5 Signs Your Stress Has Become Something More Serious

Everyone has a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad month sometimes, and it’s usually fairly easy to spot the signs. Maybe you spend more time doom-scrolling the news or social media or find yourself binge-watching true crime docs or old comfort shows. Sometimes, however, months turn into seasons or years, and temporary stress becomes a lasting mental health issue. Here are some signs your stress might be turning into a more serious condition, like depression or anxiety.

1. Bad Habits Are Creeping (Back) In

If you’ve recently started — or restarted — drinking, smoking, or using drugs, you might be self-medicating an underlying condition if you’re relying more than usual on any old favorite bad habits, as they could be a sign of something more serious. For example, maybe you normally only drink socially, but now you regularly find yourself having a few glasses alone after work. Such a drastic change in habits could be a sign that you’re struggling to manage your emotions.

More serious habits, like turning to hard or illegal drugs, or abusing prescription medications, are almost certainly an indicator. It’s crucial to get support, such as therapy, rehab, or inpatient treatment for substance abuse if you’re struggling with serious addiction. While drug use might seem to ease symptoms at first, it will worsen them in the long term. Addiction and mental health issues can often go hand and hand, and exacerbate one another, making recovery more difficult.

2. You’re Experiencing Physical Symptoms

The relationship between the brain and the body is well-established, though many people and healthcare providers often overlook this crucial information. Frequent headaches, stomachaches, unexplained aches and pains, and significant weight gain or loss are all common symptoms that stress is shape-shifting into something worse. If you find yourself scheduling more doctors appointments, but nothing turns up on your exams, it’s time to look at your mental health. 

Of course, it is important to get treatment for serious physical symptoms like headaches and chronic digestive issues. Sometimes the stress of chronic pain can make mental health symptoms even worse, so it’s best to treat both in tandem. By all means, see your doctor for that migraine medication or muscle relaxers to treat your sore lower back. However, it’s also important to seek mental health treatment and learn relaxation techniques to treat the root cause of your suffering.

3. You’re Just Plain Exhausted

Major changes in your energy levels or sleeping habits can be a significant indicator of stress progressing into something less manageable. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping as long as you’re like tol, that could be a mental health symptom. Likewise, if you’re sleeping a lot more than usual, that’s also a sign that something could be seriously off. Mental health issues can be exhausting, and make it incredibly challenging just to get out of bed.

Even if you haven’t noticed a major change in your sleep patterns, you might still feel drained, depleted, and low on energy. Fatigue is very often a symptom of stress that’s gotten out of hand, and is not something to be ignored. Maybe you’ve noticed that daily tasks just seem harder than usual. Or perhaps you feel like you need a nap in the middle of the day for no reason. Any major change in energy levels that doesn’t have a medical explanation is certainly worth investigating.

4. You’re Extra Cranky or Irritable

If you’re feeling a little snippier or snarkier than usual, that might just be a sign of a bad day or a case of PMS. However, if the feeling continues for days or weeks on end, it could be a symptom of an underlying mental health issue. Most people think of depression and anxiety as persistent states of sadness or worry. While these emotions are typical, feeling excessively angry or irritable — and even acting on it — is just as common, and a whole lot sneakier.

A good way to test whether or not your stress-related irritability is getting out of hand is to ask a few people you trust. Your friends, loved ones, classmates, and colleagues will have likely noticed the difference, though they may be too nice to say so. If asking around seems too scary, check communication records like texts to friends or messages to your coworkers. Fewer emojis, more negative comments, or a huge change in length (longer or shorter) could all be signs.

5. You Can’t Concentrate

Whether or not you’re more sleep deprived, you might have noticed that it’s a lot harder than usual to pay attention. Sometimes you can’t focus on a favorite book or TV show, because all you can think about is that dumb thing you said earlier. Other times, you can’t sit down and finish that work project without neurotically checking your phone for messages. Still others, you’re just totally numb and forgetful, even though there’s nothing specific on your mind.

All of these types of difficulty focusing, and others, could be signs of worsening stress and mental health symptoms. If sustaining concentration on tasks or activities — especially ones you actually enjoy — is getting harder, it might be time to see a professional. You might have an underlying issue with focus, like ADHD, that worsens under stress or when a comorbid condition is present. Or your symptoms might be due to grief, PTSD, or any number of other illnesses.

More Serious Symptoms

While these are some of the less obvious signs to look out for, it’s also important to keep major warning signs in mind. If you are feeling persistently sad, worried, numb, hopeless, or overwhelmed, it could be time to get help. If you’re not just distracted, but have actually lost interest in your favorite activities, that’s a major indicator too. Don’t be ashamed to seek help — it’s never too soon to get support and treatment for stress and mental health.