Most men take stress at work as a normal part of working. They chug coffee in order to stay awake and they just keep on working, even though there is evidence that stress at work may be killing them.
Here are ten signs you need to pay attention to that tells you stress from work is killing you:
- You are falling asleep at your desk. Your body can respond to stress by shutting down and making you sleepy. You can get so sleepy that you fall asleep at your desk, unable to complete all your tasks. Falling asleep at your desk is a sign your brain can’t contain all the stress you are experiencing so that it has to rest sometime.
- You can’t sleep during the night. Stress from work can contribute to nighttime insomnia. Instead of sleeping, you find yourself ruminating on work-related issues instead of getting the sleep you need to get through the next day. The insomnia builds up over several days and you find yourself functioning less in the work place.
- You overeat at lunch. Stress can bring on overeating. If you are allowed a lunchbreak at all, you will likely eat it at your desk and you will eat the wrong kinds of foods and too much food in order to reward yourself for work well done. You may overeat at supper because you are overly stressed and don’t want to think about the work stress you are under.
- You catch colds and flus. This is partly because you are exposed to sick people in the workplace and partly because the stress of work can reduce your ability to fight off infections you are exposed to. If your work contained less stress, you would be able to fight off pathogens you are surrounded by each and every day you go to work.
- You drink too much. Alcohol will make you forget all of the stress you are under. You can be under work stress and then drink the night away after the work is over. If you are under extreme stress at work, you may actually drink secretly on the job, which can affect your job performance. Drinking on the job can also get you fired, no matter how much stress you are under.
- You find you can’t concentrate. If you find that your concentration is lacking, especially on the job, this may be due to excessive job stress. If you find that you can’t concentrate, take a break and do something for yourself so that you can go back to work with a fresh mind.
- Your memory is poor. Stress has been known to affect a person’s memory functioning. If you are under too much stress, you will find that your memory is poorer than you’d like it to be and your ability to function at work will be diminished.
- You suffer from indigestion. When you have problems with stress, it can affect your digestion and you won’t digest your foods as well as you would like to. This can lead to increased stomach gas, reflux, and an overall feeling of indigestion after meals or snacks.
- You have irritable bowel syndrome symptoms. Irritable bowel results in diarrhea and constipation, often alternating between the two. Irritable bowel syndrome is highly related to the amount of stress you are under and only reduction in stress can result in better bowel function.
- You are irritable. Stress can make you more irritable so that you snap at people and want to isolate yourself. In the work place, it means you don’t get along with people in the way you would normally do and this can negatively affect work relationships.