Stress effects: This is what stress does to your body
Stress effects on your body are more than just related to mental health. (Shutterstock)
Feeling stressed out? Don’t worry, we all do once and a while, but before you decide to just grin and bear it, you might want to educate yourself on stress effects and just what’s happening to your body.
Mental stress symptoms are often easy to spot; irritability, depressed mood, emotional swings, but it’s what’s going on physiologically that you need to be aware of.
What is stress?
First, let’s take a look at what stress is. You probably know how stress feels, but why is it our bodies feel that way when we get uncomfortable or out of our element?
Medical News Today indicates stress is the feeling that collectively, a situation or situations have become “too much.”
Stress is when we feel like we’ve hit our limit or have hit a wall; there is nowhere left to go and we are stuck with no way out.
When we feel stressed, we can keep on going in that situation for a time; however, it will eventually take its toll on our mind and our bodies. Knowing this also makes stress worse; we never know just how much we can take.
It should be noted that not all stress is bad; stress occurs whenever we are challenged physically or mentally, and without stress we could never make progress or reach our goals.
Prolonged stress, however, is what can eventually start to break us down, and this is when stress becomes an issue for our health.
Stress effects: Takes a toll on the body
There are both short-term and long-term stress effects on the body, and this is because we all have an initial, instinctual response to a stressful situation.
This immediate reaction is known as our flight-or-fight response; we are either going to runaway or we are going to stand our ground. It all depends on the stressor in our path.
The flight-or-fight response illicits the following immediate changes in our body:
- A rise in blood pressure
- Rapid breathing
- Digestive system slows down
- Heart rate increases
- Immune system becomes temporarily depressed
- Muscles tense
- Insomnia from a heightened sense of awareness
- A surge of hormones is released, including cortisol (known as the stress hormone).
If the stressor goes away in a short amount of time, our body returns to normal, and in the short-term, stress has few negative effects on us.
If you are experiencing stress effects make an effort to make a pause and breathe. (Shutterstock)
Chronic stress, where we are exposed to this flight-or-fight response repeatedly, is what starts to cause negative effects on the body.
One of the primary reasons chronic stress debilitates the body is because humans were not meant to function continually in a state of heightened awareness.
In this state, muscles never relax; the heart pumps at a higher rate continually; lack of sleep starts to catch up with us; and excess hormones start to cause issues within the body, among other stress effects.
Cortisol, for example, causes increases of sugar within the blood stream and enhances the brain’s utilization of glucose.
While this doesn’t sound like a bad thing, over time this excess blood sugar can start to weaken blood vessels and can cause the body to start storing fat, especially around the belly area and viscera.
The Mayo Clinic indicates cortisol also suppresses the digestive system, reproductive system and growth processes. It alters how the immune system responds and can influence how the body responds mentally to fear.
Chronic stress keeps all these flight-or-fight responses active and can ultimately cause stress effects like:
- Cramps or muscle spasms
- Erectile dysfunction
- Fainting spells
- Headache
- Heart disease
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Loss of libido
- Lower immunity against diseases
- Muscular aches
- Nail biting
- Nervous twitches
- Pins and needles
- Sleeping difficulties
- Stomach upset
- High cholesterol
- Skin breakouts
- Hair loss
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Burnout
- Depression
- Feeling of insecurity
- Forgetfulness
- Irritability
- Problem concentrating
- Restlessness
- Sadness
- Fatigue
How can I fight off stress effects?
Fighting stress effects is easier said than done because it is not always possible to escape those stressors in our lives.
This is why it is important to know ways to manage stress since it is almost impossible to be rid of it completely.
Tips to manage your stress effects, according to Healthline include:
- Listen to your favorite music often.
- Vent to a friend or family member. Do not keep issues to yourself.
- Talk to your pet about it (as a way to talk it through to yourself).
- Eat right to keep your body feeling healthy.
- Exercise to release feel-good endorphins. 20 minutes per day is enough.
- Meditate.
- Make an effort to control your breathing.
- Laugh.
- Drink tea.
- Make an effort to get more restful sleep.
- Pick up a hobby.
- Quit smoking and limit alcoholic drinks.
- Look at the big picture. Sometimes having an attitude of “this too shall pass” can help cope with stressful situations.
- Play! Either with your children or your pets or by yourself… a playful attitude can help reduce the fight-or-flight response.
- Get a massage or a Reiki session.
