12
mean you are over-stressed. Answering "yes" to 5 or 6 of these 9
questions may double your risk of developing high blood pressure.
A brief list of signs would include:
1.
Psychophysiological responses--muscles tight or aching,
nervous tics like in the eyelid, hands unsteady, restlessness,
touching yourself repeatedly, clearing your throat, frequent
colds, pain, upset stomach, sweating, skin problem or itch, stiff
posture, holding things tightly, strong startle response,
headaches, high blood pressure, ulcers, heart disease, colitis,
hemorrhoids, rashes, diarrhea, or frequent urination. These are
somatoform disorders.
2.
Behavioral-emotional signs--hyperactivity, walking or talking
faster, in a hurry, irritation with delays, panicky, blushing,
getting tongue-tangled, avoiding people, nervous habits
(strumming fingers, eating, smoking, drinking), changing habits
(becoming less or more organized), poor memory, confusion,
stumbling over words, inattentiveness, excessive worrying,
preoccupation with a certain situation, holding a grudge,
irritability, crying, obsessive thoughts, compulsive actions,
outbursts of emotions, bad dreams, apathy, etc. These are
anxiety reactions.
3.
Tiredness and lack of energy--general lack of interest, bored,
watching TV and falling asleep, humorless, sleeping a lot,
insomnia, can't get going, sighing, and moving slowly. (Or,
sometimes, too much energy, as mentioned above.)
4.
Anxiety intrudes on our consciousness or cognition in many
ways: excessive preoccupation with the threatening person or
situation, a desperate striving to understand why someone
behaved the way they did, repeatedly obsessing about the
upsetting event, unstoppable pangs of emotion (loss, anger,
jealousy, guilt, longing, etc.), excessive vigilance and startle
reactions, insomnia and bad dreams, aches and pains and other
unwanted sensations. Plus all the words mentioned above in
the introduction that reflect the subjective feelings we have,
including nervous, up tight, scared, apprehensive, etc.
Naturally, no one has all these signs. Having only a few may mean
nothing; yet, having only one to an extreme may be a sign of serious
stress. You probably have a pretty good idea about how anxious you
are; if not, discuss it with someone. There are over 100 personality
tests of stress, anxiety, fears, self-doubt, risk-taking, etc., which could
help you assess your emotional dis-ease (Aero & Weiner, 1981).
Chapter 15 provides a journal approach to discovering your unique
sources of stress. One of the best known tests of stress is the Type A
Personality Test from Friedman and Rosenman (1974) which asks how
often you experience racing against the clock, hating to be late, hating
to wait, losing your temper when pressured, irritated by other's
mistakes, speaking in a loud critical voice, being competitive, rushing
to do something quickly, feeling guilty if not working, etc. How often
