The Daily Apple™© Volume 2, Number 5: Signs and Symptoms of Stress (Continued)

The Daily Apple™© Volume 2, Number 5

Thursday, March 28, 2013 PGY 40 Day #249


The Stress Management Workbook (Continued)

In February, we posted the first section on Signs and Symptoms of Stress.  Today, we will complete that chapter. 

Signs and

Symptoms of

Stress

 In our last Stress Management Workbook post (February 13, 2013), we shared scales to help you quantify SYMPTOMS OF STRESS.  Today, we will share the pages that cover SIGNS OF STRESS.

We now go back to The Stress Management Workbook: An Action Plan for Taking Control of Your Life and Health by Aronson and Mascia, Appelton - Century - Crofts / New York, Copyright MFM & SRA 1979 & 1981

Page 11 -  

If your score is high and you have not seen a physician for evaluation of your symptoms, you should do so in order to exclude the possibility of serious illness. If serious illness has been excluded by your physician, there are several other approaches to relieving stress-induced symptoms.  If you scored higher on numbers 1-7, 11, 12, 15, 18, 21, 22, and 25 (those marked “A”), you are more likely to benefit from some active form of relaxation, such as running, jogging, tennis, or some other form of exercise.  If you had a predominance of high scores on numbers 14, 16, 17, and 19 (those marked “P”), you may be more likely to benefit from some passive form of relaxation, such as meditation, yoga, deep-muscle relaxation, or self-hypnosis.  If you have a balance of the two types of symptoms, you may benefit more from a combination of the two forms of relaxation.  (You may have noticed that not all the numbers have been listed in this review.  The reason is that those particular symptoms are a mixed variety and do not tend to fall within either category.)  If the symptoms you are experiencing are debilitating, persistent, or severe, check with your doctor to exclude serious illness or at least the possibility of a need for treatment.

SIGNS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS

Signs:Objective or observable external evidence of internal, physiological change.  Signs and symptoms sometimes go together to define a pathological condition or disease.  However, some signs are usually representative of psychosocial stress and rarely indicate disease.  A physician may have to make that determination.

LIST OF SIGNS
Increased alcohol use	Changes in posture
Increased drug use	Hyperventilation
Increased tobacco use	Lack of control
Weight gain	Increased spending of money
Weight loss	Reckless behavior
Increased activity	Poor judgment
Reduced activity	Increased sexual activity
Pacing the floor	Reduced sexual activity
Wringing hands	Loss of effectiveness at work
Worried look	Increased eating
Throwing objects	Reduced eating
Kicking objects	Other
Slamming objects

            The following scale is designed to help measure your signs of stress.  These signs are frequently seen with psychosocial stress and rarely represent disease.  Please fill out the following form.

 

 

12                                    THE STRESS MANAGEMENT WORKBOOK

SCALE 2-SIGNS OF STRESS

Please respond to the following statements.

            2                                                          1                                                    X

PAST TWO WEEKS	PAST STRESSFUL WEEKSTIMES
I have or those around me have noticed:
__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________	__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________	1. I have gained or lost weight. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 2. I have increased or reduced my physical activity. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 3. I pace the floor. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 4. I wring my hands. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 5. I have a worried look. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 6. I throw, kick, or slam objects. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 7. I have changed my posture (for example, hanging head down, shuffling my feet, drooped shoulders). Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 8. I hyperventilate (rapid breathing). Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 9. I lack control (for example, yelling, intolerance, lack of patience, etc.). Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________

       Yes                                          No                               Do Not Know

                                                                                                                                    continued         

 Page 13

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________________

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

10. I have increased my drug use (e.g. alcohol, coffee, tea, tobacco, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, marijuana, etc.). Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 11. I have increased my spending of money. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 12. My behavior seems reckless. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 13.I have increased sexual desire. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 14. I have reduced sexual desire. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 15. I am less effective at work. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 16. I have increased or reduced appetite. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 17. I bite my fingernails. Comment: ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ 18.Other ______________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________

       Yes                                          No                               Do Not Know

                                                                                                                      

Page 14

 

The higher your score in the first column, the more likely you are to be under excess stress now.  The higher your score in the second column, the more likely you were to have been reacting to excess stress at those particularly bad times you happen to remember.  The lower your scores, the less likely you are to be experiencing or to have experienced excess stress.  Remember, if your scores are high and you have not seen a doctor recently, you should check with your physician in order to exclude serious illness.  If your scores are high and you do not have a serious illness, then you are likely to benefit from one of the many relaxation methods described in Chapter 4 in combination with a reduction of the stress load you are experiencing.

            In any case, if the signs and symptoms are debilitating (exhausting), persistent, or severe, check with your doctor in order to exclude serious illness or the need for professional treatment.

and

Dr. Mike  

 

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