The influence of stress on health and how to have a more balanced healthy life
The stress of modern life is one of the main factors for poor quality of life and serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke or deficiency in the immune system.
This text aims to explain how stress can cause problems in our lives, as well as give tips on how to deal better with it in order to have more quality of life.
Stress and fear are natural reactions to the survival of the species, when the body is exposed to a potential danger, it reacts by preparing to flee or fight for its survival.
The ancestors of modern man had to be aware of the various real dangers to his life from the prehistoric context, such as threats from predators, natural events, and food shortages.
In spite of the technological evolution and the facilities of modern life, contemporary society imposes a series of new stressful situations and the modern professional context exposes the human being to a “new form of wildlife”.
Fights at work, annoyances in traffic, family discussions, fear of violence or unemployment are factors that trigger this system in a common way without the individual noticing.
The constant need for professional efficiency and the high competitiveness of the market generate more and more pressure for success and survival.
The insecurity of urban life, the uncertainties of the economy and the labor market create an increasingly catastrophic scenario.
The challenges imposed on individuals lead to increasing pressure and emotional illness, often characterized by the presence of chronic stress and the suffering brought by it.
It is also very common for the person to enter into a chronic anxiety process, potentiating stress and its effects.
This happens when the individual focuses his thinking on threats that may happen in a probable future.
When this happens, the organism tends to prepare for this threat as if it were eminent and present.
When a person is anxious, their body is in constant state of attention.
Thus, the system of fight or flight is constantly connected, sometimes until the exhaustion of the organism and the physiological limit.
Despite being an essential evolutionary aspect, this process was not developed to be in constant use and this can lead to health problems, both psychological and physical.
“The man who suffers before he suffers, suffers more than necessary.” — Seneca
How stress interferes with health
Excessive stress can be harmful and compromise the overall health of the individual.
One of the problems associated may be to generate deficiency in the immune system and facilitate illness.
This phenomenon can make more and more people sick.
When the person is in a state of stress or anxiety several neurophysiological processes are started to prepare the body for danger.
Neurotransmitters and hormones are produced and dumped into the body to activate the sympathetic nervous system.
Noradrenaline, adrenaline and cortisol are produced, which are the hormones responsible for the body’s reaction.
A person with chronic anxiety is constantly producing cortisol because it is in a state of permanent alertness.
This hormone has a high immunosuppressive potential when excess in the body and can cause the immune system to have its functioning impaired, leaving the body more vulnerable.
People who are very stressed or anxious usually get sick more easily, especially from opportunistic diseases such as seasonal flu and viruses.
Another system that can suffer from stress is the cardiovascular system.
Upon detecting a threat, the Nervous System reacts by preparing the organism by modifying the normal mode to a type of “survival mode”, presenting, among others, the following characteristics:
- The pupil dilates so that the subject is more attentive to the threats;
- Breathing becomes shorter and faster so that more energy is metabolized;
- Muscles contract to be ready to react to the aggressor;
- The heart rate accelerates to pump blood more efficiently to the limbs, generating more stress on the heart muscle.
This reaction is natural, the body has been “designed” to react to these stimuli to survive.
The problem is in excess.
This causes the body to be in constant tension and react with more and more stress.
High and constant levels of stress are detrimental to the cardiac musculature and vascular system.
The heart tends to suffer from this regular stress, so the risk of congenital heart disease, preexisting heart disease or related illnesses increases.
People with chronic stress problems are in the group at risk for diseases related to the cardiovascular system, such as high blood pressure, strokes and heart problems.
Thus, knowing how to cope and live with the stress and anxiety of modern life in a more functional way is fundamental to having more health and quality of life.
Preventing problems and increasing the likelihood of being healthier
Stress and anxiety are inevitable, the modern world has a plethora of new dangers and threats in the form of unemployment, public insecurity, maladjusted relationships, social isolation, among others.
So, with stress being unavoidable, how is it possible to deal with this problem in a functional and adaptive way?
One way to prevent these problems and have more quality of life is by focusing on being a more balanced and happy person.
The first step is to realize that you are living a stressful routine, identifying in your routine which key stressors and how they are influencing your life.
It is often fundamental to stop, plan for life, identify excesses, include activities to balance stressors with others that provide pleasure, and exclude activities that are leading to chronic stress …
In that case, knowing how to make choices is essential, as changes in lifestyle, whether small or large , may be necessary.
The main way to change and improve life is self-knowledge.
Stopping to understand how your life works, identifying the points where you can improve and scheduling the day so that it is less stressful can bring positive results.
It is necessary to change the way we live and face life.
Establishing new behaviors, changing the way you think, accepting what you can not control (and giving up control), maintaining better relationships, and improving the way you interact with the world around you are good alternatives.
Understanding when threats are real or imagined and how to deal with them is also important.
Often anxiety reactions originate from unrealistic perceptions or from catastrophic interpretations of real or imagined events.
Questioning these interpretations and having a more realistic perception helps to better understand reality and respond appropriately to expectations and situations.
Focusing on emotions and how relationships with the environment influence behavior are important points in identifying the triggers that trigger emotional state change.
With this you can find more balanced ways to react, creating new ways of behaving and reacting more adaptively.
It is also necessary to do activities that bring pleasure, because the absence of positive stimuli can lead to an anxious picture, thus, having a balanced life helps reduce stress and relieve tension.
Activities such as physical exercise, traveling, participating in social groups, having friends, owning a hobby, maintaining healthy relationships, having pets, participating in social projects or doing philanthropy can bring excellent benefits to the level of happiness.
The professional side has a great influence here.
Some individuals tend to focus excessively on work, so developing the ability to separate personal life from the professional is a plus and may help relieve stress symptoms.
Many people are constantly worrying about events that have not happened yet that may never happen.
Focusing too much on future or imaginary events can create very high expectations, generating anxiety, so having practices that focus on the present can help.
Thus, practices like mindfulness , yoga and meditation , as well as focusing exercises, are excellent practices that can alleviate much of the anxious symptoms.
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” — William James
Finally, one of the causes of anxiety is to focus on pessimistic aspects of life, always giving more emphasis to negative results that may appear.
Thus, starting to question about more realistic rather than always pessimistic future outcomes can help relieve anxious tension.
The use of relaxation or self-knowledge tools such as self-hypnosis and coaching can improve the quality of life and increase the chances of better health.
When anxiety or stress goes out of control they become disorders.
It can even lead to more serious conditions, such as depression.
At that point, the person may not have enough strength to get out of the anxious cycle alone and need help.
In this situation, the ideal is to look for a professional, a good psychologist has all the tools to help overcome this problem and have more quality of life.
Conclusion
Stress and anxiety are natural characteristics of the human being, in normal doses they bring benefits and avoid problems.
Evil happens when it happens in excess, influencing one’s life negatively.
Both stress and anxiety cause physiological changes in the body that can lead to low immunity or future cardiovascular problems.
To prevent this from happening you need to focus on the day to day and focus on a more positive routine, learning to make more balanced choices.
When anxiety goes out of control and becomes a disorder, the ideal is to do therapy, which is quite natural.
“Stress must be a powerful motivating force, not an obstacle.” — Bill Phillips
Being aware of these factors and focusing on a healthier lifestyle can greatly improve your quality of life.
This can improve health, avoid opportunistic diseases and future problems.
Think about it.
Bibliographical references used
- Abnormal Psychology: An Integrated Approach - David Barlow and Mark Durand
- Cognitive therapy for anxiety disorders: science and practice - David Clark and Aaron
- Anxiety Free: Unravel Your Fears Before They Unravel You - Robert Leahy
- Neuroanatomy: text and atlas - John Martin
