What is Stress?
Stress has been generalized. It affects absolutely everyone, with no limits. While a tiny amount of stress can theoretically motivate you to take positive steps in your life, too much stress can weigh on you like a disease. Stress, like anxiety and depression, actually results in multiple types of mental health disorders.
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Stress Overview
Stress is a natural psychological and physical reaction to life’s everyday demands. When you feel unable to cope, the sense of being overwhelmed with mental or emotional pressure can turn into stress. Although a certain amount of stress may be motivating for one person, someone else may be frustrated by the same level..
Too much tension causes the protection mechanism of the body to kick in, known as “fight-or-flight”. A surge of stress hormones involving adrenaline and cortisol is released by the nervous system. This reaction to emergency stress causes the heart to pound more rapidly, blood pressure to increase, muscles to tighten, and breathing to become quicker.
Most of the time, frequent stress can cause the body to be in an elevated state of stress, leading to suppressed immunity, digestive and reproductive issues, increased aging, and a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Stress can also make you more sensitive to questions regarding mental health, such as depression and anxiety.
Job or education, major life changes, relationship problems, and financial issues are common causes of stress. Finding ways to enhance the overall stress management capacity will help cope with these stressors.
Types of Stress
All types of stress are not harmful or even negative. Some of the different types of stress that people experience include:
Acute stress
Acute stress is a form of stress that can be more optimistic or more distressing in the very short term; this is the type of stress we experience most frequently in everyday life.
Chronic stress
Chronic stress is the stress that appears never-ending and inescapable, such as the stress of a bad marriage or an incredibly taxing job; traumatic events and childhood trauma can also contribute to chronic stress.
Episodic acute stress
Episodic acute stress is acute stress that seems to run rampant and be a way of life, creating a life of ongoing distress.
Eustress
It’s fun and exciting for Eustress. It is referred to as a productive form of stress that will keep you energized. It’s related to adrenaline spikes, such as when you’re skiing or running to reach a deadline.
How does stress affect health?
The human body is intended to feel and respond to stress. Stress can be optimistic, keeping us alert, encouraged, and prepared to prevent risk. Stress becomes negative when a person faces persistent difficulties or feels stressed without relief or relaxation between stressors. As a result, the person becomes overworked, and anxiety related to stress builds up.
The body’s autonomic nervous system has a built-in stress response that causes physiological changes to allow the body to combat stressful situations. This stress response, also known as the “fight or flight response,” is activated in case of an emergency. It releases a stress hormone called cortisol. However, during extended periods of stress, this response can constantly be triggered. This constant activation of the response to stress creates both physical and emotional wear and tear on the body.
Stress that persists without relief, a negative stress response, may lead to a condition called distress. Distress may disrupt the inner equilibrium or balance of the body, resulting in visible physical/behavioral, emotional/social, and intellectual reactions.
Signs
Stress can be long-term or short-term. Both can contribute to a range of symptoms, but over time, chronic stress can take a significant toll on the body and have long-lasting health effects.
Some common signs of stress are
- Changes in mood
- Clammy or sweaty palms
- Decreased sex drive
- Diarrhea
- Difficulty sleeping
- Digestive problems
- Dizziness
- Feeling anxious
- Frequent sickness
- Grinding teeth
- Headaches
- Low energy
- Muscle tension, In neck and shoulders
- Physical aches and pains
- Racing heartbeat
- Trembling
Symptoms of stress
Just as we each have multiple things that stress us out, our symptoms can be different as well.
Here are some things you may experience under stress
- Chronic pain
- Insomnia
- Lower sex drive
- Digestive problems
- Eating too much or too little
- Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
- Fatigue
- Sleep problems
How to identify stress?
It is not always easy to recognize stress, but there are some ways to recognize some indicators that too much pressure might be encountered. Stress can often come from an obvious place, but even tiny everyday stresses from work, school, family, and friends can sometimes damage your mind and body.
If you think you may be affected by stress, there are a few things you can look out for:
- Psychological symptoms such as trouble focusing, worrying, depression, and difficulty recalling
- Emotional signs, such as rage, annoyance, moodiness, or frustration
- Physical effects, such as high blood pressure, weight increases, repeated colds or illnesses, and menstrual cycle and libido changes
- Signs of conduct, such as bad self-care, not finding time to deal with the things you love, or dependent on drugs and alcohol
Treatment
Stress is not a separate medical diagnosis and it does not have a single, precise treatment. Stress therapy focuses on improving the situation, learning skills for stress management, incorporating methods for relaxation, and managing symptoms or problems that may have been induced by chronic stress.
Some interventions that may be included are
- Psychotherapy
- Medication
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Coping
Impact of Stress
When you consider the effect stress has on your life, the link between your mind and body is obvious.
Physical health problems can be generated by feeling stressed out over a relationship, finances, or your living situation. Also, the opposite is real. Your stress level and your mental health can also be affected by health concerns, whether you struggle with high blood pressure or you have diabetes. Your body responds differently when your brain encounters high degrees of stress.
Severe acute stress can cause heart attacks, arrhythmias, and even sudden death, including being involved in a natural disaster or getting into a verbal altercation. However, this often occurs in people who already have heart disease.
An emotional toll is also taken by tension. While some stress can cause feelings of mild anxiety or anger, it can also lead to burnout, anxiety disorders, and depression from prolonged stress.
Chronic stress may also have a significant effect on your wellbeing. Your autonomic nervous system would be overactive if you encounter constant stress, which will possibly harm your body.
Stress and anxiety
Sometimes, tension and anxiety go hand in hand. Stress comes from the requirements imposed on your body and brain. Anxiety is when you experience anxiety, unease, or fear at high levels.
Anxiety may definitely be an episodic or chronic stress offshoot.
Getting both stress and anxiety may have a significant adverse health effect, making you more likely to develop:
- high blood pressure
- heart disease
- diabetes
- panic disorder
- depression
FAQ's
- Being under lots of strain
- Facing Big changes
- Worrying about something
- Not having much or little influence over a situation’s outcome
- Getting tasks that you find overwhelming
- In your life, not getting enough work, events, or change
- Times of uncertainty
- Chronic pain
- Insomnia
- Lower sex drive
- Digestive problems
- Eating too much or too little
- Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
- Fatigue
- Sleep problems
- Avocado and Banana
- Tea
- Blend
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- Fatty Fish
- Carrot
- Yogurt