The Effects and Dangers of Stress
I saw in my local paper recently that the World Health Organization has declared stress a global epidemic. I believe it! How we managed to get ourselves in this predicament, I’m not quite sure, but I know it’s an issue for me.
When we experience a response to stress, what happens in our body? A lot:
- Constriction of our blood vessels, which can cause the blood pressure to rise and diminish the brain’s ability to be creative.
- Increased heart rate and respiration speed, which puts a strain on the heart and lungs.
- Increased clotting factors in the blood stream, thus increasing our risk for strokes, heart attacks, and blood clots.
- Suppression of our immune system, thus making us more vulnerable to disease.
- Shutting-down of our digestive tract, which can cause nausea, bloating, and bowel problems.
- Increased adrenaline, which uses up many nutrients.
- Release of excessive sugar into the blood followed by increased insulin to metabolize it, resulting in headaches, nausea, etc.
- Increased cholesterol in the blood (increasing the rise of artery congestion).
- Increased release of the hormone cortisol, which can contribute to decreased concentration, memory loss and confusion, and impaired immune function.
- Acceleration of the aging process at the cellular level. The January 2005 issue of the AARP Bulletin reported on a study that found chronic stress appears to accelerate the aging process by shortening the life span of cells, opening the door to disease.
… And all for the purpose of preparing us for “fight or flight”! In today’s stressful situations, neither fight nor flight are the typical responses, but the body still reacts in the same way, often causing more harm than good. And in fact, repeated daily stressors, even little things like heavy traffic or running late, can contribute to the stress response system getting stuck in the “on” position… definitely not a good thing for our mental OR physical health.
Stress is truly killing us! What can we do?! I’ll tell you just that in another post, coming soon.
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