COVID-19 stress may affect your physical well-being

Here are some physical signs that you may be feeling stressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has touched all corners of the world -- and fear, anxiety, and grief have followed in its wake. The pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health and well-being of many, due to the climbing death toll, the social isolation, the constant internal monologue for some asking "do I have the virus?" and more, experts say.

Mental and physical health are intertwined and sometimes stress can manifest itself physically, according to experts. So if you're having migraines, have missed a period, lost hair, or had other irregularities in your daily life, it may be due to pandemic stress, they said.

"Think about it like erosion," said Craig Sawchuk, a psychologist at the Mayo Clinic, in an interview. "It just leads to wear and tear across time."

However, there may be other underlying causes for these issues. Ailments that someone experiences during a stressful time should not solely be attributed to stress, and the Mayo Clinic recommends that symptoms be evaluated by a medical professional.