THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF LONG TERM STRESS - PsychCentral 22 Jul 2022

Stress can impact your mental health, but it can also affect your physical well-being.

Whether you experience it occasionally or you face it frequently, stress can creep up on us all at some point. While we often think of how stress affects our mental health, the strain it can put on our bodies is just as important to consider.

Stress can affect every area of our body, from our ability to fight off viruses to how we digest food.

Understanding just what stress does to our bodies can help reduce its effects. By taking intentional steps to reduce stress and its symptoms, we can mitigate stress’s strain on our physical health.

Stress and the body It can often feel as if stress affects only your mental health, but it can also have a significant impact on your physical well-being. When stress occurs, your body reacts.

To defend against stress, your body unleashes hormones that speed up your heart rate, tense your muscles, and boost your immune system. Once stress passes, your body resumes its usual state.

With chronic or prolonged stress, though, your body may remain in a state of stress defense, and you may find yourself experiencing symptoms such as:

• anxiety
• depression
• headaches or migraines
• muscle pain
• insomnia
• irritability

Chronic stress can impact your entire body — from the nervous system to the reproductive system. No area is exempt from the effects of stress.

**How Stress Affects The Body Central nervous and endocrine system Stress can trigger your body’s fight, flight, or freeze response, which is controlled by your central nervous system (CNS).

When stress is perceived, your brain sends signals throughout your body. You’ll likely experience an uptick in adrenaline and cortisol (also known as stress hormones), as well as an increase in your heart rate. This reaction prepares you to face (or flee) the challenge ahead.

Your CNS will likely go back to business as usual once the stress has passed. In cases of chronic stress, however, your body may remain in a defensive response.

This can contribute to behaviors like turning to drugs or alcohol for support, over or under-eating, or feeling anxious or depressed — which can all, in turn, create additional stress.

Respiratory and cardiovascular system The release of stress hormones can put your respiratory and cardiovascular systems into overdrive.

Airways in your lungs will widen to allow more oxygen to flow to your brain, causing your breathing to become quicker. While this is meant to help sharpen your senses and increase alertness, it can also make breathing more difficult — especially for those with conditions such as asthma, emphysema, or chronic bronchitis.

The extra adrenaline released during the stress response also causes an increase in blood flow. Your heart rate and blood pressure rise as your body works to pump blood to your heart, muscles, and other vital organs, preparing them to react.

Experiencing long-term stress puts strain on your heart by forcing it to work harder more often, increasing your risk of developing high blood pressure or experiencing a heart attack or stroke.

Digestive system There are various ways stress can wreak havoc on your digestive system. For some, stress can cause stomach discomfort, including pain, bloating, or nausea. Others may experience diarrhea, constipation, or even irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

ResearchTrusted Source also suggests a link between physical stress and ulcers. While stress may make existing ulcer pain worse, more studies are needed to determine whether stress can directly cause ulcer formation.

Stress can also trigger an increase in glucose levels, which may increase the risks associated with type 2 diabetes.

According to a 2005 review, stress may not affect only existing cases of diabetes, but it may also contribute to its development. Findings have been mixed, though, and more research is needed in this area.

Muscular system To protect themselves, your muscles tense up when stress occurs but will usually relax once the stress passes. Chronic stress, however, can prolong muscle tension.

This can lead to headaches and migraines, as well as aches and pains in the shoulders, back, and extremities.

Sexuality and reproductive system Long-term stress can have lasting effects on male and female reproductive systems. Stress can also impact a person’s sex drive. Stress can mentally and physically wear you out, and you may find yourself avoiding sexual activity.

Women may experience changes both before and during their menstrual cycles. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms may worsen, and periods themselves can become heavier, more painful, or irregular.

Those going through menopause may also notice heightened symptoms when stressed due to increased hormone levels.

Research also shows that stress may also make it difficult to become pregnant or can complicate an existing pregnancy.

In men, chronic stress can cause testosterone levels to drop, impact sperm production, or even lead to issues such as:

• impotence
• erectile dysfunction
• infections in the prostate or testes

Immune system Your immune system is activated by stress, helping you avoid infections and heal faster. But while stress can give your immune system a positive boost in the moment, chronic stress can eventually weaken its effectiveness.

This can make it harder to recover after getting sick or injured. It can also cause you to contract viruses — like a cold or the flu — more easily and leave you more open to other infections or illnesses.

**WAYS TO REDUCE STRESS* Stress isn’t always avoidable, but it is manageable. There are many ways that you can lessen or even eliminate stress when it creeps up.

Try to listen to your body. Learning what triggers stress and how your body reacts to it can help you identify ways to combat your specific stress symptoms.

Consider doing an activity you love. Bingeing your favorite show, writing in your journal, listening to music, or reading a book can soothe stress and make you feel happier and more calm. Try to exercise regularly. Exercise increases your endorphin levels, which can elevate your mood and boost energy. Consider a relaxing activity. Meditation, mindfulness, muscle relaxation, or other soothing activities can help ease symptoms of stress.

Engage with others. While asking for help isn’t always easy (especially when we’re feeling stressed), connecting with others for support can help ease stress. Speaking with a professional. A healthcare or mental health professional can provide you with resources or suggest treatment for managing your stress.

Let’s recap We often associate stress with how it affects our mental health, but its physical effects are just as important to understand.

Our bodies respond to stress by releasing hormones and triggering reactions that help defend and protect our overall well-being.

This includes elevating your heart rate to pump blood to your vital organs, increasing your breathing to spread energy-giving oxygen throughout your body, and boosting your immune system to prevent any infectious attack.

When stress eases, our bodies relax and resume business as usual. But when we experience chronic or prolonged bouts of stress, our bodies may be prevented from returning to a relaxed state.

This can negatively impact your health, from lowering your immune defenses and raising your blood pressure to causing digestive or reproductive issues.

By taking intentional, actionable steps, you can reduce the impact of stress. Engaging in activities you enjoy, regularly exercising, connecting with loved ones, or seeking the guidance of a healthcare or mental health professional can all help you overcome stress.

ALL ABOUT STRESS

Everyone experiences stress at some point in their lives. But what’s stressful to you may not be the same as what’s stressful to others. You might also have your own way of managing that stress.

The intensity and duration of your stress response will depend on many factors that range from your personality to your support system.

And although it may often feel unpleasant, stress is an evolutionary necessity. More importantly, it can be managed. When it isn’t, though, it may develop into an acute or chronic stress disorder.

What is stress? Stress is the body’s natural response to a stressor. A stressor is a trigger that may cause you to experience physical, emotional, or mental distress and pressure.

In other words, stress is a physical sensation and a feeling of being overwhelmed and not able to deal with the pressures caused by a stressor.

Your mental and physical reactions to a stressor serve a purpose.

For example, in a hazardous situation, stress puts your body in “fight or flight” mode. In this heightened state of alert, your body and brain are doing everything possible to increase your chances of surviving that perceived or real threat.

You may also have a stress reaction to events that might not be life-threatening, like job deadlines or school assignments. In these scenarios, when managed well, stress could helpTrusted Source you focus and accomplish your goals at an optimal level.

When stress has this potential for a positive outcome, it’s usually referred to as eustress. When, on the other hand, stress leads you to feel overwhelmed and unable to cope, we refer to it as distress.

In the short and long run, distress may impact your mental health and sense of well-being.

Impact of distress on your mental health Mental health professionals usually consider three main types of negative stress responses. They each have their own signs and symptoms and may vary in duration too.

Acute stress disorder (ASD) To reach a diagnosis of acute stress disorder, symptoms must last between 3 days and 1 month. A trigger is usually a traumatic event that causes an intense reaction.

Symptoms of acute stress disorder include:

• feeling emotionally detached or numb
• dissociative amnesia
• derealization and depersonalization
• flashbacks or recurring images from the traumatic event
• hypervigilance and constant state of alert

• anxiety symptoms For example, after experiencing a jarring car accident, you might start:

• avoiding vehicles altogether

• feeling muscle tension when riding in a car

• having nightmares about the car accident

• experiencing panic attacks with or without an evident cause If symptoms last for more than a month, a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is possible.

Episodic acute stress disorder Folks with episodic acute stress disorder experience intense and heightened distress from everyday challenges. In other words, if you live with this condition, you periodically experience intense and extreme stress reactions to relatively simple stressors.

Contrary to acute stress disorder, which is caused by one traumatic experience, episodic acute stress is a response to several stressors that might not be considered such by people without the condition.

For example, if you have episodic acute stress disorder, you might have an intense stress response from deciding what to do for lunch today, and again later on from thinking about an important report you need to submit tomorrow.

Some people with type A personality develop this condition.

Symptoms of episodic acute stress disorder may include:

• irritability and poor anger management
• heart palpitations and shortness of breath
• muscular stiffness and pain
• panic attacks and other signs of anxiety
• chronic illnesses
• Chronic stress Left unchecked, stress responses can become a chronic condition such as generalized anxiety disorder.

Ongoing stress keeps your nervous system in overdrive. Your cortisol and adrenaline levels are constantly coursing at higher levels, and your body and mind don’t get the opportunity to wind down.

While acute and episodic stress symptoms will eventually ease, chronic stress holds the sympathetic nervous system hostage in a heightened state for an extended and undefined amount of time.

Triggers for chronic stress can vary from person to person, and they may include chronic illness, abuse, racism, and lack of rest and sleep.

Some signs and symptoms of chronic stress include:

• difficulty sleeping
• frequent headaches
• irritability
• brain fog
• anxiety
• depression
• physical conditions like acid reflux, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive disorders

Causes of stress Maybe you’re late to an appointment because of traffic, or you’re a new parent who hasn’t gotten enough sleep for a while. Life is full of potential stressors, and your threshold for managing these triggers depends on many factors.

What may cause you stress is not necessarily what stresses someone else. We are all unique in our responses and in how we interpret events. While some people get excited by speaking in public, others may experience a panic attack in the same situation.

There are also a few important life events that tend to be more stressful for everyone.

A well-known tool used by health professionals to measure the amount of stress someone’s experiencing is the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory. According to this scale, the most stressful life events are:

• death of a spouse
• divorce
• marital separation
• incarceration
• death of a close family member
• major injury or illness
• marriage
• being fired from a job
• marital reconciliation
• retirement
• drastic change in the health of a family member
• pregnancy
• Extreme life changes, such as a pandemic, for example, may also trigger intense stress reactions in many people.

Contributing factors Any stimulus you experience throughout the day has the potential to activate a stress response.

Different stimuli may cause different biological stress reactions, resulting in physical, psychological, or psychosocial stress. Sometimes, the same stimulus might cause more than one type of stress reaction.

Hypothetically, if you procrastinated on your work presentation and found yourself standing in front of your bosses unprepared, you may feel all three types of stress simultaneously: the physical stress reaction of a stomach ache from nerves; the psychological stress of worrying that this will end your chances at promotion; and the psychosocial stress of fearing ostracization for failing to perform to an expected standard.

What else can cause specific stress responses?

• Physical stress
• acute or chronic disease
• injury
• poor nutrition
• lack of quality sleep
• Psychological stress
• worry
• guilt
• mental health conditions
• attachment style
• grief
• Psychosocial stress
• relationships
• employment
• isolation
• racism

Not everyone reacts the same way to these potential stressors. Your body may adapt better to fewer hours of sleep, or you may not find isolation as unpleasant as other people. If this is the case, your reaction to these stressors would not be as intense.

Your personality also plays an important role in the emotional narrative you craft around stress stimuli.

Your genetic makeup, past experiences, negative thinking patterns and cognitive distortions, and tendency to catastrophize can contribute to how intensely you react to a given situation.

At the same time, stressors don’t exist in a vacuum. They can become exacerbated or subdued due to other circumstances in your life.

In general, factors like a strong support network may positively impact overall mental wellness and your ability to manage stress.

You might also overcome a stressful obstacle when the stressor only happens occasionally. When faced with the same stressor every day, though, you’re likely to handle it better on day 1 than on day 82, for example.

In other words, the longer you’re exposed to an stressor, the greater the impact it will have on you.

Examples of long-term stressors include:

• a toxic workplace
• a chronic illness
• poverty
• racism and discrimination
• relationship conflict

Symptoms and effects of stress - Acute stress effects When you’re exposed to a stressor, your brain and hormones immediately signal your body to be alert. You can thank the hormone epinephrine, more famously known as adrenaline, for symptoms such as:

• rapid heart rate
• focused vision and alertness
• tensed muscles
• increased lung capacity

If the stressful event is ongoing, your body will release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which causes the adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol keeps your body in this high-performance state until the peril has passed.

Sometimes, the body gets so hyped up on cortisol that it can’t switch off its high state of alert, even after the threat is gone.

• Chronic stress effects A body that won’t wind down from ACTH and adrenaline can be impacted psychologically, physically, and emotionally.

Left in high-stress mode, your body may respond by developing more symptoms.

These symptoms may be physiological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral.

• Physiological effects
• weight fluctuation
• high blood pressure
• increased chance of heart disease due to high blood pressure
• sexual dysfunction
• chronic muscle tension
• higher severity of acneTrusted Source
• insomnia
• fertility interruptions and irregular periods
• low sex drive
• increased risk of type 2 diabetes
• changes in appetite
• diarrhea or constipation
• Emotional and psychological effects
• low energy and motivation
• anxiety
• irritability and anger
• low self-esteem
• changes in mood
• Cognitive effects
• cognitive distortions
• memory challenges
• learning difficulties
• poor concentration
• brain fog
• intrusive thoughts
• Social and behavioral effects
• social withdrawal
• changes in routines
• substance abuse
• relationship conflicts

How to manage stress Stress is inevitable throughout your life, but it can be managed to reduce the chance it affects you in the long term.

Consider these tips to better manage your stress reaction:

1. Take a walk in nature You don’t have to drive to a mountain resort to feel the stress-relieving benefits of nature. To start coping with stress, find any green space, like:

a park a bench under a tree a friend’s backyard A study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that spending just 20 minutes outdoors is associated with the biggest drop in cortisol levels when compared with other stress-reducing initiatives.

Presuming you have to walk to your nature destination, getting outside also has the stress-reducing bonus of some light exercise to help stabilize your sympathetic nervous system.

2. Learn new breathing techniques Perhaps the most accessible stress reliever is built right into your body. Deep breathing and breathing techniques like belly breathing signal to your brain that it’s time to chill out.

Focusing on your breath is a long-held tenet of meditation for stress.

Learning to control your breathing can keep you anchored in the present moment. Sometimes, reminding yourself of what’s real and happening right now calms your nerves about the future and frustrations about the past.

3. Develop routines that work for you Change is part of life. But a large part of life is also under your control. Developing a solid routine that promotes your mental wellness is a healthy way to minimize the potential stressful impact of change.

For example, sticking to a routine might help you maintain better sleep or eating habits.

When you know that certain parts of your day are guaranteed to happen, it prevents last-minute decisions that can result in stress.

Particularly during the pandemic, when the days may seem long and unformed, introducing some structure can help our brains and bodies adjust and reduce stress levels.

4. Power down blue screens Are you using your phone as a tool, or are you addicted to scrolling?

Some studiesTrusted Source have found an association between cell phone overuse and increased levels of stress, as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety.

To curb your phone use, consider setting limits on the time you spend with it, particularly before bedtime.

Shutting the phone down 30 minutes before bedtime has been shownTrusted Source to have the potential to improve quality of sleep, working memory, and positive emotions during the day.

5. Organize your stress triggers You know what may push your buttons. It may be overdue bills or setting up a doctor’s appointment.

Ignoring unpleasant tasks may feel easier than confronting them in the moment. But out of sight doesn’t always mean out of mind, and not resolving things as they arise could clutter your mind with stress.

Consider tackling the junk drawer, making the appointment today, and revamping your important document filing system.

Developing a systematic approach to areas of your life that cause routine stress may leave you feeling lighter and more competent.

When to seek help Even if you know how to manage stress, there are times when stressors have a greater impact and your responses may be more intense.

It’s natural to need extra help once in a while.

If you feel stress is impacting your day-to-day life, it may be time to reach out for professional help.

It is especially important to seek this support if you’re experiencing symptoms of acute stress disorder.

Getting the necessary help can help manage stress before it impacts other aspects of your life.

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