by Ainsley Lawrence,
Contributing Author, Conscious Reminder
Image Source: Unsplash
If you’re finding that your days are a bit different than they used to be or that your habits seem to have changed without realizing it, the culprit could be stress.
The frustration and depression you may deal with can affect how you walk, eat, sleep, and more. Sometimes, you may get stressed and not even realize it. That’s why it’s important that you keep track of your situation so you can live the happiest and most fulfilled life possible. Let’s talk about the subtle ways that stress and anxiety impact your routines.
Stress Can Affect How You Act and Move
You may not realize it, but stress can affect how you move and conduct yourself during the course of the day. There are some more obvious signs of stress you might experience when going through uncomfortable situations. They may include mumbling, uncertainty, and an overall worry that you may need to speak to someone at some point.
The stress can be so much that it can affect your appearance and how you deal with crowds and go about your day. Psychologists have found that teens with social anxiety disorder (SAD) often walk and talk with their heads down in a slouched position and may have their arms crossed. Many nervous people sweat or blush often and could have a nervous habit, like twirling hair or biting nails.
Stress can also have subtle effects on your immune system over time, leading to sickness more often than if you weren’t anxious. When you’re stressed, your immune system kicks on the fight-or-flight response, preparing you to take on an intense situation. If you’re constantly stressed, your body can get so used to the heightened response that it can’t get back to its regular function, and it can’t protect you against sickness.
Nervous actions and constant sickness can make it hard to speak to people and accomplish tasks at school and work, so you need to look at the root of the problem and make a change.
Anxiety Can Affect Sleeping and Eating
In addition to avoiding contact with people and putting out nervous energy, anxiety can impact almost every process you do, even if you’re alone. For instance, stress can affect how you eat and think about food. The relationship you have with food has a bearing on your spirit and your overall well-being.
The issue is that studies are beginning to show that anxiety is associated with how you eat. A study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that folks with moderate to severe anxiety symptoms showed lower scores for food enjoyment. It showed that stress can also lead to emotional overeating. Many subconsciously try to fill an empty void or replace their worries with food that is typically unhealthy. If this happens to you and you don’t make a change, it could affect your mind and your body.
Of the many hidden signs of stress and depression, our sleep can be impacted the most. You don’t necessarily need to have insomnia to be ruled by your stress during the nighttime. Sometimes, you might sleep later than you intended or wake up earlier, and you may think that’s a normal routine, but it may be stress that’s to blame. The quality of your sleep can affect your learning and memory, so if you’re having trouble focusing at school or work but you believe you sleep through the night, it could be that stress is causing you to have lower-quality rest that’s affecting your daily routines.
Unique Ways You May Be Causing Your Stress
Stress can be very subtle, and sometimes, you may not realize that what you do during the day could be causing the anxiety disrupting your life. If you drink alcohol, you likely know that moderation is key, but you may not realize that’s also causing some of your stress.
The fact is that alcohol affects your body in many ways, including:
- Increased stomach acid production, resulting in acid reflux.
- Obesity and health problems like heart failure.
- Increased rates of anxiety and insomnia.
Stress can develop because your body starts to rely on alcohol to function. If you’re not drinking, you may worry about where you’ll find your next drink or how you’ll do well at your job or on a test without it.
If you have an issue with alcohol dependence, seek help and find positive ways to replace the habit with healthier alternatives like berries in iced water, or if you like the taste, turn to non-alcoholic beer. By turning down alcohol, you’ll find that you get better sleep and realize that drinking is what has made your personal problems worse.
There’s also a scenario where you feel stressed and try to unwind, but that just worsens the anxiety. If you’ve felt this, you may be experiencing a psychiatry idea known as relaxation-induced anxiety. The issue is often that it’s not easy for you to shift from feelings of busyness to relaxation, so when you try to calm down, you feel vulnerable. As a solution, you could talk to a therapist who could teach you to overcome your fear of vulnerability and practice relaxation to be truly at ease and go on with your day.
It’s important that you understand how anxiety impacts you personally so you can make the necessary tweaks and live your best life.
About the Author: Ainsley Lawrence is a freelance writer with an interest in balanced living through education and technology. She loves travelling to beautiful places and is frequently lost in a good book.
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