Under pressure

health

Are you under constant stress? Read on to find out why stress is bad for you and what you can do to fix it...

Stress is something that has been our partner in crime throughout our lives. It is stress that pushes us to work hard for a project and it is the same stress that motivates some of us to focus on time management. However, if the stress stays with us for too long, it can end up ruining our lives. Overwhelming stress not only damages the mood but can also cause problems in our relationships with others. Read on to find out more about stress and how you can deal with it.

What is stress?

Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. When you feel threatened, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, which rouse the body for emergency action. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and enhance your focus. This is known as the ‘fight or flight’ or mobilization stress response and is your body’s way of protecting you.

When stress is within your comfort zone, it can help you to stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life - giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, you slam on the brakes to avoid an accident. Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, or drives you to study for an exam.

When you repeatedly experience the fight-or-flight stress response in your daily life, it can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can shut down your immune system and leave you vulnerable to many mental and physical health problems.

Health problems related to stress:

Many studies indicate that both acute and chronic stress can cause illness. Stress can make the individual more susceptible to physical illnesses like the common cold. Whereas, stressful events such as job changes, may result in insomnia, impaired sleeping, and health complaints. Here are some of the most significant health problems related to stress.

Heart diseases: Research shows that stressed-out people have a higher risk of high blood pressure and heart problems. This is because stress can directly increase heart rate and blood flow, and causes the release of cholesterol and triglycerides into the blood stream. According to doctors, sudden emotional stress can be a trigger for serious cardiac problems, including heart attacks.

Obesity: Stress causes higher levels of the hormone cortisol, increasing the amount of fat that’s deposited in the abdomen. Hence, people with high stress tend to have more belly fat.

Diabetes: Stress can worsen diabetes in two ways. First, it increases the likelihood of bad behaviours, such as unhealthy eating and second, it raises the glucose levels of people with type 2 diabetes directly.

Asthma & headaches: Stress is considered one of the most common triggers for asthma, headaches and migraines.

Depression & anxiety: One survey of recent studies found that people who had stress related to their jobs had an 80% higher risk of developing depression within a few years than people with lower stress.

Gastrointestinal problems: Stress can make ulcers worse and is also a common factor in many other gastrointestinal conditions, such as chronic heartburn and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Accelerated ageing: There’s actually evidence that stress can affect how you age. One study compared the DNA of mothers who were under high stress with women who were not. Researchers found that a particular region of the chromosomes showed the effects of accelerated ageing. Stress seemed to accelerate ageing about 9 to 17 additional years.

Fighting stress:

The next time you feel stressed, here are some stress relief tips you can try.

Breathe deeply. Just a few minutes of deep breathing can calm you and tame the physiologic stress response. As you breathe out, you relax a specific muscle group. Start with the muscles in your jaw. On the next breath out, relax your shoulders. Move through the different areas of your body until you’re feeling calm.

Focus on the moment. When you are stressed, you are probably living in the future or the past. To get some stress relief, try focusing on what you are doing right now and calming yourself.

Keep your problems in perspective. Next time you are feeling stressed out, think about the things for which you are grateful for.