Most people trying to manage stress are aiming at the mind when the problem lives in the body. The body responds to sensation, not argument. Here are three signs it is the stress response itself stuck in a loop, not only the situation that triggered it. 1. The reaction outlasts the event. Something happens on Monday. By Wednesday the situation is resolved. Your body has not caught up: shoulders still tight, sleep still off. That gap, between what happened and how long the bo