Stress is a common occurrence, but too much stress can be harmful to our health. Stress can cause the body to activate its “fight or flee” response. This can lead to an increase in blood pressure, heartbeat, and cortisol. These changes can cause problems like weight gain, depression, anxiety and chronic pain. It’s vital to learn to effectively manage stress to avoid these negative consequences.
Stress can be destructive in many ways when it becomes too intense. In the article below we discuss some of these issues, as well how to deal with stress.
Unable to manage your emotions
When we are unable to control our emotions, stress can have a powerful effect on our lives. Stress can grow so large that it takes over and dominates our thoughts and behaviors. It can ruin our relationships with friends, family and colleagues. Stress can be managed by finding ways to resolve these problems.
One way to reduce stress is to identify what causes us to be stressed and find ways to manage them. It could be as simple as using relaxation techniques or talking to a counselor. Exercise and eating healthy can improve our moods, and give us the energy we need to cope with stress.
Mental Health Issues
While it’s normal to be stressed occasionally, chronic stress can have a negative impact on your mental well-being. Chronic stress can affect issues such as personality disorders, depression, and anxiety disorders. Stress can affect mental health in many ways.
Stress can increase the likelihood of depression. Stress can make depression symptoms worse for people who are already predisposed to it. Talk to your doctor if you’re worried about depression.
Physical Health Problems
The mind and body are interconnected. Stress affects physical health just as it does mental health. Chronic stress can cause serious physical health issues such as:
Heart Disease: Chronic Stress may increase your risk of heart disease by increasing your blood pressure, heart rate and inflammation in arteries.
Irritable bowel syndrome and stomach ulcers: Chronic Stress can trigger stomach pain, constipation or diarrhea among people with IBS. This stress may also contribute to gastric ulcers.
Type II Diabetes: Chronic Stress increases your risk of diabetes type 2 by increasing insulin resistance. Stress can also cause changes in the blood sugar metabolism, which over time may lead to type-2 diabetes if not addressed by healthy lifestyle changes or medications.
Obesity Chronic Stress increases appetite which results in weight gain with time. Stress also decreases muscle mass which makes it harder to burn calories throughout the day. You will find it more difficult to maintain a healthy body weight if you are stressed.
