Survival Mode Symptoms

What are survival mode symptoms? Have you ever wondered how your body reacts to being in survival mode? And how can you cope?

Life today is stressful. If you aren’t careful, you can be in constant crisis mode running around putting out dumpster fires.

If this describes your typical day, you are not alone.

Since the pandemic, a working mom’s life has changed significantly. According to a poll conducted by CVS Health® in 2022, “more working mothers have been diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression (42%) than the general population.”

We find ourselves in survival mode when under constant stress with no relief. 

What Causes Survival Mode? 

Survival mode can be caused or triggered by various things depending on who you are and what stress you are already experiencing.

You’ve heard of the straw that broke the camel’s back? It means that instead of one thing being the breaking point, it is a pile-up of small things that push you into breaking down.

Likewise, survival mode can be caused by one big thing, such as losing a job, but it will likely be caused by one thing after another without relief.

One scenario might be your work hours getting cut, gas and food prices rising, the child care center decides not to take your child, and the pandemic hitting, forcing everyone to stay home and away from family.

One of these at a time is hard enough, but when they hit one after another, it can be devastating to handle.

And working moms make matters worse by typically caring for themselves last.

How Does Survival Mode Impact You?

If you are wondering what survival mode is, think of it as our reaction to being in a life-or-death situation. 

When you are in a highly stressful situation, your mind and body focus on surviving the danger and getting out. 

The problem is your health suffers when you live in highly stressful situations affecting your body and behavior. 

What Happens To Your Body In Survival Mode

Survival mode may be affecting your body without you even knowing it.

That cold that just won’t go away or the fact you can’t put your thoughts into words may be signs of what happens to your body when you are in survival mode.

Recognizing the symptoms of survival mode can help you manage them.

After all, you might find yourself with more severe health problems when left unchecked.

Survival Mode Symptoms

What are the symptoms of survival mode? 

They are directly impacted by the signs you are in survival mode. 

For example, when I was in survival mode, I couldn’t sleep because I was over-tired, highly stressed, and battling anxiety.

All this stress lowered my immune system, and I ended up with a throat infection and a sinus infection that lasted three months.

Not everyone’s body reacts to stress in the same way. I wanted to share three survival mode symptoms I experienced.

1. Tiredness

One of the signs of being in survival mode is waking up just as tired as you were when you went to bed. 

Being tired means you are more easily distracted at work and less able to focus on the task at hand or remember what you are doing. 

When I am very tired, I rely heavily on my planner, where I write my daily task list. Otherwise, I am trying to remember what I’ve already done for the day or what I am working on if I get interrupted.

And you know, working with clients and working at home with young kids means a lot of interruptions.

Being overly tired leads directly to our second survival mode symptom.

2. Irritated Easily 

Do you find yourself snapping at every little thing? Child antics you would normally brush off or laugh instead make you raise your voice and yell? 

Being irritated easily is a symptom of survival mode. 

When you are in survival mode, you are focused on surviving the situation and making it through the day, which means little things that normally wouldn’t faze you can drive you mad!

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I remember spending a full day at work dealing with customers and deadlines and coming in the door at night, tripping over my son’s sneakers in front of the door. I wanted to pick them up and toss them right out the door. It was SO annoying! 

This a classic example of overreacting and a direct impact of not sleeping, being tired, and not being able to cope with day-to-day parenting. 

Unhealthy Habits

Another symptom of survival mode is developing unhealthy habits or ways to cope with stress. 

For some, this might mean adopting unhealthy negative coping mechanisms for stress, such as negative self-talk, driving too fast, drinking alcohol, substance abuse, or eating more or less. 

I skipped meals and ate less when I was in survival mode.

Eating regular meals is an ongoing battle for me in stressful situations, which is why I use done-for-you meal planning options such as:

• Quick & Meal Plans
• Freezer Meals
• Subscription Boxes such as Hello Fresh or Every plate

Not eating, of course, impacts my health. I cycle through all of these symptoms of survival mode before the light bulb comes on, and I take action.

Survival Mode Helps: 

If you experience any of these survival mode symptoms and it’s interfering with your daily working homeschool mom life, it’s important that you reach out for help. 

I want to encourage you to seek support from a friend, or a loved one, plug into your community or speak to a therapist to help you learn how to stop living in survival mode.

You’ll also want to create a survival mode recovery plan that includes practicing self-care. 

Right now, I want to encourage you to be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace and patience as you make small changes and learn how to get out of survival mode and back to thriving. 

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