Stress is common, but excessive stress can have a destructive impact on our health. The body’s response to stress includes activation of the “fight or flight” response, which can increase blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels. These changes can lead to problems such as weight gain, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. To avoid these negative effects, it’s important to learn how to manage stress effectively.
When stress gets too intense, it can become destructive in several ways. Some of those issues are discussed in the article below, as well as how to work through the stress.
Inability to Manage Your Emotions
Stress can have a powerful and destructive effect on our lives when we can no longer manage our emotions. It can become so big that it overwhelms us and takes over our thoughts and actions. This can devastate our relationships with family, friends, and coworkers. We need to find ways to work through these issues so that stress doesn’t get the best of us.
One way is to identify the things that cause us stress and then find ways to deal with them. This could be anything from relaxation techniques to talking to a friend or counselor. It’s also important to exercise and eat healthy, which can help improve our moods and give us more energy to deal with stress.
Mental Health Issues
Although it is normal to feel stressed from time to time, prolonged stress can be damaging to your mental health. Issues such as depression, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders can all be affected by chronic stress. The effects of prolonged stress on mental health can be seen in many different ways.
Stress can make people more likely to become depressed. People who are already prone to depression may find their symptoms become worse when they’re stressed out. If you are concerned about feelings of depression, talk to your doctor about whether there’s an underlying cause for your feelings.
Physical Health Problems
The body and mind are connected. Stress can affect physical health, just like it affects mental health. Chronic stress can lead to serious physical health problems such as:
Heart disease: Chronic stress may increase your risk for heart disease by elevating your blood pressure and heart rate, increasing inflammation in arteries, and increasing cholesterol levels.
Stomach ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Chronic stress may trigger stomach pain or constipation, or diarrhea in people who have IBS. It also may contribute to the development of gastric ulcers.
Type 2 Diabetes: Chronic stress raises your risk of type 2 diabetes by raising insulin resistance. It also causes changes in blood sugar metabolism that can lead to type 2 diabetes over time if they’re not corrected through healthy lifestyle changes and medications.
Obesity: Chronic stress increases appetite, which leads to weight gain over time. It also reduces muscle mass, which helps burn calories more efficiently throughout the day. Both effects make it harder for you to maintain a healthy weight than someone who is less stressed out.
https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-symptoms-effects_of-stress-on-the-body
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-20050987
