Stress IS the disease of the 21st Century
Stress. It’s become so inseparable from many people’s daily lives that they don’t even notice it anymore. But stress is actually extremely dangerous for your health and your relationships with others even if you don’t realise just how strained, tensed and worried you really are.
Many people suffer a variety of physical, emotional and mental symptoms from the stress they experience at home or at work, so doing something about it isn’t only advisable because you’ll enjoy life more than you are at present, doing something about it could actually save your life.
Fight or Flight
The American motivational speaker and author of a number of highly successful self-help books, Tony Robbins, says that stress occurs when you experience what’s known as a ‘fight or flight’ reaction, but you’re unable to fight or flee.
According to an article published online by the Olin Health Center of Michigan State University, fight or flight is a response by the human body to perceived danger. When the human body perceives the threat of danger, it intensifies the flow of oxygen by increasing one’s respiration, heart rate and blood sugar levels, and it also constricts the peripheral arteries to reduce blood loss should an injury occur.
But that isn’t all. The body’s endocrine system starts to release extra hormones like adrenaline and testosterone, and the gastrointestinal systems shuts down so that the body can muster up all the energy it can and route it to its vital systems.
If this occurred on rare occasions, the knock-on effects would be minimal. However, when people exist in a state in which their body is reacting to a perceived threat of danger all the time, a myriad of physical problems will naturally ensue. Not to mention the emotional and mental problems that will arise because of the pressure that’s constantly placed on the body as it reacts to this perceived threat of danger.
How Stress Impacts upon Your Health
The ways that stress can impact upon your life – often without you noticing it – are worrying to say the least. Health and medical experts have identified a number of ways that stress could affect your health negatively, including the following fourteen.
Blood pressure – Stress can increase both heart rate and blood pressure.
Brain function – Stress can reduce tissue which leads to reduced brain function.
Colds – Stress weakens the immune system making it difficult to fight infections.
Digestion – Diarrhoea, heartburn, IBS and heartburn can be caused by stress.
Food cravings – Cravings for sugar and fat, and eating to fulfil emotional needs.
Hair loss – Stress has been found to trigger three different types of hair loss.
Headaches – Chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol can lead to severe migraines.
Heart disease – Stress puts you at greater risk of strokes and heart disease.
Insomnia – Along with insomnia which inhibits rest, stress also causes hyperarousal.
Memory loss – Chronic stress can lead to a significant reduction in spatial memory.
Pregnancy – Along with premature labour, stress can also affect foetal development.
Premature ageing – Stress shortens telomeres which protect cell chromosomes.
Sex drive – Stress has been found to reduce sex drives as well as sexual pleasure.
Weight gain – Stress raises cortisol levels which encourage the body to store fat.
The physical effects of stress are disturbing and after reading through the list above you may realise that you’re affected by many of them yourself. But you don’t have to lead a life characterised by physical complaints – not to mention the emotional and mental turmoil that many people experience due to stress – because help is at hand.
Stress Management
What many people fail to realise is that stress doesn’t need to be a part of our daily lives and that it can be effectively managed using one or more of a variety of stress management techniques. What’s more, every one of us can use stress management methods to reduce the stress that they’re prone to experiencing at work or at home.
So, whether you’re a busy professional in a corporate position and constantly under pressure in the workplace, a single father who’s been through a trying divorce, or a woman going through menopause, you too can effectively manage the stress you’ve been experiencing and start looking at life in a more confident and positive light.
Coaching
To learn how to manage your stress and look at life more confidently and positively, coaching is considered the most effective method. The decision to work with a coach to help you manage stress more effectively is a very personal decision, one that you may not feel completely comfortable with at first, which is understandable.
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