Stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, tiredness, discouragement, lack of motivation... these are some negative and very scary words, but they have become part of our daily lives, as we live in a fast-paced society in which we need to assume many responsibilities at the same time. all.
You have to take care of work, studies, family, love relationships, friends, eating well, exercising and still finding time for your own leisure and hobbies... Sometimes we just need to slow down a little and lighten up in life.
If you've been feeling like you need to slow down, we've prepared a checklist that can help you confirm if you really need to take it easy and walk more lightly. Check out!
Difficulty concentrating
Do you start an activity and, five minutes later, are you already thinking about something else or wanting to finish it soon? Do you have difficulty being with your mind in the present moment and do you keep wandering about other subjects, the past and the future? Is it difficult for you to follow more elaborate reasoning or do you get lost even in simple conversations? If you answered “yes” to one of the questions, you may be having trouble concentrating.
According to a 2018 UT Health San Antonio study published in XNUMX, people with high levels of cortisol (a stress-related hormone) have smaller brain volume and more cognitive problems. In addition, excess production of this hormone also leads to memory loss, according to research.
If you've been experiencing lapses in your memory, difficulty focusing on the activities you're doing or feel like your mind is wandering aimlessly, maybe it's time to clear your head a little and take it easy on yourself.
Irritability
If you blow up with the people you love and soon realize you've overreacted, or if a small problem causes you to overreact, as if it were a horrible and complicated situation, irritability may be present in your days. It's important to say that we all get irritated—for reasons and to different degrees, but we do—but if your irritation is frequent, extreme, and triggered by a little thing, that can be a problem.
In a report published on the HCor website (Hospital do Coração, in São Paulo), cardiologist Leopoldo Piegas says that stress is one of the main causes of heart attack today and that stress crises can have the same symptoms of this heart problem, such as lack of shortness of breath, racing heart and excessive sweating.
According to him, a good way to slow down the mind and reduce the risk of heart attack and other problems caused by stress is to practice physical exercises, which helps reduce stress levels and strengthens the heart muscle.
Changes in sleep
If you have been experiencing uncomfortable situations such as insomnia, light sleep, difficulty falling asleep, inability to wake up or even wanting to sleep much longer than recommended or the number of hours you usually sleep, your sleep is altered, and this is one of the main symptoms of problems such as stress, anxiety and depression crises.
Neurologist LetĂcia Soster and pulmonologist Nathalia Borio, in an article published on the website of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, in SĂŁo Paulo, explain that stress causes the body to produce the adrenaline necessary for us to face the stressful situation, whatever it may be. , that's why the body can have these two symptoms: insomnia, because we are full of energy, so sleeping is difficult; or excessive sleep, because when resting, the body feels an enormous need for rest.
If you've noticed that your sleep cycles are different from what they usually are, it might be time to slow down a bit and allow yourself a few moments of rest.
endless fatigue
Do you feel worse than lying down to sleep and resting after a tiring and stressful day, but waking up the next day feeling more or just as exhausted as the day before? This is another recurring symptom of cases of stress, depression and anxiety: exhaustion.
Exhaustion, also called chronic tiredness, is a state of permanent tiredness that doesn't go away even if we sleep for hours on end or spend the day resting our body and mind with activities we love.
If you feel that exhaustion has taken over your life and is a constant companion in your days, maybe it's time to review your routine and rethink your habits.
Negativity
“Oh, I'm not even going to try… I know it's going to go wrong” or “I knew I couldn't!” are common phrases in the routine of people who are going through phases in which they feel down, negative and pessimistic.
Pessimism and negativity become frequent behaviors when our cortisol levels are high because adrenaline puts us on high alert and, consequently, we come to see dangers and bad consequences in everything we do. Regardless of your beliefs and whether thinking negatively attracts negativity, the truth is that, practically speaking, we automatically sabotage ourselves when we dedicate ourselves to something, thinking that the result will be bad.
Think about your last few weeks and the last problems you faced and overcame. If you realize that you've already entered them imagining the worst consequences and what dire situations would form from them, maybe it's time to pause, breathe and understand why you've been thinking so pessimistically.
body aches
A headache even if you have rested and are sleeping well... Knees and other joints discomfort even without physical exertion or having taken a blow... Stiff neck and pain when moving your neck... These are just some types of pain " random” that arise without being a consequence of anything and that can be symptoms of larger and sometimes hidden problems.
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The appearance of unexplained pain in the body is a common symptom of diseases such as depression, anxiety, burnout syndrome and stress crises. A study carried out at the University of SĂŁo Paulo (USP) in 2018, for example, pointed out that 62% of people who face depression suffer from pain. The emergence of these pains is still not well clarified by medicine, but it is already a fact that our body somatizes emotions and transforms them into pain.
If you have been experiencing pain that has no apparent explanation, look for a doctor to understand the origin of them and, if there is nothing clear, it may be good to make an appointment with a psychiatrist.
In a society where such rush has become almost a law for everyone, accepting to slow down and take a break can be difficult, but if you have been realizing that your body and mind have been suffering from high levels of stress or other problems, rethink your routine and slowing down may be necessary. If you're confused, look for a psychologist and talk to him about what you've been feeling!
