Stress is something that has an immediate effect on the body. It is not always viewed as something bad, but when it becomes chronic, your health is put at risk. All of us humans experience on a daily basis, whether it is good stress or bad. We all know the feeling when we are stressed, and we are so used to saying "I am so stressed about this.." or "This is really stressing me out." We sometimes lack the knowledge of what is happening inside of our bodies when too much stress begins taking over.
Here are some ways that too much chronic stress can harm your body:
1. Fatigue
Have you ever felt so wiped out when you are stressing about something on a daily basis? Frequent stress can cause your brain to limit the amount of cortisol it sends into your bloodstream which can make you feel like you are dragging on all day.
2. Muscle Tension
If you are constantly under stress, your muscles don't get a chance to relax. Tight muscles cause headaches, back pain tension, your muscles do not get a chance to relax. Tight muscles cause headaches, back and shoulder pain and body aches.
3. Immune System
Stress may not always be something that we are conscious about. There may be daily ongoing stress that we deal with, but we may not perceive it as something threatening to our health. Stress makes us susceptible to illness and disease because the brain sends defense signals to the endocrine system, which then releases an array of hormones that not only prepares us for emergency situations, but severely decreases the immune system simultaneously. It is important to be aware of even the little things because effects of stress are cumulative and even typical day-to-day activities can eventually lead to more serious health issues.
4. Memory/ Cognition
Has there ever been a time where your mind just went blank? Did you blank before an exam, or blank when you were trying to remember someone's phone number? The reason that this occurs, is because stress and cortisol influence memory. Inducing stress, followed by increasing cortisol , during or after learning benefits memory consolidation, while increasing cortisol during retrieval hinders recall. More simply put, chronically elevated cortisol levels seem to impair memory.
So, where do we go from here? Think about trying these things the next time stress tries to combat your body:
1. Relaxation Exercises
The link between the mind and the body can be strengthened by specific relaxation exercises. Meditation and guided imagery are good examples of this. Once you begin to use these exercises as a daily part of your life, they will become a buffer that guards against the breakdown of organ systems.
2. Sleep Hygiene
Sleep is crucial for being able to cope with stress. One thing that can be a distraction to your sleep is your cell phone. The blue light produced from your cell phone, TV, computer and tablet restrain the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls your sleep/wake cycle of circadian rhythm.
It can be difficult, but try to stay off of these devices a little while before you go to bed so that it doesn't make it harder for you to fall and stay asleep.
3. Behavior Modification Techniques
Challenge your mind. Try to analyze the things that make you feel stressed, or old habits that you may realize become threatening to you. Some people cannot break the bad habit of biting their nails. In order to stop them from biting their nails, there is a clear substance that you can paint on your fingernails that tastes awful. Painting their nails with it, helps stop the behavior of biting nails.
This is referred to as aversion therapy, or pairing an unwanted stimulus to an unwanted behavior in order to eliminate that behavior.
Here is to a more positive, and more relaxed YOU!
