Happy Friday Eve! I hope you are having a great week and that things are going well. I am a little less than one month away from beginning my class so that I can become a certified medical coder. I have been looking forward to this class and being able to get certified since I completed the basic class for medical coding, and even though I do not have much longer to wait, it feels like a long time to wait. I aimed to find a job and balance my class and a job, but I am starting to think my husband might be right. He wanted me to have the time needed to focus on my classes without adding any stress of working, which I did fight him on because I knew I could handle it. After completing three classes and wanting to do well, I was studying a lot, and if I had been working full-time, would have been challenging and exhausting. The class I am starting on May 20th will require me to take a state exam, so I must focus and have plenty of time to study to ensure I pass. Although I have thanked my husband for all his support, I might not tell him he is right about not working with the class. It is going to be our little secret😉!

Earlier this month, I mentioned April is Stress Awareness Month and said I would be doing more posts about this issue, but I had too much on my mind and failed to do so. I want to discuss stress more because it is a terrible thing many people endure. Today, I want to share symptoms, causes, and ways of overcoming stress, and I will not make you read for hours about this because I know you have other things going on in your life. I can speak about stress from a personal level as this is something I have battled a lot with and even more so this year with everything that has happened. I am not making excuses for waiting so long to do another post about stress awareness month, and I do apologize for that.

There are numerous causes people go through when dealing with stress. Some are very common, which I will outline for you to view. 

Financial: retirement savings accounts because we all want to retire before we are 80 years old and be taken care of. College tuition is either for us or children for some people who have children. Housing expenses are something we all experience, but some people may be living beyond their means.

Jobs include work pressures, conflicts with co-workers or bosses, and work overload. I never thought I would say this, but I miss work stress and dealing with co-workers.

Relationships include relationship issues whether they are romantic or platonic.

Life changes which include major life changes, death over a loved one, divorce, loss of a job, getting married, moving, or buying a new home.

Personal Beliefs can cause arguments regarding religion or political beliefs. Unfortunately, this is a massive issue in society today because you cannot turn on the news without hearing something political, and we all have our beliefs.

Environmental issues can include loud noise, weather, crowds, temperature, pollution, or crime.

Everyone will experience different symptoms during stressful times, and none are pleasant. I will outline common symptoms people might experience, but there are many more that might not be as common. I am going to list the symptoms in order of physical, mental, behavioral, and other symptoms that do not fall under anything specific.

Physical Symptoms: headaches, muscle tension, upset stomach, chest pain, high blood pressure, digestive issues, or heartburn.

Mental Reactions: concentration difficulties, changes in mood, irritability or anger, feelings of guilt, helplessness, or hopelessness.

Behavioral Responses: avoidance of family and friends, using alcohol or other substances as a coping mechanism.

Other signs and symptoms include difficulty breathing, panic attacks, blurred eyesight or sore eyes, sleep disturbances, fatigue, sudden weight gain or loss, sweating, or changes in a woman’s menstrual cycle.

That is probably enough information in one post, and too much information can be overwhelming. I will try to work on another post for tomorrow about ways to overcome stress, as there are many ways, and not all of them will work for everyone the same way. I think the ways to overcome stress are crucial, so I will be working on this so that it is ready to share tomorrow. With the amount of stress I have felt this year, I need to find ways to get past it because stress does cause more issues with multiple sclerosis, and I have tried so hard to keep things under some kind of control and do not want it to get any worse than it already is.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope the information I shared was helpful for you and it helped you to identify stress before it gets out of control. Accepting stress for what it is does not make you weak but makes you stronger because you can acknowledge it and understand the problems it can cause. If you already have ways, you overcame stress, I would love to know what worked for you. I hope you will stop by tomorrow for my post about overcoming stress and that what I share will help someone. Please never forget I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa