Stress On Your Body: Our ancestors often faced dangerous situations. Attacks from an animal or enemy, resisting the forces of nature, and even getting food, were situations that required quick and precise reactions.
The human body has learned to react immediately to dangers by releasing stress hormones: cortisol and adrenaline. These are responsible for an increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, and blood flow to the muscles for a fruitful “fight or flight” reaction, depending on the situation.
Times have altered, and today there are no real reasons to fight or flight. Humans have adapted this mechanism to modern realities. We still actively concentrate and feel muscle tension when we are stressed. However, now it helps us cope with changes in usual conditions or a heavy workload.
The value of this magnificent mechanism is enormous because it has helped humans to survive for many centuries.
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Is Stress Just In Your Head Or In Your Whole Body?
- At first glance, it might seem that stress is only related to emotions and that it complicates relationships with other people.
- Every time you feel stress, it sets off a chain reaction that affects your entire body.
- The nervous system alerts the endocrine system to produce stress hormones and prepare the body to avoid danger.
- Breathing will increase to bring oxygen more quickly into the bloodstream.
- The circulatory system raises the pressure to accelerate the transport of nutrients and oxygen to the muscles. As a result, the forces go into a complete state of combat alert.
- Under permanent stress, the body is like a tightrope. So please don’t ignore the constant pressure it has on every system in your body. It can bring you unpleasant consequences.
Stress-Related Illnesses
- Have you noticed how informal it is to catch a cold or a virus while in a difficult life situation? At first glance, this whitethorn seems like a coincidence, but there is a direct connection between stress and increased susceptibility to infection.
- Under stress, the body keeps the cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscular systems in a constantly active state to withstand adversity.
- The immune system is susceptible to signals from the nervous and endocrine systems. Therefore, changes in their functions often lead to an impaired immune system.
- The vulnerability to diseases increases because, at this time, the body does not have enough resources to resist. After all, its forces will direct to combat stress.
- Experiencing acute stress once will not cause serious problems, but if it becomes chronic, it can be detrimental to health and cause various diseases.
- Although stress is part of our lives, it is essential not to let it become a serious health problem.
- There are approximately 50 symptoms of stress, but through ignorance, many cans will mistake them for routine illnesses. Each person has a combination of symptoms.
- Stress affects physical health, cognitive abilities, emotions, and behaviour.
- If, during a difficult life period, one experiences headaches or muscle aches, sleep and digestion problems, fatigue, and low libido, these may be stress symptoms
- Stress often alters behaviour. People get more nervous and complain more, their mood can change in a minute, or they experience uncontrollable outbursts of anger.
- Stress also frequently influences appetite, and it can disappear or become excessive.
- Stress can also increase with the use of sedatives and the consumption of alcohol or tobacco.
- The emotional impact of stress can be the most intense. It causes anxiety, forgetfulness, pessimism, exhaustion, loneliness, and difficulty concentrating.
Acute Episodic Stress: When Tension Becomes Problematic
If a person experiences consecutive stressful events (for example, job loss, breakup, etc.) over a short period, this condition can be called acute episodic stress.
It may take several beings to several weeks to resolve this situation.
During this time, the body will be under tremendous pressure and necessarily respond with stress symptoms: trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating or communicating, indigestion, distraction, fatigue, and irritability.
This type of stress poses a significant danger to your health, so you must recognize its symptoms and begin to alleviate them.
Causes Of Chronic Stress(Stress On Your Body)
Even the most mentally stable people can find themselves in a situation that causes them constant worry and anxiety for an extended period. It is known as chronic stress.
Causes can be psychological (severe fatigue, too much responsibility), social (a job loss), or physiological (long-term illness).
Sometimes an unpleasant event may not be long-lasting, but it may affect someone so much that they will not be able to deal with its consequences for a while (for example, the loss of a loved one or abuse).
The distinguishing feature of this type of stress is its duration. A person experiencing chronic stress cannot come out of a depressed state for an extended period.
In this case, common stress symptoms are aggravated and can significantly affect health. Chronic stress is the cause of many serious diseases.
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How Can Stress Affect Your Eyesight?
In critical situations, the body begins to adapt to new conditions. Stress negatively affects the work of many systems and organs of the body, including the eyes.
Stress causes the release of adrenaline in the blood. As a result, the ocular muscle, responsible for the eye’s curvature, shrinks and fixes the lens to focus on the farthest.
At the same time, the pupil dilates, letting in the maximum amount of light for better vision. In this case, you can experience tunnel vision, which is the loss of peripheral vision.
In a stressful situation, breathing speeds up, and hyperventilation occurs (the oxygen content increases and the carbon dioxide level decreases). It can lead to seeing “floaters” and “stars” in front of the eyes.
You may also experience eyelid twitching, dry eyes, and headaches associated with increased eye pressure.
These symptoms should go away when the stressors are gone. Otherwise, you should consult a doctor.
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