The effects of stress on the body

Stress is something that everyone deals with at one point in their lives, some more than others. It is important to understand what happens in your body when you feel stressed and how these reactions are working with you or against you and how to combat the stress you feel.

Everyone experiences stress through different symptoms but the same underlying physiological changes are the same in our body when we feel we are in a state of danger. A threat doesn’t even have to be real- we can simply imagine it for us to feel stress.

You can feel stress in your daily work as a hair stylist even though there may be no life-threatening situation. That feeling of a client threatening you because they are not satisfied with the haircut or hair extensions installation is all too common. You feel yourself tense up and it is hard to shake it even when you have another client coming in or present. Knowledge is key in this situation. You need to have knowledge that the stressful reactions in your body are normal, but that chronic stress like negative interactions in the work place can wreak havoc on your body.

There are two types of stress; short-term or acute and long-term or chronic. Acute stress triggers the flight or fight response which causes many physiological changes in our body in order to get us protect us from a threat. These responses are triggered by the release of the chemicals noradrenaline, adrenaline, and cortisol to support the body’s fight or flight response in different ways to protect us from a threat. The effects from acute stress and the stress hormones take a long time to wear off.

The key is that the same physiological responses are activated at a lesser degree when we experience moderate stress. The responses that are there to help us in threatening situations can be damaging to the body when activated day after day. So the same physiological reactions are happening whether there is a lion coming towards you or there is an unhappy client screaming at you on the phone, only on a lesser more frequent degree. Chronic stress can lead to gastrointestinal problems, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, suppression of the immune system which can lead to infection, infertility, poor healing capability, and exhaustion.

So what can you do?

• Sometime you need to get out of the situation you are in in order to alleviate the stress. Are you dealing with stress all day everyday at work with the same clients or coworkers or supervisors. Can you discuss the issue at hand in order to eliminate the stress or alleviate it? Is it time to find another salon, employees, or clients that don’t cause elevated stress day in and day out?
• Sometimes you need to change your beliefs about the stress like taking on less or realizing there are some things that you have no control over. Maybe it is time to book less clients everyday. Learn some techniques in order to handle the stress you feel more effectively. When you encounter an unhappy client or employee, take a deep breath and do your best, realize that some situations are unavoidable and need to be handled and others you have no control over.
• Make sure you take good care of yourself to help you recover from stress and help prevent it- exercise, rest, eat well, surround yourself with good people, places and things, and avoid things that will harm you. These tips are especially important for stylists and hair salon owners that spend long hours working on their feet in an environment with people all day long.