Are you constantly feeling stressed? Stress is something we all encounter on a regular basis, but when it starts to have a negative effect on your body and mind, it means you are distressed. Anxious thoughts, fears, and worries invade the lives of many people on a daily basis. Chances are they’ve invaded your life as well. Stress is often a result of fears that you may have about uncertain situations, places, things and even people in your life. Most of the time, these fears are based on things that haven’t happened yet.
What many people don’t know is that stress is a state of being that negatively impacts the body as well. In fact, stress has a bigger impact on our bodies than most of us realize or care to acknowledge.
There are some downright scary facts about the toll that stress takes on the body. When you look at these facts it is hard to deny that we all need to learn how to manage our stress more effectively.
Some of these statistics include:
1. 43% of all adults have health problems related to stress
2. 75-90% of all doctor visits are stress-related
3. 82% of workers are at least a little stressed in the workplace
4. Stress is known to cost American businesses more than $300 billion each year
Seven Ways In Which Your Body is Affected by Stress
There are two kinds of stress. The “good” stress is called eustress but we generally only hear about the “bad” stress known as chronic stress or distress.
Chronic stress gradually affects your health at first; in fact, you may not even notice the symptoms at all! And if the stress is not managed, the symptoms will get worse and its effects may even be irreversible.
Seven ways in which stress may manifest itself in your body are:
1. Depression. When you are stressed out, it is very common for people to become depressed. There are only so many chemicals in the brain to help a person deal with stress, and when they are used up, they’re used up. This can lead to a person becoming profoundly depressed in what seems like a relatively short period of time.
2. Anxiety. Those who are stressed are likely to deal with uncontrollable levels of anxiety. Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand, and this can cause many different changes in the physiological functioning of the body.
3. Heart disease. Stress is very closely linked to heart attacks and death associated with cardiovascular disease. When stress is not managed, the body breaks down quickly and the heart is often profoundly impacted.
4. Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing epidemics in the world and both mental and physical stress can cause rapid fluctuations in blood sugar levels. The long-term effects associated with this include heart disease, blindness, liver problems, kidney disease, and more.
5. Hair loss. We often tease our friends and family when they begin to lose hair, but this can be a symptom of unmanaged stress. If your hair is falling out prematurely don’t blame genetics, look closely at how you are dealing with the stress in your life and see if there are things you can do to control it more effectively.
6. Obesity. When we are exposed to stressful situations we often resort to emotional eating to reduce our anxiety or distress. We often cope with stress by consuming unhealthy, fattening comfort foods. Plus, stress prohibits the control of necessary chemicals that are needed to break down fat, which can lead to obesity.
7. Sexual dysfunction. Stress is one of the most common reasons associated with impotence in men.
As you can see, stress can affect your health in many ways. This is by no means an all-inclusive list of how stress affects your body and health. You may also suffer from hyperthyroidism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, tooth and gum disease, ulcers, alcohol or drug addiction, increased physical illness and even cancer. Stress is serious stuff! When I look back on my own personal situation I often wondered how was I diagnosed with throat cancer. I didn’t smoke, live or work around dangerous chemicals that I could have inhaled. There was no physical explanation. However, there was a mental and emotional one. My life was so stressful during this time, I’m sure the stresses of my life was connected to my illness. This is all the more reason to start actively managing your stress today.
While many of us resort to medications and doctor treatments when we’re seeking ways to overcome stress, you can work toward relieving your own stress without medication by simply engaging yourself in activities that bring you peace, comfort, and relief. Finding a way to release your emotions is an important element to overcoming stress. There are some things in life that are beyond your control. Many times, the worries you experience are a direct result of the fact that you’re not in control of the people, things, and situations in your life. The things that are in your control can be managed. Just slow down, take one thing at a time, and focus. Remember to trust that you’ve got the faith, courage, strength, skill, and support to overcome anything.
