11 Behavioural symptoms of stress

Like most problems; the sooner you spot stress the easier it is to manage. It pays to be familiar with the many different symptoms of stress. The symptoms of stress fall into many different categories e.g. behavioural, physical, emotional, psychological etc. Stress can show up in many ways and, while you may have realised that you are stressed quickly; others rarely notice that there are problems until it starts affecting your behaviour. After all they can’t see your thoughts or emotions. In most cases though, other people don’t realise that you are stressed because most symptoms can easily be attributed to other causes. So, it is imperative that you are vigilant for symptoms of stress. The behavioural symptoms are often the easiest for you to notice too so, that is what I will cover in this article.

Behavioural symptoms of stress

​Not all behavioural changes are due to stress, but any sudden, unexpected changes should be noted and examined, so that you can be sure of the cause. The earlier you spot stress, the easier it is to rectify the situation. Stress can affect behaviour in many different ways but the following tend to be the most common behavioural symptoms of stress.

1. Sleeping difficulties

Sufferers of stress often find it difficult to switch off. With no activity to distract them, negative thinking, anxieties and worries take over the mind. Fear of having forgotten something and negative expectations of forthcoming events (e.g. interview, presentation) limits the ability to relax sufficiently to fall asleep. Sleep shortage and insomnia are often tell-tale signs of stress.

The importance of proper sleep is often overlooked but if you don’t get sufficient sleep, you wake up with an energy deficiency i.e. you don’t have enough energy for everything that you would like to get done. The occasional poor night’s sleep is relatively easy to recover from but if you are constantly falling short of your required sleep, you are going to fall behind in your work and, you are going to lack physical and mental energy. All of which makes you more stressed and more negative.

So, failing to get enough sleep can become a vicious cycle e.g.:

• You are stressed and feeling negative, so,
• You don’t sleep properly, so
• Your stress and negativity increase, so
• Your sleep gets worse

It is important to note that sleep is not just about quantity. For proper rest and recovery, you need deep, quality sleep. Poor quality and quantity of sleep is one of the most recognisable behavioural symptoms of stress so, don’t ignore it.

2. Lack of punctuality

Timekeeping is one of the first things to suffer when an individual becomes stressed. They may take too many tasks on; try to avoid tasks and thus leave them until the last minute or they may be so overcome with worry/anxiety that they become forgetful. In order to remedy the situation, they must first identify why their punctuality is so poor.

Poor punctuality is certainly one of the most common behavioural symptoms of stress but, poor punctuality sometimes precedes stress.

If you are someone who has always had poor punctuality and time keeping, the cause may not be stress. It may be that you just need to learn some time management skills and, improve your organisational skills. Even if the cause is not stress, if your punctuality is poor, you can be certain that you are annoying people and giving yourself a bad reputation because, even if you don’t respect their time; they do! Nobody likes to have their time wasted consistently, by the same person. It is understandable that anyone can be late once, but it is inexcusable when it is consistent.

If you have always had good time management skills but you suddenly find yourself struggling to keep up with everything, it is likely that you are struggling with stress. You have probably overloaded yourself and taken too much on. As a result, you feel overwhelmed. You might struggle to choose the right task to work on, let alone get it completed. This often happens because as you take on new responsibilities, you fail to let go of the responsibilities you previously had.

Related

​Whether your poor punctuality is one of the behavioural symptoms of stress, or not, you need to get organised. Read Why you need an effective organisational system.

3. Absenteeism

Stressed individuals tend to regularly miss work. They may be trying to avoid a difficult situation or they may be suffering the consequences of one of their coping mechanisms e.g. alcohol.

If you are the one missing work, you may not realise that your absenteeism is one of the behavioural symptoms of stress. You may believe that the reasons for your absence are genuine. Suddenly, you are feeling sick or exhausted so, you take a day off. Maybe you are feeling a little demotivated and you feel a day off would recharge the batteries. You may even convince yourself that, as you have been working very hard, you are entitled to reward yourself with some time off. If you find that you suddenly start taking unscheduled time off, you need to determine why and take corrective action. Maybe you need to do one of the following:

• Visit your doctor
• Ask for help with your workload
• Get time management training
• Start looking for a job which better matches your skillset and ambitions

The sooner you act, the sooner you get back on track. Because if you have a job and you are not turning up to do it, there is a problem which needs to be identified and rectified.

The same goes for other people. If you notice that colleagues or, subordinates are starting to take more unscheduled time off, there is something wrong. Work is not always enjoyable, but it is rarely so bad that it causes people to not turn up. If somebody is not turning up when they are supposed to, there is something wrong which needs to be investigated.

It is easy to assume that people don’t turn up because they don’t want to work but that is rarely the case. If absenteeism continues, it becomes a disciplinary issue. But in many cases, genuinely caring about the other person and inquiring about their wellbeing will help you to identify whether their absenteeism is one of the behavioural symptoms of stress or, is just bad behaviour. If the problem is stress, it is better to help that person than discipline them.

Related

​If you feel that you need to have a conversation with someone who might be experiencing stress, you need to be compassionate. Read 8 Tips to master compassionate communication for advice.

4. Withdrawal

Withdrawal is a common behavioural symptom of stress. The individual’s self-esteem and confidence may have taken a hit and as a consequence, they may no longer feel capable of coping with social situations. In order to protect their fragile confidence, they may choose to avoid all such situations.

There are an endless number of situations where people might withdraw because the situation feels too stressful for them. The following are just some of the most common examples:

• Avoiding socialising
• Withdrawing from situations/events where a particular person is present
• Not volunteering for projects where they fear they won’t be able to cope
• Avoiding work where they are required to use skills they lack confidence in
• Steering clear of situations where they must speak up e.g. presentations, meetings

Withdrawal can be so difficult to identify because it is so subtle. If you are the person withdrawing, you might not even realise the full extent of your behaviour. Rather than making an outright declaration that you are going to avoid every instance of the situation where you feel stressed, you may decide on a case by case basis. Then, you don’t realise how often you are avoiding the situation so, it doesn’t seem like a problem.

When somebody else is withdrawing, it is hard to notice because we all focus on ourselves in any given situation. It is not that we don’t care about others, its just that we see things from our perspective and focus on our own involvement e.g. would you be able to answer the following:

• Which colleagues were at each meeting you attended over the past year?
• Which of your friends were present on each night out over the past year?

You might think the answer to each of those questions is yes but unless you took a record at the time, you are not going to be able to do so. That is why there was a roll call in school – they needed an accurate record of who was attending and who wasn’t and; you can’t rely on memory. So, if people are withdrawing from your life, you may not notice. But if you do, a compassionate conversation can help identify the reasons and allow you to help.

Related

​If you are the one who is withdrawing, your self-esteem may need some work. Check out Unlock Your Self-Esteem.

 5. Exhaustion

If we are to maximise our energy, one of the most important things for us to do is to balance our physical energy. There will be times when we are required to work at our maximum output for sustained periods. In order to do this we must implement periods of deep rest which enables both our body and mind to recover. Failure to do so can eventually result in burnout and chronic fatigue. The stressed individual may feel like they are constantly running from one emergency to another and thus fail to take the time to rest and recuperate. Constant fatigue is often a sign that someone is overwhelmed and experiencing stress.

Energy is the forgotten resource. When trying to get work done, people tend to focus on other factors like:

• The time it will take
• People who can help
• The money required
• Other physical resources

But even if your bases are covered in each of these areas, you are still going to have to take action. Taking action when you don’t have any energy is not realistic. If you do not have the energy to get the job done, you are not going to get the job done. Maybe there will be the occasional time when somebody kindly offers to do it for you. But if you are constantly short of energy, you are not going to be able to rely on others always bailing you out. Eventually, they will get annoyed with having to do everything for you. This leads to a breakdown in your relationships which then causes more stress.

Related

​If you lack energy on a consistent basis, you need to start making some changes in your life. Read 7 Natural energy boosters to get started.

6. Addictive/excessive behaviour

Those experiencing stress often don’t realise that it is stress which they are experiencing. Where they do realise this, they often have no idea how to deal with stress.  This can result in short term solutions which, though they have a temporary impact, have damaging long-term consequences. One of the most common coping mechanisms for dealing with difficulty is alcohol. While alcohol can have a temporary benefit, it can be highly addictive and it fails to resolve the situation. Other coping mechanisms include smoking, illegal and prescription drugs.

I am someone who doesn’t drink alcohol. I did until I was 26 and then I had enough of it, so I just gave it up. In fairness, I didn’t drink too often. However, I am certainly not anti-alcohol. But there is one phrase that disturbs me a little when I hear it:

‘I couldn’t have a night out and not drink alcohol’

I honestly believe that most people who say something like that could go without alcohol if they wanted to do so. They just choose to have a few drinks and that is fine.

But If that statement is true for you, you need to ask yourself why you need to drink alcohol, because you have some sort of dependency issue. If you need drink to escape from something, you would be better off dealing with the issue. Because issues don’t go away just because you pretend they don’t exist. If you ignore your problems, they will get bigger and then, you will need to drink more to try to escape the problem. In the end you will still have the original problem and, you will have a drink problem to go with it.

I have used drink in the example above but the same goes for any substance. You need to check whether you are using that substance to escape your problems and if so, take corrective action. Substance abuse is actually one of the more common behavioural symptoms of stress.

Related

​Avoiding your problems does not work Read 4 Reasons why avoidance is not an effective problem-solving strategy.

7. Unhealthy eating habits

Comfort food is often sought as a solution to stressful situations. Indulging in convenience foods can make you feel better temporarily and saves time, however, these foods are rich in salt, sugar and fat which can lead to obesity, high blood pressure and heart related illnesses.

While we associate comfort eating with stress, some people have the opposite response to stressful situation i.e. they avoid eating. They may be experiencing a suppressed appetite, they may have developed a negative self image or they may have developed negative associations with food. Whatever the reason, the consequences of food avoidance can be every bit as devastating as the consequences of food indulgence.

Food gives you the energy you need to get your daily work done. The right food helps you, while the wrong food hinders you. And, of course, not eating at all is an absolute disaster. I am someone who struggles with my weight and when I am stressed, I tend to eat for comfort. However, the one thing that has worked for me is having a plan for what I am going to eat. When I know what I need to eat in a day, it is easier to tell myself that I don’t need to eat those extra snacks.

For someone who doesn’t eat enough when stressed, if you have a plan for what you need to eat, it is easier to get yourself to have the meals you need to have.

8. Risk-taking behaviour

A sudden development of risk taking behaviour can be a clear sign of stress. Individuals may be experiencing a low sense of self-worth or a lack of excitement in their lives.  They need a ‘buzz’ in their life and are willing to take bigger risks in order to get that buzz. Unfortunately, the level of risk they need to take to get the ‘buzz’ may increase steadily over time. They fail to see that as the risk gets bigger, so too do the potential consequences. Gambling is a common behavioural symptom of stress, which falls within this category.  Certain extreme sports and reckless driving are some of the other symptoms of stress which may fall under risk-taking behaviour.

Many people talk about ‘good stress’. There is no such thing as ‘good stress’. What these people are talking about is pressure. Pressure and stress are both psychologically and physiologically different experiences.

When you experience pressure, you experience heightened alertness. You become more focused and you can make better and quicker decisions. A certain amount of pressure will help to improve your performance.

However, when you feel that you can no longer cope with the pressure, you start to experience stress. With stress, you lose control, calmness and composure. Your judgment becomes clouded and you start making bad decisions. Therefore, increased risk-taking is one of the behavioural symptoms of stress – the stress makes you think you can do things you just can’t do.

9. Accidents

Concentration tends to suffer greatly when one experiences stress.  In certain work places (generally more manual industries) this may result in a high number of accidents both fatal and non-fatal. Along with reduced concentration, the individual may also be overworked, poorly trained, displaying risk-taking behaviour or denied sufficient rest periods; all of which may be contributory factors in the stress.

I talked in the previous point about how stress impacts upon your ability to make sound decisions. This leads to an increase in risk taking. But risk-taking is not the only way your mental faculties are impacted. Every aspect of your cognitive functioning suffers when you are stressed. I am sure that at some stage in your life, you will have struggled to concentrate or learn something because of fatigue. Stress has the same effect.

Physical stress leads to you not being able to do what you would normally be able to do. It is not necessarily risk-taking because under normal circumstances, you would be able to do what you are attempting to do. But when you are fatigued, the likelihood of a mistake is much higher because you are not performing to your normal standard.

Accidents are a behavioural symptom of stress because the increased mental and physical fatigue and, the reduced concentration, increase the likelihood of a mistake.

Related

​For ideas to help reduce stress, read 10 Easy to implement stress reduction strategies.

10. High turnover in the workplace

Stressed employees are generally unhappy in their work situation. Sadly, many workplaces have not put the necessary training and procedures in place which would allow the employee to discuss their experience with their manager so that they may work together to find a solution. Rather than raise the issue, many stressed employees will choose to seek employment elsewhere.

If you have responsibility for staff in the organisation, you need to keep an eye on the turnover level. You need to ensure that each person is offered the chance to have an exit interview where they can honestly express their feelings. Stress is not a weakness. It is an opportunity for the person to seek help and, for the organisation to help make any changes which might reduce the employee’s exposure to potentially stressful situations.

If you are an employee within the organisation and you see a high turnover, you might want to consider whether there is a high occurrence of stress within the organisation. If there are a lot of people experiencing stress, and there is nobody in authority doing anything about it; you might want to consider whether that is somewhere you should be working. I am of the belief that a company that doesn’t value its employees and their welfare, does not deserve to have employees.

Related

​For more on stress within organisations, read Organisational consequences of stress.

11. Suicidal talk or behaviour

​Stress can diminish an individual’s self-esteem and sense of self-worth to the point where they feel that they cannot go on. In many such cases we do not get the opportunity to help the individual but in some cases they do drop subtle hints of their intentions. There are courses, such as ASIST, which can help to improve your chances of spotting these signs and intervening.

Conclusion

​Many people feel too embarrassed or ashamed to openly discuss their experiences with stress. It is, therefore, essential that we familiarise ourselves with the behavioural symptoms of stress so that we may be able to identify what they are going through and remind them that the channels of communication are open and that we were willing to help them, or help them find more suitable help. You may in fact be experiencing stress yourself. It may be helpful to regularly remind yourself of the behavioural symptoms of stress so that you can identify it early and take appropriate action.