Stress has become a part of our everyday life. It may occur due to various reasons like going for a job interview, getting test results, thinking about the future, and whatnot.
Even though it is a natural tendency of the human mind to stress about certain situations. However, an elongated period of stress can have serious effects on health.
Dealing with stressful situations regularly, we often wonder that there may be positive effects of stress on the body as getting anxious and stressed helps in getting the work done rather quickly.
However, this is not the case entirely, maybe sometimes it may help you to escape from difficult situations but it usually harms your health.
so, In this blog, we’re going to discuss how stress affects your health and well-being in the long run.
Additionally, there are briefly discussed ways to cope with it. So, let’s get started without any further ado.
Effects of Stress on the Body
Stress can interfere with your lifestyle by having numerous negative effects on your mental and physical health. Because most of them are easily treatable, people don’t take them seriously.
But can stress cause heart blockage or some other serious life-threatening problems? Keep reading if you want to know about some serious negative effects of stress on the body.
1. Psychological Effects
If there is anything that stress affects the most, then it is the mental health of an individual.
Long-term exposure to stressful situations tends to have psychological effects on a person. It triggers conditions like anxiety, depression, and insomnia which have now become common in adults.
Furthermore, it can have deeper consequences that may lead to developing disorders such as Schizophrenia and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
2. Behavioral Effects
Some stressful situations just seem never-ending. These circumstances naturally tend to cause behavioral changes in any individual.
They develop anger issues and are prone to get irritated easily. It also affects the sleeping schedule and appetite for the worse which furthermore, increases problems.
Moreover, it causes a change in sexual drive and thus, affects sexual performance as well.
3. Risk of Chronic Diseases
One of the major threats of overstressing is that it may worsen chronic diseases.
Patients are medically advised to avoid stress as much as possible. Stress directly affects bodily systems such as:
- Cardiovascular system
- Respiratory System
- Nervous System
- Immune System
- Digestive System
- Reproduction System
Stress triggers the flight-or-fight response in the body causing an increase in breathing rate and heartbeat rate.
Persisting acute stressful situations make the body prone to heart attacks, strokes, and an increase in blood sugar and cholesterol level.
This is mainly the reason why stress and heart blockage are linked so closely together.
Chronic breathing problems like asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema also get worsened as it causes irregular breathing as well as difficulties in it.
People generally relate stress to mental illness. But since we also often stress in daily life, there are also some common physical effects of it.
These include headaches, exhaustion, stomach ache, and muscle tension and it also makes the body vulnerable to infections and illnesses.
These physical symptoms, unlike the ones mentioned in the above paragraph, can be treated and regulated easily to prevent any further harm.
Apart from the casual physical symptoms, some long-term effects of stress on the body can also be improved by doing only some lifestyle changes in the regular schedule.
Let us discuss what changes can be made that will effectively help in coping with stress.
Ways to Manage Stress
Dealing with stress is easy when you make up your mind to move beyond it. making some small changes in everyday life can help to manage stress easily. Let us know what these changes are.
#1. Meditation
It is one of the most efficient ways to manage stress and it has been scientifically proven as well.
It relaxes our senses in all the best ways possible while also improving consciousness and clarity of mind. One can include Yoga or Tai Chi in their daily lifestyle to practice meditation.
#2. Healthy Diet
Keeping your diet healthy is another way to deal with stress. Stressful situations often can lead to unhealthy eating habits such as eating too much or too less, both of which are harmful.
It is therefore important to keep a check on diet plans and consume everything from different food sources in balanced amounts.
#3. Daily Exercise
Physical activity and exercise help in coping with stress by continuously engaging both the body and mind. It causes distractions from worries while also helping in maintaining body weight.
Additionally, meeting with friends, resting well, and drinking enough water are also ways that prove to be useful in such situations.
If the condition still doesn’t seem to improve then the individual should seek medical assistance as soon as possible to prevent further damage.
ALSO READ: Stress Management Training at Workplace
Conclusion
Stress has become our everyday companion but it should not overpower us. In most situations, stressing is as natural as anything else, however, it becomes harmful when persistent.
After reading the blog, we now know how troublesome overstressing can be for both mental and physical health. Further, the blog also talked about some easy ways that help in managing stress.
That is to say, stress is manageable and all we need to do is some small changes in our daily lifestyle, whether they be physical or mental requirements.
In some extreme cases when it turns out to be dangerous, then medical assistance becomes necessary.
We hope this blog helped you to know the effects of stress on the body. If liked it, do share it with your loved ones.
