Every change within the surroundings that may require attention or a response can cause stress. Your body can react mentally, emotionally, and physically to these changes. Stress is a normal emotion and a part of everyone’s life. You cannot wish to get rid of stress. Every activity or event that takes place around you may result in stress. Some forms of stress are good and healthy, but many are harmful to your mental and physical health.
You may not realize it, but the effects of stress can be quite rapid on your body. You cannot blame your illness on an irritating headache or insomnia. The actual cause of this type of illness is stress. The worst part of the stress and its symptoms is that your productivity decreases at work and the quality of your life takes a nosedive.
Some regular activities can cause your stress to elevate, such as an important meeting in the office, a long traffic jam, daily work pressure, etc. Many of you must know about the hypothalamus; it’s a brain controller and transmits orders. These orders reach directly to your stress hormones.
Your stress hormones trigger a specific response in your body i.e. make you breathe faster, increase your heartbeat, and push your muscles for action. Basically, this system is mainly for the protection of your body. Stress hormones also prepare you for emergency situations so you can react quickly. However, where matters get worse is when you find yourself stressed continuously and for long durations.
Symptoms of Severe Stress
Constant stress means an elevated level of stress hormones in your body at all times. Severe stress can cause many different symptoms, some of which are as follows.
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Headaches
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Poor memory
- Lack of concentration
- Loneliness
- Excessive nervousness
Effects of Stress on Health
Not everyone’s nervous system is good at identifying differences between physical and emotional threats. If you feel stressed out because of work or monthly bills, your body will react like you are in a life-or-death situation. As a result, stress causes an adverse effect on your health. Below are the major health issues you can face because of continuous, constant, and excessive stress.
Increased Risk of Heart Diseases
Stress hormones can affect your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. When you are stressed, your breathing speeds up to distribute oxygen-rich blood all over your body. Due to stress, people with breathing problems like emphysema or asthma can face difficulty in breathing. Stress makes your liver produce additional blood sugar to boost your energy, which can lead you to type 2 diabetes.
This effort forces your heart to pump blood harder, which increases your blood pressure and risk of heart failure. According to a medical study, a large number of sudden deaths and heart attacks occur after severe stress.
Digestive Issues
Many of us experience digestion issues when we feel stressed. In some people, it may cause sadness, anger, irritation, headaches, and insomnia. Mainly, stress affects the movement of food in your body, which can cause constipation or diarrhea. Your whole digestive system will get upset; there is a possibility that you might also experience vomiting, nausea, or stomachache.
Stress can encourage muscle spasms in your bowel movement, which is quite painful. Other than the digestive system, stress can affect the nutrients that your intestine consumes.
Reproductive Issues
Stress can affect the reproduction system of both men and women. Losing your desire to have sex is common when you are constantly under stress. Long term stress can decrease the level of testosterone in men’s bodies due to which they can end up with impotence or erectile dysfunction. Severe stress might also infect male reproductive organs like testes and prostate.
As for the female reproductive system, stress often affects their menstrual cycle. It can cause them heavier, painful, and irregular periods. Stress may also amplify the physical symptoms of menopause.
Indeed, stress can have major impacts on the reproductive plans of a woman. It can also harm a woman’s capability to conceive, cause changes in the postpartum, and affect health during pregnancy.
Immune System
Stress can stimulate your immune system to help you heal injuries and avoid infections. After some time, if you still have continuous stress, your immune system will become weak. A weak immune system means that your body will not react immediately to harmful bacteria, germs, or viruses.
People under stress are more vulnerable to flu, fever, common cold, and infections. Your duration of recovery will also increase.
How to Manage Stress
Managing stress is hard for many of us, but for some people, it is easy. Stress management depends on the severity, frequency, and type of stress. You can manage your stress with the following activities.
- Do physical activity regularly
- Set goals
- Relax with the help of meditation, deep breathing, tai chi, yoga or massage
- Spend time with your friends and family
- Build a good sense of humor
- Read books
- Listen to music
- Be more observant
- Set priorities
It is easy to watch television, play video games, or surf the internet. They might seem relaxing, but they are inactive ways to manage stress. They will only increase the risk of obesity and other health conditions.
Conclusion
There are times when you are not sure about the cause of stress or unable to identify its symptoms. Consider visiting your doctor, professional therapist, or counselor. Talk to your family about your condition. Do not listen to the advice of the non-professionals to take any medications. Add exercise, smiles, a healthy diet, and encouraging people to your life to treat stress.
