Stress And Its Impact On Health

What is stress?

Does your head ever hurt when you've got a chunk of missed deadlines and due projects, coupled with lack of sleep and added fatigue? How do you recognize that feeling? Well, here's the word for it, “Stress”. Stress is the term used to categorize physical and mental tension as a response to a certain negative change that is likely to invoke feelings like unhappiness, anxiety, and general dissatisfaction.

Why does it happen?

In current times, stress has become an unavoidable aspect of our everyday life. We witness and encounter situations in which we find ourselves at the compromising end acting as the leading factor to stressful situations. The foremost cause can be listed as family-related stress involving situations like arguments and miscommunication, work-related stress involving situations like disagreements and financial issues etc. Some of the other reasons for stress could include traumatic events and experiences like mugging, unemployment, the demise of a loved one and many more. Stress is also inflicted by a distorted psychological state or any kind of fear including social, physical and financial threats.

What happens in your body when you are stressed?

Stress is a major stimulant that affects the functioning of our body and impacts us mentally socially, physically & emotionally. Let's look at some of the ways in which stress can disrupt the bodily balance.

1. Lifestyle disorders: Stressing too much can have negative health implications and hamper the bodily balance to a great extent. Stressing ourselves out can lead to conditions like PCOD & PCOS, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, heart disorders, stroke, sleep disorders, depression, and various other cardiovascular diseases.

2. Eating disorders and obesity: Sometimes people tend to increase their food intake in order to combat the negative feelings invoked by stressful situations. This tendency leads to a spike in their weight thereby causing other leading health problems like obesity.

3. Premature Ageing: Another negative health implication of stress is premature ageing. When we find ourselves in conflicting situations, our body starts forming wrinkles, our muscles weaken, and sometimes we end up developing poor eyesight at early stages.

4. Weakened immune system: The stress hormone in our body sometimes cracks down on the efficient performance of our immune system, which is why when we're stressed, we get susceptible to more infections as the ability of the body to fight the antigens gets lowered down.

5. Emotional Instability: The impact of stress is not just limited to health problems but also extends to social and emotional conflicts. Sometimes we lose our ability to conquer and get a sense of stability even when we're jarred up with relatively small issues.

6. Hormonal Imbalance: Stress is one of the biggest causes of hormonal imbalances in women and root cause is usually too much production of cortisol hormone which happens when the person is under stress and it can lead to various complications such as menstrual irregularities, infertility, PMS & mood instability. Symptoms include fatigue, adult acne, hair loss or excessive facial hair growth, night sweats, mood swings, leg cramps, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, hot flashes & weight gain.

How Can We Cope Up With Stress ?

With increasing workload and packed schedules we know that it is almost impossible to avoid stress, which leaves us with only one way- willingly and consciously practicing ways that can help us to cope and deal with the day to day stress. Along with improving our relationships and increasing our productivity, managing stress can also contribute positively to the improvement of our health status. Following are some quick ways which can potentially help in eliminating the stressors in our lives.

1. Recognizing the source of the stress.

2. Maintaining a positive approach.

3. Striking a balance between personal life and work life.

4. Accepting that not all situations can be controlled.

5. Effectively planning the time and sparing leisure.

6. Practicing meditation and other mind-calming exercises.

7. Outsourcing the extra work-load.

8. Eating balanced meals with inclusion of foods that tend to enhance mood.

9. Prioritizing the tasks sequentially.

10. Exercising, working out and getting enough sleep.

11. Avoiding unnecessary interruptions and distractions.

12. Organizing day to day tasks and avoiding procrastination.

That being said, effective stress management can relieve you from the constant worry and negative cloud of feelings burning your life. You can realize your true potential only after you recognize and let go of the stressors hovering in your life. Our productivity is increased, our energy is re-focused and there is a significant improvement in overall health. Managing stress can also help in overall health improvement as we get mindful of our eating habits and this leads to a prolonged and healthy life along with better management of diseases such as PCOS as stress management plays a vital role in the management of this disease.

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