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The 3 Kinds of Stress and Their Symptoms

One of the reasons many people visit a chiropractor is for help dealing with their stress. Stress has many effects on the body that can make living day to day much more difficult. What many people don’t realize is that stress actually comes in three different forms. Knowing what each form is, so you can identify the stress you are experiencing, is crucial to dealing with the stress correctly. Here we will discuss the three types of stress, and what each of their symptoms consist of.

Acute Stress

A common theme around stress is that it is a negative feeling, but this is not always the case. Acute stress is actually positive for the body, in short doses. Acute stress is the body’s response to recent anticipated, and unexpected, challenges. The common symptoms of acute stress are:
        • Muscle tension
        • Headache
        • Upset stomach
        • Racing heart
        • Raised blood pressure

While acute stress in short doses is not too harmful, it can be pretty severe depending on the trigger. For example, if you were to witness a car crash or crime, you would most likely experience more severe acute stress. This can have lasting effects such as an acute stress disorder or PTSD.

Episodic Acute Stress

While most people suffer from acute stress on occasion, some people experience acute stress on a much more frequent basis. This often comes with a feeling of pressure at all times. This tends to be exhausting for those that experience, not only mentally but physically as well. This often then affects how the individual treats others, due to them typically being pretty irritable. Other symptoms include unintended hostility and relationship problems. People who experience episodic acute stress are often anxious and tense. A common term for people who experience episodic acute stress is a “Worry Wart”. This is due to them typically just being worried all the time, no matter the situation.

Episodic acute stress often indicates that lifestyle changes need to be made. This includes reducing the demands you make of yourself as well as others. This type of stress typically needs professional intervention, such as a chiropractor or therapist. Having this outside view of your life makes it much easier for the third party to find the issues and recommend fixes than it is for you.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress is a daily issue that wears people down over years. It comes from serious life issues such as a stressful job, unhappy relationship, societal pressures, or financial issues. Chronic stress involves your fight or flight system always being aroused, giving your body no time to recover in between episodes and resulting in physical and mental deterioration. Physical results of chronic stress include heart disease, immune diseases, etc.

Sometimes chronic stress results from traumatic experiences in the past that become internalized and remain hurtful for years to come. This type of stress often displays itself in someone’s personality as well. They will become much more irritable all the time, sometimes shutting down when around others. This stress often becomes so internalized that those experiencing it eventually just forget it is there, they get used to it. This results in a final breakdown that can cause serious, even fatal, repercussions for not only the sufferer but those around them as well.

If you are experiencing stress, it is important you discuss it with someone. Chiropractors are trained professionals in many aspects, and visiting one about this can be extremely beneficial