Stress can cause insomnia, which sets off a chain reaction leading you to feel terrible.

Stress has a very definite effect on our wellness: the degree of stress experienced will influence how much of an effect there is. Noticeable differences that occur in the body due to stress do not show immediately, but depend on how great and how long the stress has been going on. Changes in health, emotions, physiology (body functions), cognition (thinking) and behaviour may occur.

All of the changes are interlinked, and when something is different in one of the above-mentioned "categories", it will have a ripple effect on the rest. For example, one health effect of stress may be insomnia (inability to sleep). If you experience insomnia, over a period of time, you will no doubt feel frustrated, tired, irritable, etc (emotions affected). Lack of sleep also affects bodily functions because of lack of rest (physiology affected). When you are tired, it is hard to concentrate (cognition affected) and lastly, insomnia could result in a lack of appetite (behaviour affected). These will in turn worsen your health and the cycle is repeated. . .

This section takes a look at each of the categories (health, emotions, physiology, cognition and behaviour), examing in what way they are affected by stress.