In every 5 cases of human illness, 3 are a result of stress. If it’s not managed well, psychological stress can affect your mind, skin, heart, and the entire immune system. Since stress is a body’s natural way of responding to threats and pressure, it is difficult to cure stress in a short time. Besides, it involves a series of complex metabolic processes.
Here are the common symptoms of stress.
- Depression and anxiety.
- You always see the negative.
- A rapid heart rate.
- Memory loss.
- Anger.
- Using drugs.
Stress can arise due to several factors. For instance, having serious financial problems, losing a loved one, illness and retirement can be sure ways of giving you stress. It takes a lot of preparation, attitude, and self-control to manage stress.
We will look at the impact of stress on general body health. In addition, you will know the devastating effects of stress on the brain, and blood.
Psychological Stress and the Human Body
Stress can make you age faster. Besides, stress can lead to chronic cases of Asthma, and heart attack. When emotional pressure affects your central nervous system, the body responds by distributing enough oxygen. This distribution leads to faster breathing, then heart problems.
If you have stress, your body experiences a headache, insomnia, fatigue, and tension in muscles. In addition, research studies have shown that stress decreases libido. In women, psychological stress inhibits production of progesterone hormone. As a result, stressed people have lowered sex drive.
Traumatic stress in men can affect the production of testosterone hormone. The hormone is responsible for men’s’ reproductive system. Low testosterone levels mean low sperm count.
Effect of Stress on Blood
Stress can cause an instant increase in blood pressure. Similarly, stress can cause long-term blood pressure problems. Stress is not directly related to blood pressure. Instead, it uses secondary mechanisms that will, in turn, increase blood pressure levels.
For instance, when you are in a stressful situation, your body produces hormones that attempt to satisfy the blood imbalance. Feeling stressed may make one attempt to use drugs that can help them feel relaxed. These drugs lead to increased long-term blood pressure.
Situational stress can cause constriction of blood vessels. In this case, blood pressure increases for a short time. After some time, the vessels relax, and blood pressure returns to normal. People doing stressor tasks are 21% more likely to have high blood pressure.
Effect of Stress on the Human Brain
Stress has been found to create radicals in the brain. The radicals lack oxygen, a condition that kills brain cells. In addition, stress can inhibit the production of new brain chemicals, leading to depression.
Stress has also been a major cause of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Since it is expensive to treat Alzheimer’s disease, financial costs worsen the situation. In memory loss, electrical signals associated with storing information weaken. As a result, one cannot recall basic daily activities.
6 Proven Ways of Avoiding Stress
Even though stress can be life-saving in difficult situations, it still has more harm than good. From students to teachers, children, and grown-ups, we are all at risk of having stress. Do these simple activities to avoid and manage stress.
Reduce Your Expectations – If you are desperate about something, you may end up disappointed when you do not meet your goal. Set achievable targets, and prepare for negative outcomes. Reducing expectations will help you get relaxed, and have few things to think about.
Exercise – Regular exercising activates neurotransmitters known as endorphins. The endorphins have a relaxing effect. Studies show that exercising the body and the mind can significantly fight stress-related diseases.
Exercising activates your brain to deal with challenges. In addition, it can change a sorrowful mood to happiness. This positivity reduces stress.
Have A Working Schedule – Being too busy isn’t good for your general body health. Students doing involving courses should create more time for recreational activities. If you are in the workplace, delegate most of your tasks. Outsourcing will free yourself and make your brain relax. So, you reduce the chances of having fatigue.
Try Meditation – Meditation has been widely practiced as a way of relaxing the body. Meditation can help fight stress-related diseases like insomnia, hypertension, asthma, anxiety, and depression.
Meditating increases your creativity, imagination, and patience to deal with current problems. While meditating, you focus on the present. Besides, you take relaxed breaths, which is healthy for the human heart.
Have Enough Sleep – Good sleep contributes to general body fitness. How many follow the 8-hour sleep rule? Increasing the sleeping time to 8 hours a night seems difficult. However, you can increase the sleeping time by 15 minutes. After a few days, increase by 15 minutes again.
Sleep improves your memory and the ability to think clearly.
Take Pills – After diagnosis, a doctor may recommend certain medication. In reality, pills that increase oxygen levels can help improve brain functioning. You can consider taking fat loss supplements to improve exercising flexibility.
You can take other pills made to reduce stress hormones. Going for a vacation is also a good way of avoiding stress.
