How Does Stress Affect Our Bodies?
Stress is a personal response to any internal or external circumstances. Our body produces stress to get ready for the upcoming threat. Short-term stress benefits our bodies, while long-term stress harms our bodies. To understand it, we need to analyze it. So we can get rid of this disease.
Causes of stress:
- The workload is one serious contributor to stress nowadays.
- Arguing in Relationship
- transition of ourselves from one place to another.
- Loss of anything plays a massive role in increasing stress levels.
- Chronic illness
Some other small contributors to stress are —
- Uncertainty of anything.
- Traffic
- Noise
- Financial instability
Stress is our individual positive or negative perception of anything. It came with humans from initial periods; at that time, stress was physical. Getting food for the family is beneficial while seeing a lion in the surroundings as a threat. An expert says stress is the response of the mind and body. But it is based on how we respond to it; for some people, traffic is stress, and for others, it is an opportunity to learn something. A soccer player needs the least stress to perform better in the match. But getting too much stress will reduce their maximum performance.
“Adapting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one” Hans Selye.
Mechanism
Generally, we get stress from the two main scenarios,
Short-term response:
The first response is to fight or flight. Our body releases the epinephrine and norepinephrine hormone and increases the speed of making glucose. Therefore in case of a threat, our body would have enough energy. For example, our body starts calculating the danger when seeing a lion. Our eyes will be widened to see as much as possible, and our mouths will open respiration, heart rate, and muscle movement will be increased because we want to scan and find a solution to the upcoming threat as possible. All unnecessary operations of the body will stop until the danger has gone away.
Long-term response:
The second response is the hypothalamic-pituitary axis response. It can be minutes, days, weeks, or years. In that scenario, our body release cortisol hormones which cause damage to our neuro system. While our liver releases more glucose into the blood. It increases fat breakdown and bone turnover in our bodies. It increases inflammation in the body. Thus our autoimmune system starts to attack that inflammation part. So It is like a war between our immune system with our body.
Experts experiment on two types of students. One who has the stress of exams and the one who starts their classes. They vaccinated both of them. The result shows that students with exam stress don’t produce better results than others.
Effect of stress on the brain
It decreases concentration and memory levels.
Effect of stress on mood
It increases the risk of anxiety(GAD), Depression, and PTSD and creates sleep disturbance called Insomnia.
Effect of stress on pain
It Increases the perception of pain in the body.
“Stress is like spice — in the right proportion, it enhances the flavor of a dish. Too little produces a bland, dull meal; too much may choke you.” — Donald Tubesing.
Stress management:
Two Effective Solutions that can reduce stress levels by up to 80%.
Exercise regularly: Scientists confirm that exercise is vital in reducing stress levels. Increase our confidence and improve our mood and improve our sleep. Doing only the pushup exercise will reduce your stress level by up to 80%. You will notice in weeks how effective this small exercise is. First, you must find out whether you are a morning person or a night one. If you know already, you can set your routine. It takes time to produce results, and you will find great results over the period.
Meditation 3 times a day: Meditation is an Indian tradition currently practiced worldwide. It has tons of other benefits. You can do two-three times a day to get effective results. You can learn any type of meditation and practice it in your home.
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