1. Diet for Stress Management Slideshow
2. Take the Stress Quiz!
3. Tips for Exercise, Diet and Stress Reduction

Medical Author:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Medical Editor:

Jay W. Marks, MD

Jay W. Marks, MD

Jay W. Marks, MD, is a board-certified internist and gastroenterologist. He graduated from Yale University School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

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Medical Editor:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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In this Article

• What is stress?
• A brief history of stress
• What are the signs and symptoms of poorly managed stress?
• Who is most vulnerable to stress?
• Teen stress
• What is the healthy response to stress?
• How does the response to stress work?
• What is the role of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (grouping) in stress?
• What is the role of the locus coeruleus in stress?
• How do the connections in the brain work in stress?
• What do we know about using (activating) and overusing our internal systems that respond to stress?
• What are the effects of stress on medical and psychological conditions?
• Conclusions about the effects of stress
• How can we manage stress?
• What's in the future for stress?
• Stress At A Glance
• Diet for Stress Management Slideshow
• Take the Stress Quiz!
• Tips for Exercise, Diet and Stress Reduction Slideshow
• Stress FAQs
• Patient Comments: Stress - Physical Symptoms
• Patient Comments: Stress - Management
• Find a local Psychiatrist in your town
• Stress Index

Excess stress can manifest itself in a variety of emotional, behavioral, and even physical symptoms, and the symptoms of stress vary enormously among different individuals. Common somatic (physical) symptoms often reported by those experiencing excess stress include sleep disturbances, muscle tension, muscle aches, headache, gastrointestinal disturbances, and fatigue. Emotional and behavioral symptoms that can accompany excess stress include nervousness, anxiety, changes in eating habits including overeating, loss of enthusiasm or energy, and mood changes, like irritability and depression. Of course, none of these signs or symptoms means for certain that there is an elevated stress level since all of these symptoms can be caused by other medical and/or psychological conditions.

It is also known that people under stress have a greater tendency to engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as excessive use or abuse of alcohol and drugs, cigarette smoking, and making poor exercise and nutritional choices, than their less-stressed counterparts. These unhealthy behaviors can further increase the severity of symptoms related to stress, often leading to a "vicious cycle" of symptoms and unhealthy behaviors.

The experience of stress is highly individualized. What constitutes overwhelming stress for one person may not be perceived as stress by another. Likewise, the symptoms and signs of poorly managed stress will be different for each person.