Teaching is now considered the most stressful job there is as educators face increasing demands and expectations in the workplace. The constant pressure to meet academic standards, manage classroom behavior, and adapt to ever-changing educational policies contributes to high stress levels among teachers.
The burden is increased by the need to address students’ diverse needs, work long hours, and maintain effective communication with parents and administrators. This high level of stress can lead to burnout, reduced job satisfaction, and even mental health issues. Research indicates that prolonged exposure to stress can affect teachers’ ability to perform optimally, leading to increased absences and a higher turnover rate.
Physiologically, teacher stress can have significant adverse effects on the body. Chronic stress activates the body’s “fight or flight” response, releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Over time, this heightened state can lead to various health problems, including cardiovascular diseases, weakened immune systems, and digestive issues.
Stress can also disrupt sleep patterns, leading to fatigue and difficulty concentrating, further exacerbating teachers’ challenges. Additionally, mental health implications, such as anxiety and depression, can compound physical health issues, creating a difficult-to-break cycle. Addressing teacher stress is essential not only for the well-being of educators but also for the success of students and the educational system as a whole.
The specific places in your body where you experience stress can hold clues to what exactly is going on at school that is causing you these issues. Specific locations and symptoms can reveal toxic scenarios from which you must remove yourself if possible. Using various articles from Psychology Today, I rounded up specific symptoms of stress and connected them to work-related scenarios.
1. Lower Back Pain and Unexpressed Anger
If you feel frustrated and angry at work, the lower back is a common place for storing repressed anger. For relief, find an outlet for your frustration (that won’t have you lose your job or end up in jail) and address conflicts with others when possible. It’s not always possible to express your frustration to the people at work who are causing it.
Instead, express it in therapy, a kickboxing class, or by collecting breakable things and smashing them at home or in an empty parking lot. If your school continues to be a significant source of anger, it is important that you consider a transfer or a new career. I experienced this myself, and it wasn’t until I completely left teaching that I felt relief.
2. Stomach Problems and Fear
When we’re afraid, we tend to tense our stomach and intestines. You’ve heard people say, “I’m sick to my stomach,” and it is often a bodily response to conflict. The more you deny or repress fear at work, the more physical reactions will manifest. Begin by asking yourself what is causing the fear. Is it something legitimate, or is it much bigger and scarier in your mind? Talking it through with someone you trust can help a lot. The more you can talk about what you are afraid of, the less it will affect you physically.
3. Chest Pain and Hurt
If you have chest pains, this can be a serious issue. Make sure to get a full medical work-up as soon as you can. If you are sure there is no physical cause for your chest pain, it might be a sadness or hurt you experience at work. The sadness might not even be your own. It could be secondary trauma you experience from helping kids with so many issues. This job can be very emotional and intense, and sometimes you need to bawl your eyes out to get the pain and trauma out.
4. Headaches and Loss of Control
If you’re someone who needs to have complete control over everything at all times and you’re a teacher, this might be the biggest challenge of your life. No matter how good you are at controlling your space, there are just too many unpredictable people and scenarios in teaching! If you keep trying to control everything, it will eventually lead to burnout, starting with splitting headaches. Not all difficulties in life can be solved or changed. Controlling tendencies can make problems worse. For me, it was not being able to change or understand why certain colleagues or administrators were so petty and heartless. It was almost as if I thought I could change them by figuring them out. Letting go, accepting what you can and can’t control, and developing some kind of calming practice are what you need to ease the need to control, and they will inevitably ease your headaches as well.
5. Neck /Shoulder Tension and Too Many Burdens and Responsibilities
Most of us already have neck and shoulder pain from hanging over the computer while grading papers and such. A lot of us also have bad posture (me!). But another cause of neck and shoulder pain is being overly burdened by too much work and responsibilities. And nothing says too many responsibilities more than teaching! This most often leads to neck and shoulder tightness. Is it possible to delegate some of the smaller tasks to students? Do you have the kind of admin. where you can ask for support? (Probably not, but maybe your family can be more supportive then?) You must decide what is worth taking on because some of what you do is voluntary! You don’t have to do all the clubs, fundraisers, teams, etc. One is good!
6. Fatigue and Resentment
According to Psychology Today, “Resentment stresses your entire body and does more damage to you than the people you resent.” Blaming others, feeling like a victim, reliving the events from when you felt attacked–these are the hallmarks of resentment. It’s like that saying I’ve heard… Holding onto resentment is like holding onto a hot coal with the intent to throw it at the person who hurt you. You just end up burning yourself. I’ll be honest and tell you I always struggle with this. I’m still replaying a particular administrative ambush over and over in my mind at the moment. And it isn’t doing me any good.
Resentments keep us from living in the moment and experiencing the benefits of being present that peaceful people are always talking about. When we focus on those who wronged us, we give them space in our heads that they don’t deserve. If you’re a really big person, consider forgiving the one who hurt you. You don’t have to let them know that you forgive them; just do it in your head. If you can’t forgive, try to move on only to better your own workplace and headspace! You might find that you have a lot more energy at work.
7. Numbness and Trauma
Traumatic things can happen at school, like fights, aggressive administration, overbearing parents, and even shootings. When overwhelmed by an event, we tend to numb our feelings. This is our brain’s way of disassociating from overpowering pain or danger. Over time, if you don’t process the trauma, the memory of it gets lodged in your body. As a result, you go numb when you feel vulnerable; trusting others is challenging, and true connection can be lost. Any situation that makes you feel unsafe causes great confusion; you can freeze up or go blank. The first step toward freeing yourself from trauma is recognizing its power over you and asking for help. If you have had a traumatic event at school, you need to process your feelings in a safe space, such as therapy or with a close family member or friend. Just because you don’t seem to be feeling anything intense in response to a major traumatic event doesn’t mean it isn’t affecting you in ways you are unaware of.
8. Breathing Difficulties and Anxiety
If you suddenly have difficulty breathing, experience a panic attack that leaves you gasping for air, or have a suffocating feeling when under stress, this is a major sign of anxiety. And anxiety is often a result of suppressing other heavy feelings like anger or sadness. We can’t always release our emotions at work and tend to shove everything down and soldier on. But that causes major anxiety, for which we often turn to things like Xanax. If your workplace doesn’t give you a chance to step away and process what you are feeling, it may be toxic and the cause of your breathing problems.
9. Voice and Throat Problems and Oppression
Oppressed people can’t have a voice. If you work in a school where speaking your mind or expressing your needs feels unwelcome, that is a toxic work environment. As a result, you must withhold feelings. When you have the impulse to speak up, you have no choice but to silence and repress yourself. This clash between the urge to speak and withhold causes tension and often manifests in throat and voice problems. Writing down what you wish to say can help. But even more helpful would be leaving that awful school and going somewhere where your voice is welcomed.
10. Insomnia and Instability
People tend to lose sleep during major life events–good or bad. We can experience anxiety when our life circumstances don’t feel stable, such as during times of stress at work. It also helps to write down your fears at work or tell them to a close, trusted friend.
Express, Don’t Repress
As you saw above, most of these health symptoms revolve around holding in feelings and not having emotional needs met. In therapy, releasing repressed feelings is central to healing and moving on from trauma and stress.
If your school makes you feel that you can’t be yourself, can’t ask for what you need, can’t express yourself, and are under constant surveillance, it is very important that you leave that toxic environment as soon as possible and start healing!
