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How Stress Affects Health

With the busy lifestyles people try to maintain in modern times, many people suffer from stress, defined as a physical reaction to the body being put in an unusual, dangerous or intense situation. Work, family, personal relationships and financial responsibilities are all factors that trigger stress in our lives. Learning about the causes, symptoms and treatments for stress is important to effectively reducing it in your life.

If you don't identify the causes of stress in your life, they will not only continue to haunt you but may also cause serious physical, mental and emotional harm to you and those around you.

What Happens to My Body When I Feel Stressed?
Did you know that the physical responses to stress evolved millions of years ago as a way for human beings to deal with potentially dangerous situations? When cavemen would encounter large, threatening animals, for example, their bodies would go into fight-or-flight mode to prepare them to either flee the situation or fight their way out of it.

When the body goes into flight-or-fight mode, we undergo certain physiological and chemical changes. For example, our blood pressure and heart rates increase. Our bodies also release adrenaline.

When we face threatening or intense situations today, our bodies still react the same way they did in prehistoric times. Because there is often no outlet to release the excess energy and hormones, these physical changes build up in the body, creating a negative effect on one's overall health.

The Adverse Effects of Stress on Health
Being in a constant state of stress can have an adverse effect on physical and mental health. One of the first signs of continued stress is increased blood pressure. Over time, elevated blood pressure can lead to weakening of the arteries and the heart, which could potentially cause a heart attack.

Because sources of stress often stay on people's minds, they tend to have anxiety problems and poor sleeping habits, either sleeping too much or not sleeping enough. They may also suffer from other physical ailments, such as body aches or indigestion. As stress persists, it weakens the immune system, making the stressed out person significantly more susceptible to catching other diseases.

While all of these physically debilitating effects of stress are seriously damaging, possibly the worst effect of stress is the damage it can do to a person's mental health. In fact, stress is one of the leading causes of depression. Other mental and emotional effects of high, persistent stress levels include anxiety attacks and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The Effects of Stress on Society
Stress-related health problems have a serious effect on both the economy and the workforce. In fact, stress is the leading cause of absenteeism in the workplace. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the combined effects of lowered productivity and increased absenteeism costs American industry more than $300 billion annually.

Because stress can be so debilitating, it's important that people educate themselves on its negative physical and emotional effects. Being aware of the warning signs can help people identify and possibly eliminate the sources.