When choosing a therapist, it is important to consider their Areas of Practice. specializes in:

When choosing a therapist, it is important to consider their Areas of Practice. specializes in:

When choosing a therapist, it is important to consider their Areas of Practice. specializes in:

What Is Stress and How Does It Affect Your Health

Stress is an inevitable part of our everyday life, often arising from different problems and challenges. Stress is the body’s natural reaction to external changes or challenges, threats, or demands that require our immediate actions. Sometimes, stress is a beneficial response, but only in the short term. The occurrence of stress triggers the release of cortisol and adrenaline, commonly referred to as “stress hormones.”

These stress hormones will then influence our response to the cause of the stress, making us choose to either flee or fight. At the same time, stress hormones heighten our alertness and precipitate an increased level of energy we need to respond to the situation.

Still, chronic stress is not good for your overall health, especially when it becomes chronic. Stress eventually causes your body to remain in a prolonged state of alert, which then strains multiple body systems to cause physical and mental health breakdowns.

Types of Stress

There are different types of stress, including:

  • Acute Stress: Acute stress is a type of stress that comes and goes quickly. Acute stress is like riding a rollercoaster or fighting with a spouse. Eventually, the feeling wears off, and you are back to normal.
  • Episodic Acute Stress: Episodic acute stress occurs when you become stressed quite often. Unlike short-term stress, you do not get time to return to your calm state before the occurrence of another episode of acute stress.
  • Chronic Stress: Chronic stress is the type that occurs when you become stressed for weeks or months with no break. It can occur as a result of financial problems, marriage problems, or work-related issues.

How Chronic Stress Impacts Every System in Your Body

Chronic stress can impact your life in many ways, including the following:

Mental Health and Well-being

Chronic stress has a direct impact on your mental health, causing both emotional and cognitive instability. As mentioned earlier, stress causes your body to remain in a state of alertness and anxiety. If this state of alertness and anxiety persists for weeks or months, it will drain your mental energy and make it harder for you to focus on simple tasks. Eventually, you become irritable and impatient.

Chronic stress also causes depression and anxiety. Stress hormones disrupt the balance of other neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin that are needed for mood regulation, putting you on the path to depression.

Cardiovascular System

The body gets into a “flight or fight” mode when you are stressed. The result is an increased heart rate, which also causes the blood vessels to constrict in an attempt to quickly supply blood to the muscles and other body organs.

In the event of prolonged stress, your heart has to work overtime, which can damage the blood vessels and increase the risk of plaque buildup. In combination, these two conditions can result in cardiovascular issues like a heart attack, stroke, or coronary heart disease.

Immune System

Your immune system is quite responsive to stress. In the short term, stress hormones that get released when you are stressed suppress any inflammation and enhance your immunity. However, chronic stress eventually suppresses your immune function, which makes it harder for your body to fight off infections.

Stress hormones also reduce the body’s ability to produce white blood cells, which leaves you vulnerable to opportunistic infections like colds and flu. It also takes longer for you to recover from injuries and other illnesses.

Digestive System

Chronic stress affects your digestive system. There is an intricate link between the brain and the gut, which is something called the gut-brain axis. When you are stressed, the blood flow and energy become redirected from the digestive system to other parts of the body, which then slows down the rate of digestion. As a result, chronic stress becomes the reason you experience symptoms like stomach aches, bloating, and nausea.

Other chronic conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and acid reflux can occur in the long run. In short, your digestive system is in danger of disruption when you experience stress for a prolonged period.

Nervous System

The nervous system is responsible for controlling your body’s automatic responses, including your heart rate and muscle tension. Chronic stress affects your nervous system by making it harder for your brain to make these automatic responses.

For example, persistent stress can affect the quality of your sleep by making it harder for the brain to automatically switch from alertness to rest. You can also experience neck, back, and shoulder pains because your body is constantly in a state of “fight or flee,” which explains your feelings of physical discomfort when you are stressed.

Seek Help From Professionals

At Stenzel Clinical Services, we understand that stress is a part of life. However, we have acquired the right tools that we have shared with our clients to help them prevent the overwhelming effects of stress. Contact us today and learn how to practice stress management techniques, set healthy boundaries, and how to find support from your locality.

If you are wondering why things seem to be getting better, and you are still struggling on a day-to-day basis, the answer could be that you are mourning.

Stenzel Clinical Services

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