems learning new information
- Irrational or disgusting thoughts
- Poor judgment, perspective, or decision-making ability
- Nightmares or recurring dreams
- Lying, justifying, or making up excuses​
Behavioral Symptoms of Stress
- Procrastinating or avoiding responsibilities
- Eating too much or too little
- Obsessive or compulsive behaviors, such as repeatedly washing hands, excessive shopping, or gambling
- Using or increasing the use of stimulants or sedatives to cope, such as alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs
- Reduced productivity or activity
- Engaging in nervous behaviors, such as fidgeting, pacing, biting the inner mouth, and nail-biting,
- Picking at the scalp, twirling, or pulling out hair
- Skin-cutting or burning
- Letting appearance go
- Social withdrawal and isolation (and phobias)
Stress can cause symptoms from any of the four categories listed above. You may not recognize your symptoms as stress at the time. Getting a headache before taking a test at school, feeling nauseous during an argument with your spouse, or suffering a panic attack while standing in line to renew your license are all apparent symptoms of stress. But not feeling hungry (or ravenous when you've already eaten) and wanting to spend money (again) on things you don't need are also signs of stress.
Your symptoms may pass quickly, or they may persist and worsen if you become chronically stressed or develop a fear of them. Eventually, your symptoms can lead to reduced activity, increased isolation, and decreased productivity, ultimately affecting your quality of life.
Chronic Stress
Long-term emotional, physical, or psychological stress keeps cortisol levels high. High cortisol levels suppress immune function (especially T-cell and natural killer cell activity, which are needed to keep herpes dormant). It also destabilizes blood sugar, sleep, and hormones, which are all factors that increase your risk for more frequent and severe herpes outbreaks. You may not realize you’re under chronic stress because it can manifest as fatigue, irritability, sadness, or hypersensitivity, or as physical symptoms unrelated to emotional stress.
Note: The herpes virus hides in nerve cells. When your autonomic nervous system (especially the sympathetic “fight or flight” branch) is overactive, it triggers reactivation. This means that unresolved trauma, emotional repression, or nervous system hypervigilance can “wake” the virus. Again, you may not feel consciously stressed, but your body can still be hyperaroused (tight muscles, shallow breathing, or poor sleep are all clues). This "condition" is called Nervous System Dysregulation.
ACE Score (Adverse Childhood Experience)
Chronic stress, including stress from toxins, damages the structure and function of a child's developing brain. Your ACE score tallies the degree of harm from such things as physical, verbal, or sexual abuse and physical or emotional neglect.
When you have a high ACE score, you're more likely to suffer from stress-related symptoms and disease in adulthood.
We transition from our child brain to our adult brain between the ages of 24 and 26. Before this, any time we felt unsafe or threatened, we "Freeze" in response, rather than reacting with a "Fight or Flight" response. We must feel we can fight or run from danger to feel safe. If you've ever found yourself in a situation where you were afraid and physically couldn't move or speak, or became completely passive, you were in Freeze mode. But Freeze mode isn't always as dramatic as that and can show up in other ways.
The Freeze response, especially when repeated often, can trigger stress-related symptoms and, regardless of your age, make healing from stress and trauma difficult. Over time, the Freeze response stores stress in your body. If you ever find yourself in Freeze mode, ask yourself what your body needs to feel secure at the moment and do whatever you can to move in that direction.
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