Do you feel like you’re stressed out all the time? Not just every few weeks when work gets tough, but every single day over a period of months?
Maybe you’re more stressed than you think. Here are some signs that you may need to take a step back (or three) and de-stress.
- You’re having weird dreams. If you dream at all, your dreams should be getting better the longer you’re sleeping. You should be making up in a better mood than when you went to bed. Being stressed out means you keep waking up, meaning you have to go back to sleep and start over again, and your dreams just stay bad. Good sleeping habits (which require de-stressing) can fix this.
- You have a consistent sweet tooth. Studies show that it’s actually unlikely that chocolate cravings come from hormones. It’s much more likely to be stress-related. It’s worth it to catch that one when you realize it’s happening, since not only is all of that sugar not good for you but it could end up widening your waistline too.
- You’re always itchy. Of course, there are a lot of possible reasons for this, but if you’re already predisposed to eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis, being stressed may trigger it, even if you’ve never had it before.
- You have lots of stomachaches, backaches, or headaches. Stress and anxiety pains are very real, and it’s what makes these things very serious problems, not things to be ignored. If you feel like your stomach gets upset no matter what you eat, or if you get backaches from doing nothing, it may be time to try some stress management techniques.
- You’re breaking out. Stress increases cortisol levels, which causes inflammation and leads to acne. So even if you don’t get breakouts generally, extreme amounts of stress may cause it.
Don’t be afraid to treat your stress. Treating it now is better than making it worse and breaking down later.
