The lives of modern people are full of stress. For this reason, many people suffer from the side effects of chronic stress. It can make your life harder and decrease your overall sense of well-being. Stress makes your heart race, your breath becomes quick and prepares your muscles for action. This is a fight-or-flight response that helps protect your body in an emergency by preparing you to run away or fight.
When the stress response keeps firing day after day, it can put you at risk of serious health problems. Below are 6 side effects of stress on your body.
1. Heart disease
When stress hits you, it feels like your heart is beating out of your chest. This happens because of the fight-or-flight response. Your body increases the blood flow to the muscles to prepare you for a fight. Chronic stress can make your heart constantly work harder. Overstraining your heart can increase your risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. High levels of stress are also linked to more arterial inflammation that is a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.
There is also an indirect effect of stress on your health. When you are stressed, you become more prone to make unhealthy food choices. Stress can make you indulge in junk food, alcohol, or cigarettes. All these things are extremely bad for both heart and overall health.
2. Weakened immune system
Chronic stress can weaken your immune system significantly. When you experience stress, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol. Short-term exposure to cortisol is good for your health. But if the levels of cortisol are chronically elevated, your overall body inflammation can increase. Because of inflammation, the number of disease-fighting lymphocytes (white blood cells) decreases, making you vulnerable to bacteria and viruses.
3. Muscle tension and pains
When you experience stress, your muscles tense up to protect us from potential injury. Chronic exposure to stress can make your muscles stiff and cause pain. Constant tension can lead to painful problems like neck pain, headaches, backaches, shoulder pain, and overall body aches. If you have noticed that you experience unexplained pain and aches, chronic stress can be responsible for this. If you have chronic pain, stress can aggravate it significantly.
Managing your stress levels can help reduce and even cure bodily pain. A great option to manage stress levels and improve physical health is yoga.
4. Memory problems
Stressful events can make you feel like you're finding your way through a smokey room. It can cause difficulty concentrating on anything besides what is causing your stress. This can help you in a dangerous situation when you need to focus on the stressor. When you experience chronic stress, this can cause difficulty forming new memories and recollecting older ones. Additionally, chronic stress often results in mental exhaustion that is linked to memory problems.
5. Hair issues
Constant feelings of stress cause hair loss and make your hair turn grey. Stress can permanently damage the pigment in your hair and make your hair follicles grey. Additionally, stress causes hair loss and makes your hair follicles enter their "resting phase". In this phase, your hair stops growing. Over time, chronic stress may contribute to baldness.
6. Skin problems
Stress can make your sebaceous glands work more intensively. As a result, your skin becomes oily and sweaty. This can increase the risk of acne breakouts or make existing acne worse. Stress is also linked to other serious skin conditions like eczema, rosacea, and psoriasis. This happens because chronic stress causes inflammation that can make your immune system attack healthy body tissues.
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