Signs of stress at work: how to spot them and what to do next

If you are in crisis or feel unsafe, please call 999 or go to A&E. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. Samaritans (116 123, free, 24/7) and Shout (text 85258) are always available.

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The signs of stress at work show up in three places: your body, with things like headaches, muscle tension and a faster heartbeat; your mind, with difficulty concentrating, constant worry and feeling overwhelmed; and your behaviour, with irritability, disturbed sleep, eating differently and drinking more than usual. That list comes straight from NHS guidance on stress, and the same guidance makes a point worth sitting with: it is not always easy to recognise when stress is the reason you are feeling or acting differently. Work stress in particular tends to get explained away as a busy patch, right up until the busy patch has lasted six months.

This article walks through what the signs actually look like inside a working week, when they are worth taking seriously, and what to do next. Everything here is drawn from NHS and Mind guidance, and none of it is a diagnostic tool. If stress has already gone past signs and into time off, how a phased return to work actually works covers the coming-back end of that journey.

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What are the signs of stress at work?

The signs of stress at work are physical symptoms such as headaches, muscle tension, stomach problems and a faster heartbeat, mental symptoms such as poor concentration, indecision and constant worry, and changes in behaviour such as snapping at people, sleeping badly and withdrawing from colleagues. The NHS groups the symptoms of stress into exactly those three categories, and it helps to read each one against an ordinary working day.

In your body. The NHS lists headaches or dizziness, muscle tension or pain, stomach problems, and chest pain or a faster heartbeat among the physical symptoms of stress. Mind adds sleep problems, fatigue, and feeling sick or dizzy to the picture. At work that can look like the tension headache that arrives every afternoon, a jaw you keep catching yourself clenching, a stomach that churns before the Monday meeting, or a heart that picks up speed every time a certain name appears in your inbox.

In your thinking. The NHS lists difficulty concentrating, struggling to make decisions, feeling overwhelmed, constantly worrying and being forgetful. Mind describes it as feeling like your thoughts are racing and you cannot switch off. In practice this is reading the same paragraph four times, sitting on a small decision for days, losing track of things you would normally hold easily, and lying awake rehearsing tomorrow's conversations.

In your behaviour. The NHS lists being irritable and snappy, sleeping too much or too little, eating too much or too little, avoiding certain places or people, and drinking or smoking more. Mind adds crying or feeling tearful and withdrawing from the people around you. At work the avoidance is often the clearest tell: declining meetings you would once have led, going quiet in a team you used to enjoy, or finding reasons not to open a particular project.

Nobody ticks every box, and one bad week proves nothing. The pattern to watch is several of these signs showing up together and hanging around.

Why work stress is easy to miss

Stress is not automatically a problem. The NHS notes that most people feel stressed sometimes and that some people find stress helpful or even motivating, which is exactly why work stress hides so well. A demanding job rewards pushing through, the adrenaline genuinely does get things done for a while, and everyone around you seems to be running at the same pace. The NHS also lists feeling pressure at work among the most common causes of stress, so there is nothing unusual about work being the source.

The problem is duration. The NHS is clear that being stressed all the time is when it becomes a problem, and Mind notes that the physical effects of stress can get worse when stress is high or goes on for a long period. The useful question is not whether the job is busy, it is whether you ever come back down. If the signs above are still there on a quiet Friday, or on holiday, the stress has stopped being a response to a deadline and started being your baseline.

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When should I be worried about stress at work?

Work stress is worth taking seriously when the signs are there most days rather than around one deadline, when they follow you home and into weekends, or when the things you are trying yourself are not helping. The NHS advises seeing a GP if you are struggling to cope with stress or if self-help has not shifted anything, and neither of those requires you to be at breaking point first.

It is also worth being honest about what the stress might have become. If the dominant feeling is less racing pressure and more complete emptiness, cynicism about a job you used to care about, and exhaustion no weekend touches, you may be looking at burnout rather than stress, and the burnout symptoms self-check is the better read. And if you are already past wondering and into needing a break, how stress leave from work actually works covers that route honestly, including the part where deciding to take it is harder than the paperwork.

What to do about the signs you have spotted

Spotting the signs only helps if something follows, and the NHS self-help guidance on stress is refreshingly practical. Talk to someone about how you are feeling, whether a friend, family member or health professional, or Samaritans on 116 123 if you want someone outside your life. Use slow breathing exercises, which the NHS recommends specifically for stress. Get some movement into the week. Stop trying to do everything at once and set small targets you can actually reach. And try not to lean on alcohol, cigarettes or gambling to take the edge off, all of which the NHS flags as things that can contribute to poor mental health rather than relieve it.

At work itself, the most direct move is a conversation about workload with your manager or HR, uncomfortable as that sounds. You do not need a diagnosis or a crisis to say the current load is not sustainable, and nothing about the signs above needs to be shared to have that conversation. If the situation has gone further and time off is on the table, your GP is the right starting point, and getting signed off work with stress explains what actually happens when you ask.

If talking to someone feels like the right move but a live conversation is exactly the thing you cannot face, that is the gap Wobble exists for. You answer a few simple questions in writing about what is going on, and a qualified UK therapist sends you back a personal video, usually within hours. Wobble's therapists work to a structured framework built for short, practical, single-response support, so what comes back is not vague encouragement, it is one or two clear things to try.

When to see your GP

Book a GP appointment if the signs of stress have been there most days for a few weeks, if they are affecting your work, relationships or daily basics, if you are leaning on alcohol or anything else to cope, or if what you have tried yourself is not helping. The NHS also runs a self-referral route: if you are 18 or over, you can refer yourself directly to NHS Talking Therapies without going through a GP, though waits vary widely. If you ever feel unable to cope or unsafe, that is urgent, and NHS 111 has a mental health option available around the clock.

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Quick summary

The signs of stress at work sit in three places: body, thinking and behaviour. Headaches, muscle tension, stomach trouble and a racing heart; poor concentration, indecision, constant worry and forgetfulness; irritability, disturbed sleep, changed eating, avoidance and drinking more. One bad week is just a bad week, but several signs together, lasting weeks and following you home, are worth acting on. Talk to someone, use the NHS self-help basics, have the workload conversation, and see your GP if it is not shifting. If the picture looks more like emptiness than pressure, read the burnout symptoms self-check, and if time off is where this is heading, stress leave from work covers that route.

Sources and further reading

• NHS: Get help with stress (nhs.uk/mental-health)
• NHS: Breathing exercises for stress (nhs.uk)
• NHS Talking Therapies self-referral (England): nhs.uk
• Mind: Signs and symptoms of stress (mind.org.uk)
• Samaritans: 116 123 (samaritans.org)
• Shout: text 85258 (giveusashout.org)

This article is for information only and does not replace advice from a qualified medical professional. If stress is affecting your daily life, please speak to your GP or contact NHS 111. If you are in crisis, please call 999 or go to A&E.