Is Stress Stealing Your Life?

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms of stress, perhaps it is time to take a step back and evaluate your life. As you do so, watch for some of these signs to see if stress is robbing you of your life:

• extreme weight gain/loss
• frequent outbursts
• yelling at loved ones
• heavy sighing throughout the day
• staying indoors for days
• not wanting to talk to friends or family
• feeling hopeless or lost

Stress can cause great havoc in your life. People who admit to feeling stress on a daily basis often suffer from a multiplicity of health problems. Stress not only affects your thought process, but it affects your physical health as well. Perhaps the most disheartening revelation of all is that those who feel this tremendous strain of stress often feel that stress is stealing their life.

Signs Of Stress

How do you know if stress is stealing your life? Maybe you have lived with the weight of stress in your life for so long that you do not even realize that it has already stolen your life. Here are some common signs that stress is robbing you of your livelihood:

1) You experience bouts of depression. Depression makes you want to crawl under a rock and die at times. You lose your joy and happiness. You feel useless and worthless at times. You think your family would be better off without you. All these terrible feelings brought on by depression steal valuable time and energy from you.

2) You have anxiety or panic attacks. Anxiety and panic attacks are often one of the first signs of stress. You begin feeling overwhelmed and anxiety sets in. You feel like you can’t breathe. You think you are going to die. Eventually you may even reach a point where you are afraid to leave your house or get out in public. These attacks rob you of the enjoyment of a social life and emotional peace.

3) You have frequent and extreme headaches. Migraine headaches are one sure sign of stress. Migraines commonly occur in those who are under a great deal of strain and attempt to deal with their problems alone. You can’t eat. Light hurts your eyes. You just want to crawl into bed, pull the covers over your head and sleep for hours. Migraines will rob you of valuable time with your family.

4) You feel a deep and extreme sadness. You cry for no reason at all. You feel so sad, and have no idea why. Even though your life is great and everything seems to be well, you cry at the drop of a hat. While you might try to pretend that all is well in your life, the undercurrent of stress is creating a turbulence of emotions inside you.