How Stress Shows Up in Your Body—and Hurts Your Business
- Updated: May 25, 2025
Your Body’s Not Betraying You—It’s Begging You to Listen
You can be killing it in business on paper—clients booked, tasks checked, calendar full—and still feel like your body is quietly falling apart.
Headaches that won’t quit.
Sleep that doesn’t come.
Rashes. Stomach aches. The chest that is constantly tight.
You go to the doctor. They run the tests.
“Everything looks normal,” they say.
Except you don’t feel normal. You feel like you’re slowly unraveling from the inside out.
That’s not in your head.
That’s your body’s way of screaming what your mouth hasn’t been able to say:
“I can’t hold all this anymore.”
Hi, I’m Denise G. Lee—a healing and leadership coach. I work with business owners who are high-functioning on the outside but privately unraveling behind the scenes. And one of the most common things I see?
Stress that turns into physical symptoms—also known as psychosomatic illness.
This post isn’t here to shame you or push you toward a supplement stack.
It’s here to help you connect the dots between unprocessed emotional pressure and the chronic symptoms your body is trying to metabolize alone.
Your Body’s Not Betraying You—It’s Begging You to Listen
What Psychosomatic Stress Really Means
Let’s keep it real: psychosomatic doesn’t mean “made up.” It means your body is doing what it was designed to do—responding to emotional overwhelm when your conscious mind tries to ignore it.
The word itself comes from two Greek roots:
Psyche = mind
Soma = body
Put them together, and you’ve got a name for what happens when stress, grief, anxiety, or emotional strain gets stuck—and your body decides to speak up.
We’re talking about real, physical symptoms like:
Chronic migraines that meds barely touch
Gut issues that flare up when money’s tight or deadlines loom
Rashes, chest pain, insomnia, fatigue, and even benign tumors
These aren’t imaginary problems. They’re invisible roots with visible consequences.
Real Talk: Your Body Is Smarter Than You Think
You may be brushing off symptoms because you’re used to powering through. Maybe you tell yourself:
“It’s just part of being a business owner.”
“I’ll deal with it when things calm down.”
“If I rest now, everything will fall apart.”
But here’s the thing—your body isn’t trying to sabotage your success. It’s trying to save your life.
What you don’t process emotionally, your body will process physically.
And if no one’s ever explained that before? Let this be your moment of clarity.
Rebecca’s Silent Struggle
When your body absorbs what your heart can’t keep carrying
Rebecca wasn’t a client. She was someone who sent a prayer request to my church ministry. Her words stayed with me:
“My partner is struggling with alcoholism and can be so hurtful. Please pray he finds the strength to get help—it’s my only hope for saving our relationship. I need strength too, maybe even to walk away if he won’t change. I’ve never had a truly healthy relationship, and the stress is wearing on me. I’m tired and in poor health. I recently found out I have a growth in my chest—benign for now. He isn’t supportive and recently drained our account.”
That wasn’t just a cry for spiritual support. It was a woman holding more than her nervous system could carry—pleading for relief while her body waved the white flag.
Years of relational stress, financial chaos, and emotional silence had taken root in her chest. Her story wasn’t about a diagnosis. It was about a warning.
When you’re constantly managing someone else’s dysfunction, your body will eventually protest.
Sometimes, the most dangerous relationship isn’t the one that ends abruptly—it’s the one that drains you so slowly, your health gives out before your hope does.
Now, let’s discuss the science behind psychosomatic illness.
When Stress Starts Speaking Through Your Skin, Gut, and Sleep
How stress rewires your body—until it screams for help
You already know stress isn’t “just in your head.” But what most people miss is how it becomes part of your body’s operating system.
Here’s what the science actually shows:
🧠 Stress Weakens Your Body’s Defenses
When stress goes unmanaged, your skin barrier—the thing that protects you—literally breaks down.
A study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology found that emotional stress increases inflammation and disrupts skin barrier function.
Source
This is why conditions like eczema, hives, and psoriasis often flare when your life feels out of control. Your skin is shouting what you haven’t said.
🌀 Stress Disrupts Gut-Brain Harmony
Digestive issues are often less about food and more about fear, pressure, or emotional overload.
Research from the American Journal of Gastroenterology showed that stress worsens IBS by interfering with the brain-gut connection, making the gut hypersensitive and sluggish.
Source
This isn’t coincidence. It’s your body literally struggling to process what your mind is holding back.
⚠️ Unresolved Trauma Creates Chronic Fight-or-Flight
When you’re constantly bracing for emotional impact—whether from clients, a partner, or pressure to perform—your body stays locked in survival mode.
Over time, your adrenal system burns out. You lose resilience. And instead of bouncing back, your body crashes—often with symptoms that have no “medical” explanation.
This is what trauma-informed clinicians now call somatization—when the body speaks the pain the mouth was trained to silence.
Overdiagnosed, Under-Heard
There’s a growing trend in modern culture:
If it hurts, label it.
If you’re tired, anxious, burned out, neurodivergent, or sensitive—there’s a name for it. And often, a diagnosis.
But here’s the danger: sometimes we collect diagnoses the same way we collect trauma responses—without healing any of them.
In a Wall Street Journal article, neurologist Dr. Suzanne O’Sullivan warned that many people—especially young adults—are receiving multiple overlapping diagnoses without clear pathology.
Source
PoTS. hEDS. ADHD. Anxiety. Autism. Depression.
Some are valid. Some are trauma. Some are survival strategies misread as dysfunction.
One woman she wrote about had so many labels stacked on top of each other that she stopped believing health was possible. Her identity had fused with her symptoms. Healing didn’t feel like an option—it felt like betrayal of the narrative she’d built to survive.
Why This Matters for You
If you’re a high-functioning business owner dealing with mystery symptoms, it’s easy to start chasing diagnoses. Especially when the pain is real and doctors are running out of ideas.
But sometimes, what you need isn’t a name.
It’s a pause. A reevaluation. A moment to ask:
“Is this symptom a signal—or a story I’ve accepted as permanent?”
“Am I over-pathologized… or under-supported?”
Your symptoms are real. Your pain deserves compassion.
But the root may not be in your bloodwork—it may be in your backlog of unprocessed stress.
And that’s actually good news.
Because it means you’re not broken.
You’re just overdue for relief.
When the Body Says What You Can’t
Recognizing a psychosomatic pattern before it burns you out
You may have already seen yourself in the earlier symptoms—migraines, gut issues, rashes, fatigue.
But here’s the deeper question:
Have you been trying to fix your body… without ever listening to it?
This isn’t about blaming yourself. It’s about noticing:
Do your symptoms flare around specific people or stressors?
Have doctors ruled things out—but your body still feels “off”?
Are you powering through pain that never fully resolves?
These are the signs that your body is asking for something your mouth hasn’t said.
This isn’t weakness. It’s wisdom.
Your body is doing its job. It’s asking you to do yours, too.
The Messenger in the Rash
A client’s rash—and what it revealed
I once worked with a woman who couldn’t stop itching. Her skin was angry—red, hot, inflamed. The rashes came in waves, kept her up at night, and left her exhausted by morning.
She’d seen every specialist. Dermatologists. Allergy experts. Alternative practitioners.
Creams. Elimination diets. Steroids. Nothing helped for long.
When she came to me, I didn’t ask about her skin. I asked her this:
“How do you let your body relax when your mind is racing?”
She blinked. Paused. And said quietly,
“I don’t know how to relax. I’ve always just pushed through.”
That moment changed everything.
Because her rash wasn’t about soap or food or pollen.
It was about overload. Her body had become the outlet for emotions she never gave herself permission to release.
Once we started working on her relationship to rest—real rest, not zoning out—the symptoms began to calm. Not overnight. But gradually. Sustainably.
When you ignore the inner scream, your body will start whispering through your skin.
And if you still don’t listen—it will shout.
💌 Ready to connect the dots between stress, symptoms, and leadership?
My Friday emails are a blend of truth-telling, trauma recovery, and business clarity—with no fluff, no hype, and no shame.
👉 Join the newsletter and start healing at the pace of your nervous system.
Stress Recovery for High-Functioning Leaders
Simple, science-backed steps that won’t derail your workday
You don’t need a 10-step ritual. You need tools that respect your schedule and your nervous system.
Here’s how to begin interrupting the psychosomatic cycle—without pretending your business disappears.
1. Name the Symptom Without Judging It
Instead of reacting with fear or shame when your body flares up, ask:
“What is this symptom trying to draw my attention to?”
💬 Try this:
Headache? → “Where did I override myself today?”
Gut issues? → “What truth have I been swallowing instead of speaking?”
Rash or skin flare-up? → “Where am I feeling exposed, unsafe, or out of control?”
2. Build a 2-Minute Somatic Checkpoint Into Your Day
You don’t need a full yoga class. Just a pause.
🛠 Practical:
Set a calendar reminder titled “Check In: What’s Tight?”
At that moment, ask: What’s clenching, aching, or hot right now?
Breathe into it. Drop your shoulders. Don’t fix—just feel.
This isn’t woo. It’s regulation.
3. Reduce Noise Before You Reach for a Fix
Your nervous system doesn’t respond well to chaos—especially synthetic chaos.
Before popping a supplement or researching a symptom, try this first:
Close all browser tabs.
Sit in silence for 60 seconds.
Place one hand on your chest, one on your belly.
Ask: What do I actually need right now?
That moment of clarity can save you hours of spiraling.
4. Rewrite the Self-Talk Loop Driving the Stress
Old narrative:
“If I slow down, I’ll fall behind.”
“Cannot afford to take care of myself, I’ll lose momentum.”
“If I don’t hustle, I’ll disappear.”
New narrative:
“Rest isn’t retreat—it’s reinforcement.”
“My worth isn’t proven by pain.”
“My nervous system is a business asset.”
Write yours down. Put it on your wall. Make it part of your internal brand.
5. Set One Boundary That Feels Almost Too Small to Matter
Don’t aim for dramatic. Aim for doable.
✅ Say no to one extra meeting
✅ Push your call back 10 minutes so you can breathe
✅ Leave a Slack message unread for an hour
These aren’t logistics. These are nervous system recalibrations.
Questions You Might Still Have (And Where to Go Next)
How do I know if my symptoms are really psychosomatic—or something more serious?
Start by ruling out medical causes—of course. But if the labs come back “normal” and you still feel terrible, ask: *“Is my body speaking what I haven’t said out loud?”*
Psychosomatic doesn’t mean imaginary. It means your body is smart. And if it’s speaking through fatigue, skin, or gut issues—listen.
Can trauma from years ago still affect my body today?
Absolutely. Unresolved trauma doesn’t just fade—it burrows into your nervous system. Even if you’re “over it” mentally, your body might still be compensating.
You’re not broken. You’re carrying what no one helped you process.
👉 The Lasting Effects of Sexual Abuse: Healing and Moving Forward
What if my symptoms only show up during work or around clients?
That’s a pattern worth noticing. If your body only flares in business settings, it might be tied to pressure, perfectionism, or performance-based worth.
Sometimes the trauma isn’t from childhood. It’s from how you were trained to succeed.
I’ve already tried therapy. Why am I still sick?
Somatic stress lives in the tissue, not just the thoughts. You may need body-based tools, not more analysis.
Final Thoughts: Mental Stress Doesn’t Need to Wreck Your Body
Your body isn’t betraying you—it’s trying to rescue you.
That rash, that migraine, that fatigue that won’t budge no matter how many greens you eat? It’s not random. It’s not weakness. It’s not failure.
It’s feedback.
It’s a message.
And maybe for the first time, you’re finally hearing it.
You’ve spent years pushing through pain, rationalizing symptoms, and telling yourself “this is just how it is.” But what if your body isn’t the problem?
What if it’s the part of you that still believes in your survival—so much that it’s willing to scream when you won’t speak?
You don’t need to burn your business down to feel better.
But you do need to start listening to what your body has been begging for.
Let this be your line in the sand.
💛 Want support untangling the stress and shame you’ve been carrying in silence?
👉 Work with me, Denise G. Lee – I help high-functioning leaders rebuild their inner calm without sacrificing their edge.
🎙️ Need to hear more truth like this in your earbuds?
👉 Listen to the podcast – It’s the grit, growth, and no-fluff honesty you didn’t know you needed.
💌 Have a question or want to share your story?
👉 Send me a message – I read every one.
And just in case no one told you lately:
You don’t have to earn your health.
You don’t have to justify your exhaustion.
And you certainly don’t need permission to feel better.
Your self-worth is not up for negotiation—especially not with your nervous system.
It’s already yours.
You just get to come back to it now.
