Stress is a natural part of life. The effects of stress on health is actually good for you - if you didn't have stress, what would motivate you to complete a project or reach your next goal? On the other hand, a prolonged exposure to high levels of can have negative impacts on brain function.
The positive effects of stress on health include a release of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which boosts brain power. Norepinephrine helps to improve your mood and is a key neurotransmitter in creating new memories. It helps to promote or stimulate creative thinking and can be a powerful tool in achieving your desired outcome.
Another positive effect is that it triggers our basic instinct of "fight or flight." Our body has natural systems for giving us the energy to make it through stressful experiences and then helping us to return to a more natural homeostasis. The sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the "fight or flight" response, provides a mechanism for our bodies to have increased adrenaline when times of stress arise.
This is part of our survival instinct. After the initial stress response, your body also has a system for returning to a metabolic equilibrium. The parasympathetic nervous system springs into action and triggers the relaxation response. It is vital that these two systems work together to help manage the effects of emotional stress.
Effects of stress on the Body
Stress happens when the body has to react (usually suddenly) to certain situations either mentally, emotionally, or physically.
Stress is a part of our everyday life, coming from events that happen all around us. They could be triggered by something / someone external, our own body, or our own thoughts. The effects of stress could either be good or bad, depending entirely on how you handle it.
How Does Stress Affect Health?
Stress when handled positively is beneficial to us. It helps keep us alert, active, and more energetic.
When stress gets too much it turns into distress, and if we handle it in a negative manner, it begins having an affect on us physically, mentally, and emotionally. This is really bad for us because it can strain our relations with everyone around us and deteriorate our physical and mental condition.
How Does Stress Affect Your Overall Health?
When stress is handled in a negative manner it usually leads to depression. To come out of this depression many take the harmful help of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, all of which give a sense of stress relief. In reality your body still remains stressed, and these substances just help make matters worse.
Stress effects on the body can be physical, physiological, and psychological.
The physical effects of stress, physiological effects of stress, and psychological effects of stress will all vary from person to person depending upon factors such as age, physical and mental health, attitude and outlook towards life, and the amount / level of stress.
Following are some of the health effects of stress on the body.
Hair loss or early graying of hair
Problem remembering things
Poor concentration
Poor judgment
Hypersensitive and extremely moody
Able to see only the negative side of things
Confused mind
An urge to get away (isolate) from everyone / everything
Sudden and unwarranted anger
Getting irritated for the smallest of reasons
Overreacting to any situation
Loss of confidence
Eating too much or too little
Sleeping too much or too little
Sharp increase in alcohol / tobacco consumption
Disturbed sleep, leading to a host of other problems
Constant headache
Severe digestive problems (constipation, diarrhea)
High blood pressure
Breathing problems
Feeling tired constantly (even when you wake up in the morning)
Irregular heartbeats
Muscle tension and severe muscle pain
Stress and Hypertension Relief
A combination of one or more of these health effects of stress can lead to one or more of the following diseases.
Severe substance abuse
Insomnia
Heart problems
Stroke
Hypertension
Extreme eating disorders
Severe weight-gain or weight-loss
Ulcers
Severe depression
Infertility
Skin problems
Missed or irregular periods in women
The effects of Stress on the Immune System
Stress causes our immune system to weaken, leading to poor health and falling ill regularly.
Following are some immune system disorders that are caused / affected by stress.
Eczema
Psoriasis
Ulcerative colitis
Oral and genital herpes
Crohn's disease
Most of the above mentioned conditions / diseases can be avoided (if they are stress induced) if we know how best to manage stressful situations positively.
Seek professional help if required. It is better that we control stress, than stress controlling us.
Also read about Natural Stress Relief Natural Anti-Stress Herb
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