Your Body on Stress
By William Kessler
Nearly 180,000 people a year die in the U.K from some form of stress-related illness. Like a leech, stress slowly steals your body’s energy. Everyone has been stressed at some point in their lives, and everybody knows that too much stress is bad for mental health. However, many people do not know that long-term, continual stress can also harm physical health in many ways, from suppressing your immune system to damaging your heart.
Before we go any further, let me explain exactly what stress is and why it harms your body. Stress is a negative feeling of worry or anxiety that can come from a wide range of sources, whether it be thinking about life-changing decisions or indecisiveness about what type of coffee to buy. Stress can be short-term (acute) or long-term and recurring (chronic). Stress is a survival instinct: something that happens when our brain prepares our body for an emergency. Our body redirects energy from important long-term functions in favor of short-term functions that help us deal with immediate danger. Of course, sometimes we need that response, which is why it is there. Acute stress can motivate us to finish up that paper due tomorrow or give us the last bit of energy to outrun a hungry predator. However, if we go into this emergency mode too often (in other words, if we experience chronic stress), our body suffers the consequences
Stress impacts our immune system by suppressing the body’s ability to react effectively and efficiently. Stress prepares us for an emergency, but in doing so, our bodies release hormones that suppress the immune system. These hormones decrease white blood cells (the ones that fight off illness) and increase the rate of infection and tissue damage.
Additionally, the stress-induced fight or flight response produces Cortisol, along with Epinephrine. These hormones can cause the liver to quickly produce sugar, which creates extra energy should we decide to fight or run. However, this increase in sugar production can be harmful to those at risk for Type 2 diabetes, possibly even causing the onset of the disease. Increased cortisol levels can also cause people to gain weight by telling their bodies to eat more than necessary, which can lead to hypertension and cardiovascular problems. As such, stress is also a risk factor for coronary heart disease.
Stress impacts many more bodily functions. Being in a constant state of fight or flight has recognizable consequences. You always feel like something bad is about to happen, your muscles are tense, and your stomach is uneasy. This increases your likelihood of suffering from tension headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers, acid reflux, and even indigestion. Stress can impact the reproductive system, possibly causing erectile dysfunction in men and irregular or painful menstrual cycles in women. While it may seem like emotions are only in your head, constant worry physically impacts nearly every bodily system.
You might be thinking “great, now I’m stressed out about the stress I already have.” However, there are some things everyone can do to help reduce stress:
Get regular exercise; even walking for only 30 minutes a day can be very helpful.
Stay connected with friends or family. Social support is important in keeping up with life’s sources of stress.
Relax with exercises such as meditation or yoga. This is a tricky one as it takes setting aside time. It is a must though and if you find stillness difficult, use your saved time for a hobby.
If the stress in your life ever gets to be too much, don’t be afraid to seek professional help.
In today’s fast-paced world, stress is something that everybody has experienced, but few fully understand the consequences. Constantly being on edge takes just as much of a physical toll as a mental toll. Developing good stress management skills is just as important as nutrition and exercise for living a healthy lifestyle. Managing stress is just like any other part of staying healthy; it takes dedicated effort, but it always pays off. The next time you find yourself feeling stressed out, take some deep breaths and a few minutes to relax. I promise your body will thank you.
References
5 Things You Should Know About Stress. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress/index.shtml
Goliszek, A. (2014). How Stress Affects the Immune System. How the Mind Heals the Body. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-the-mind-heals-the-body/201411/how-stress-affects-the-immune-system
Jantz, G. L. (2014). The Physical Dangers of Stress. Hope for Relationships. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hope-relationships/201407/the-physical-dangers-stress
Salleh M. R. (2008). Life event, stress and illness. The Malaysian journal of medical sciences : MJMS, 15(4), 9–18.
Team, G. (2018). Getting help for stress. Retrieved February 21, 2021, from https://goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/stress/get-help
White, R. C. (2018). Stress and The Body. Culture in Mind. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culture-in-mind/201806/stress-and-the-body#comments_bottom