Stress Makes You Sick: How Stress Affects Our Health
Life in our modern society is stressful - no doubt about it.
We have so many expectations to live up to: Have a successful career and being financially stable, a happy family life, a great relationship, many friends and a great-looking, fit body.
Nobody lives a perfect life, and although we know that deep down, we still can't stop comparing ourselves to others and trying to reach that unrealistic style of living that the media proposes to us.
And what happens to people when they can't achieve what they want or can't live up to their goals? They stress themselves.
Yes, I say it like that purposely: Stress is something we burden ourselves with.
It's a construct of our own mind.
Of course, life always has some difficult situations or problems we need to face.
But HOW we act in those situations and HOW we counter those problems is entirely up to us.
Being stressed constantly doesn't only take a toll on your mind - it also has a lot of negative effects on your body and physical health.
What happens in our body when we feel stressed?
Stress triggers our fight-or-flight-response.
Our ancestors used to be stressed when they were facing a wild animal and had to fight for their survival.
That's why stress increases our heart rate and blood pressure, and tenses our muscles: We get ready to run away or fight, if we have to!
But nowadays, stressful situations are a lot different for us.
When we feel stressed, our adrenal glands are releasing Cortisol - the "Stress Hormone".
Apart from the effects on our heart rate and blood pressure, this is also increasing our risk for a stroke: cortisol causes the inner linings of your blood vessels to perform poorly, which leads to atherosclerosis, a build up amount of cholesterol that clogs our arteries.
Chronic stress makes you more likely to gain weight.
The stress hormone Cortisol increases your appetite - especially for comfort foods and anything rich in carbs.
Binge eating is also a distraction for many people, they eat delicious (unhealthy) foods because it makes them temporarily feel better and cope with the stress.
Also, when you're stressed you rarely eat a nutritious diet. Many people just eat whatever they can get quickly, and that's often processed food or junk food.
These factors together make a stressed person very prone to weight gain.
Stress also affects our bowel system.
As you might have noticed already, we often have a strange feeling in our gut when we're scared or very stressed.
It's almost a feeling as if you were going to through up.
That's because our brain is directly connected to our gut - I have actually mentioned this in a previous post already.
When we're feeling stressed, our autonomic nervous system is being activated.
Our brain communicates the stress to our intestinal nervous system, which causes bowel problems, and also makes heartburn more likely to appear.
The worst effect of chronic stress is probably that it can seriously affect your aging process.
To understand this, we have to look at our Telomeres - these are the ends of chromosomes, similar to the plastic tops on your shoe laces.
They prevent chromosomal fraying, and get shorter as we age.
Once they have reached a certain level of length (or shortness, shall I say) they can't shorten any more and the cells die.
Several studies have shown that stress shortens the telomeres, and therefore ultimately makes us age quicker.
Other negative effects of stress on our body include hair loss, insomnia, acne, headaches (due to increased muscle tension in the neck area) and a weakened immune system which makes you more prone to diseases as well as slows down the healing process.
As you can see, stress has countless negative effects on our physical and mental health. But like I have mentioned above - stress is a product of your own mind.
Most people stress way too much about something they could approach differently - and then handle the problem more successfully.
I always like to remind myself: There is no stress. There are only Solutions.
© Sirwinchester
Everything is true you wrote as far as my knowlege go. But there is also a good kind of stress. The thing which is so unhealthy is the chronic stress since people have no ventil to let it go.
I also feel there is kind of a dick measuring contest in our society going on
"Look how stressed I am and how much I have on my plate and going on" which is not healthy, productiv or benefical for anybody except a short ego boost.
People taking pills to be more productive and asking themselves why they crash down after a while.
Do yourselv and others a favor and relief some stress through meditation, sport or mastrubating ( I dont judge)
Have you ever screamed at a friend or your child for no appearent reason, because you were so stressed and lost sight of your values and the person you want to be? Shitty feeling, right? As stated in this arcticel stress is often just made up and its your choice to hold on to it or just let it go.
Yes that's true, being competitive over whoever is stressed the most - ridiculous when you think about it!
Like you said, stress needs to be released, but the positive kind of stress can also push and motivate you!
Thanks for your comment!
Dude, now I'm stressed knowing that it's going to kill me!
Hahaha, now u must learn how to relax and get some anti stress things if don't want to rest early! hahaha
Yep, working on that, maybe posting some more can help me relax :)
Hahaha good to know, hope other post and UV won't stress you hahaha. Nice..... Just got connected. :)
Hahaha, take a few deep breaths and let the stress go!
@sirwinchester inhale and not to forget the exhale or our life will go hahaha instead the stress.
That's such a great piece of advice you have shared @sirwinchester. Yes, the stress is going to be there for everyone in one form or other but it is up to a person how he handles it. Being positive can fix may things. And having less expectations can also help to keep the stress level low.
As always, a very useful and informative article. I think many of us already know this, but we do it anyway.
And yes, stress is our own creation. I think a lot, and I've done some terrible mistakes because of that and now that's causing me more and more stress and ruining my health. It's gotten to the point where I'm falling sick very often and its also affecting my heart.
I am trying different ways to cut the stress, but ultimately, like you said, there's no stress, just solutions. So yeah, trying to solve it is the best way, and also not thinking about things too much.
Thank you for sharing this :)
Thanks for your comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the post!
Yes that's right, always remember: there is no stress, only SOLUTIONS!
This is something that everyone needs to be aware of. We are so used to having stress in our lives that we discount the impact that it has on our minds and our bodies. Something that I done to manage my stress is to go for a long run or get in the gym. It allows me to to clear my head and makes me feel good about myself knowing I am doing something that is going to benefit my health. Thanks for posting.
Physical exercise can help a lot when releasing stress - you feel much better afterwards.
Thanks for your comment and feedback!
Awesome post and some great advice to not get stressed but rather find solutions. I often get stressed and end up not sleeping trying to think my way out of a problem though.
Sometimes things are not worth stressing over tho for sure. :D
Great article @sirwinchester. I have found also that if you try and help certain people that then go on to create more issues that they could have avoided IF they had listened first time around, and then you double down and help again, that this can induce stress as well.
There is no stress. There are only solutions.
I will try remember this, I am such a stress head. I get stressed about being stressed.
Thanks for your guiding words!
Thank you!
Yes it can be quite easy to stress over little things, but that stress is only created in your mind!
To many people are stressed out these days!
When I am stressed I have to move! Dance, Acrobatics , workout.
Then remind myself that I have a great life ;)
Good article - you nailed it. Voted you up bro ;)