Stress affects practically everyone’s daily life. It can affect your body in ways that can have a lasting impact on your health. Here are some ways it can affect your health:
• The effect of stress on your brain – Stress can cause you to lose concentration and memory. It is not entirely clear whether this is psychological or physiological. When you’re stressed, the parts of your brain associated with memory, like the hippocampus, don’t work well, and you can’t convert short-term memory into long-term memory. You may also fail to focus on what you hear or read. It is not clear whether this is a long-term effect or a short-term effect; however, things like stress reduction techniques seem to be able to restore your ability to think.
• The effect of stress on your gastrointestinal tract – Stress triggers the body’s fight or flight response, so the adrenal glands release epinephrine and norepinephrine. This has multiple effects on the body. One thing this phenomenon does is divert blood from the gastrointestinal tract into the muscles of the body as a way to prepare to “fight or flee” a real or imagined opponent. This can lead to decreased blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract, which results in indigestion and poor absorption of nutrients. Fortunately, this can be short-lived unless you live in chronic stressful situations. Then the gastrointestinal system will be affected more permanently.
• The effect of stress on your cardiovascular system – Stress causes the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine, which automatically increases blood pressure and heart rate. This puts more pressure on your heart and puts you at higher risk for hypertension-related diseases like heart failure, stroke, and heart attack. These kinds of things don’t happen overnight, but if you’re suffering from chronic stress, the long-lasting implications of heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, heart failure, and stroke are real possibilities, especially if you’re not eating well or have a strong family history of heart disease.
• The effect of stress on your immune system – Excess stress also triggers the release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex. Cortisol has many effects on the body, but one of the main ones is that it suppresses the immune system. High cortisol levels mean you are at higher risk for colds and flu and have a harder time healing from open sores, cuts, or wounds. Cortisol can suppress various aspects of the immune system, so you’ll feel sicker more often when you’re under pressure.
Things you can do to reduce stress
Because nervous tension can wreak havoc on your body, you need to do what you can to lessen the constant worries in your life so that you can stay healthy. It could mean getting out of a stressful relationship, getting your finances in order, or changing your work situation so you don’t go to work every day with feelings of anxiety.
If you can’t change your circumstances, you may want to practice stress relief techniques. These include things like meditation, tai chi, yoga, and qi gong.
These activities can be easily learned by attending classes at a local health club or by purchasing a DVD that will teach you ways to reduce the amount of pressure you feel in your life so that you can live a healthier life.
