Kathleen N Hoagland
9 min readOct 3, 2022

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CHRONIC STRESS — WARNING SIGNS & HEALTHY TIPS TO OVERCOME STRESS

stress/health/sleep/worry/overwhelm

What is stress?

Stress is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened. It usually happens when we are in a situation that we don’t feel we can manage or control.

Stress can occur while driving in heavy traffic, dealing with family matters, work situations, deadlines, paying bills or taxes, moving, learning a new task or skill.

Stress can sometimes be a good thing but when it continues to be constant that is when it begins to impact our health, emotional well being and the ability to function in a calm and focused way.

People can get frazzled, conflicted, uncertain, scared and begin to doubt themselves when in a stressful situation. It is at these times you need to Dig into your toolbox of tools to stay a float of all the turmoil we have running rampant in our minds and bodies.

Photo by Diane Picchiottino on Unsplash

Often, people with chronic stress try to manage it with unhealthy behaviors, including:

  • Drinking alcohol too much or too often.
  • Gambling,
  • Overeating or developing an eating disorder,
  • Participating compulsively in sex, shopping or internet browsing,
  • Smoking,
  • Using drugs.

What are 5 emotional signs of stress?

Emotional signs of stress

  • Irritability or moodiness,
  • Anxiety,
  • Depression,
  • Feeling overwhelmed or unmotivated,
  • Loneliness and isolation.

Where would you score yourself on a scale of 1–10 in relationship to any of the signs indicated above? If you find the numbers are high, don’t beat yourself up, there is support, hope and answers to help you lower those numbers. You are not alone in this.

Photo by Ashley Whitlatch on Unsplash

Steps one can take to renew and revive:

1. Take a weekend away,

2. Get a massage,

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Kathleen N Hoagland

I work with women to help them cope with stress & overwhelm. Send for tips on how to reduce stress/anxiety at: kathy.hoagland@mail.com Kathleenhoagland.com