Stage 2 · Lesson 3 of 7
Knowing your own stress signs
Everyone shows stress differently, and most people notice it late. Signs come in four groups. Body: headaches, tight shoulders, stomach trouble, tiredness, clenched jaw.
Feelings: irritability, feeling overwhelmed, tearfulness, numbness. Thoughts: racing or circling worries, forgetting things, finding decisions hard. Behaviour: sleeping much more or less, eating differently, scrolling for hours, snapping at family, avoiding work or people.
Make your own list of your early signs, the ones that appear first. Ask someone close to you what they notice, because others often see it before you do. When an early sign appears, that is the moment to use the tools in this stage.
Common trapnoticing only the late signs, like a total shutdown, when recovery takes much longer.
A question to check yourself and an AI practice session come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with· follow one of these
- GuideFreeDoing What Matters in Times of Stress (WHO)
World Health Organization
WHO's illustrated guide: grounding, unhooking from thoughts and acting on what matters
- VideoFreeHow to Make Stress Your Friend (Kelly McGonigal, TEDGlobal 2013)
Kelly McGonigal (TEDGlobal 2013)
A short talk on how the way you see stress changes how it affects you
Practise
Free guided breathing and calming exercises to practise daily
- moodgymPaid
A free online CBT programme for spotting and questioning unhelpful thoughts
Keep handy
Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).