Anxiety

23 Signs You May Have Too Much Stress

Written by: Nick Ortner

Stress related text arrangement (word cloud) with spherical formThese days stress is often seen as “part of life.” And while there is such a thing as “healthy” stress levels for growth, most of our stress is chronic, damaging, and unhealthy.

Below are 23 signs that indicate unhealthy levels of stress in your life.

Which ones apply to you right now?

Mental Symptoms

#1 – Difficulty concentrating
#2 – Trouble making decisions
#3 – Negative outlook on life
#4 – Anxious or racing thoughts
#5 – Constant worrying

Emotional Symptoms

#6 – General moodiness
#7 – Irritability or short temper
#8 – Agitation, anger, and the inability to relax
#9 – Feeling overwhelmed with life
#10 – Feeling lonely and isolated
#11 – Depression or general unhappiness

Physical Symptoms

#12 – Aches and pains in the body
#13 – Diarrhea or constipation, bowel problems
#14 – Nausea, dizziness, vertigo
#15 – Chest pain, rapid heartbeat, a pounding heart
#16 – Loss of sex drive
#17 – Frequent colds or flu viruses

Behavioral Symptoms

#18 – Eating more or less
#19 – Sleeping too much or too little
#20 – Isolating yourself from others
#21 – Procrastinating or neglecting life’s responsibilities
#22 – Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax, or in excess
#23 – Nervous habits

If you have one or more of these symptoms, it may be a sign that you need to get your stress levels in check.

One great way to get started is with this Tapping Meditation: I’m Stressed About the World.

Tapping has proven to be extraordinarily effective in mediating the stress response, calming the amygdala, and helping the body relax and heal.

And if you’re looking for more Tapping Meditations to help ease your anxiety, we have hundreds more available in The Tapping Solution App. It’s a free download with a bunch of free meditations included. Give it a try today!

Download The Tapping Solution App today!

Until next time…

Keep Tapping

Nick Ortner



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39 Comments on this post

  1. Serena says:

    Hi Nick
    Thanks for another excellent blog. At the beginning of the year i was passenger in a car when we got hit from behind. I used Tapping to help me cope with the physical & emotional symptoms. 6 months later i was again passenger in car when we were bumped from behind (not as severe as 1st time). again i tried to Tapping.
    However whenever i go in anyones car now i have these weird flashes of what happened and it feels like i am foreseeing it happening again. It is quite distressing. I am unsure what to Tap on now? as i dont have strong emotions toward it. Do you have any Tapping meditations that i could try please? Thanks so much for your help. I recommend you to all my friends ??

    • Nick Ortner says:

      Hi Serena! I would have to correct you on one point – if getting into the passenger side of someone’s car is distressing, then I’d say you definitely have some strong emotions toward it. 😉

      And it’s not uncommon. The memory and emotion of the two accidents sound like they are trapped in your body. Here is a great tapping meditation that may help. It uses “the movie technique” which is great for releasing the emotional charge of specific events from the past: https://www.thetappingsolution.com/blog/tapping-meditation-letting-go-past/

  2. marsha says:

    nick can you send me a solution for tapping away smoking i kinda want to quit i need to quit but i know if i tap that it will take away my craving thank you

  3. Estela Valllejo says:

    Hi Nick,

    Thank you! I am in 24-hour stress.
    I need to learn tapping.
    I have problems in making decisions.
    I panick. Freeze.

  4. Gillian says:

    I seem to have nearly all the symptoms listed, but persistant, on-going bowel problems are the bain of my life! Must try this tapping system!!

  5. Kathryn whiteley says:

    I’m 81 years old and I bought your last book and some of the chapters reduced me to tears is this normal. I’ve spent a lifetime being insecure and trying to be what other people want me to be, should I carry on dredging it all up.

    • Nick Ortner says:

      When we have been carrying around pent up emotions for a while, Kathryn, it is indeed very normal for the tears to flow when we work on releasing them. I believe EVERY person deserves personal emotional freedom from their past, and it feels SO good to let all of that baggage go. It doesn’t matter at what age this happens. Some of our best inner work is done in our later years. Big hugs to you! xo

  6. Mona says:

    I was very skeptical at first, but I gave it a try anyway. I was the kind of person who would worry about anything and everything. Thanks to tapping, now I manage to deal with every day life’s situations in a totally smooth way. My anxiety is gone for good. Now I’m tapping to work on productivity, and so far so good. I HIGHLY recommend tapping!!!!

  7. Betsy says:

    How do I live with stress that can’t be removed and still be healthy? My husband has frontal lobe dementia with some vascular dementia. He is too healthy to be in a care home but has no empathy and little short term memory.
    I know he wants to go for groceries but regardless of my help to pre-plan the shopping list, he buys more food than he will eat before it spoils, and he is like a child…see it, want it, but then he buys it. I avoided taking him for two months but then the guilt set in but it took a toll that day.

    Guess I’m really just venting, but if you have a tapping solution in mind that could help I would appreciate it very much.

    Love that you live in Connecticut, I live in Canada but my heart is still in my home town of Wethersfield.

  8. Marlene says:

    Thank you Nick, for the beautiful music. Happy New Year to you and all the people you work with. I have your 2 books , now it’s time to put them into use. I agree, being alive is stressful!

  9. Hamizah says:

    What if you are going through EVERYTHING??! 😛 :O

  10. Ernesto Lazzeri says:

    Thank you so much, in different moments of my life ive had all of those symptoms, now just a few 8 or 9 . But i still need all the possible tools available. Thanks very much for sharing them. Blessings . Ernest L.

  11. Natasha Hall says:

    Thanks for your commitment to empower those who are open to your observations, suggestions,and mind transforming advise

  12. Moses Munyimbiri says:

    Thank you for allowing me to join you I will be interested to learn new things.

  13. Muguwa Joseph says:

    Nick. it is simply fabulous and they are all-encompassing reasons for stress. However, I hasten to add that from my own experience, many of these would arise majorly, as a result of my lack of self esteem/confidence by then. Through your articles and from others about self esteem and confidence,Ii have largely managed to overcome most of the stress problems. I advise many to follow this course as remedy or mitigating factor to stress. Nick please keep it up!!!!. Many souls are dying or becoming infirm mentally because of stress.

  14. snehalatavyas says:

    Judy is right. Todays main problem is DEPRESSION & ANXIETY.People have different types of problems & we can’t reach on those roots & can’t remove ,we are verymuch confused.what should we do for us or for others.If you have any solution for this , PLZ let me know.I am surching always.

  15. terina says:

    thank you very much Nick. I leave in Athens and I’m following you since May 2014. You are sharing greatly useful tools for consciousness upgrading.

  16. Nguerebaye Job says:

    Thank you very much Nick. This is very helpful and meaningful. Let us tap…

  17. Maria M. says:

    Thank you for putting this out there. 22 out of 23. I have been aware for months now that I have immense stress in my life. Been working on finding a new job since last November without success.

  18. Shirin Ahmed says:

    Hello Jassica. I am very happy to receive your audios on Tapping for stress. I am much clearer about the effect of stress on mind & body. Thank you for your audios.

  19. Nicole Keefler says:

    Jessica I can’t wait to use your audios! They are exactly what I need right now. Thank you for creating them.

  20. Mimi says:

    Thx 4 this very helpful in analyzing stress level.

  21. Laurel Gullion says:

    I have returned to school this September and have definitely notice an increase in stress and do identify with many of the symptoms on the list. I absolutely love your work and will be using your tapping sequences to help- starting today! Hooray.
    Many thanks and hugs to you all.

  22. Mauro says:

    Nick and Jessica: Thank you for your valuable information, excercises and knowledge you share to help stressed people.

  23. Carolyn says:

    I suppose I do have too much stress in my life as I have every symptom here except frequent colds/flu. I’ve actually been this way my whole life. Need help, but at my age not sure it can be changed. Tapping huh?

  24. Pauline Riddy says:

    Today I had my wallet stolen so you maybe sure I was stressed to the limit.
    One has so much information in a wallet and I had so much to deal with.
    Needless to say I was delighted that Jessica had those stress relieving tapes
    especially the one on tapping before going to bed – to help me to relax and to
    have a good night’s sleep as some things are beyond our control.
    Thank you Jessica

  25. Dalana again says:

    The osteopath mentioned that many of these ‘symptoms’ can be alleviated by osteopathic treatments. No doubt in some cases. But also these symptoms can relate to a lot of other stressing factors: like PTSD, Lyme Disease, fibromyalgia, and many more. :))

  26. Dalana says:

    Your blog articles are truly helpful and educational for many. I love that there are ways to listen. I have not got a computer (use one at the Library) and can only listen on my iPhone. Hope they are accessible by clicking on the link with the articles. Thanks for all your efforts.

  27. Louie says:

    if I have one or more I might need to get my stress levels checked??? What if I’m 22 for 23? At least I still have my humor… Worst problem is that I know EFT works, but I can’t even force myself to do it. However, I watched several of your videos last night and am feeling a bit better. Let’s see if I can continue my streak tonight…fingers crossed. To Alexander: yes a couple of treatments would help if all else was normal. I am so tight that my body pulls itself apart. Sometimes the chiropractor is unable to move anything and just looks at me like his own personal enigma.

  28. Lynn says:

    I love Nick Ortner’s book, The Tapping Solution, and his website of the same name. Tapping can be easily done by anyone, anywhere at any time. So easy and so helpful in releasing tension, emotional pain, mental obsessiveness and find the underlying issues fueling these things so they can be released. Try it!

  29. Alexander says:

    Great article as usual. Thanks. However, all symptoms mentioned under physical are directly related to spinal misalignment and can usually be solved in one or two osteopathy treatment. So that part of your stress can be solved very easy. I am an osteopath, so that is how I know..

  30. Nancy says:

    I think even the Dalai Lama would have at least one of these!

  31. Emma Jaques says:

    Couldn’t be more perfect timing to receive the stress audio, so spot on with the signs. Doing the audio tonight. You are amazing. Thank you for being in my life.

  32. suk ching says:

    Thanks Nick Ortner!. Just can’t wait to see the results!.

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