How Does Stress Affect Your Body?

COVID increased stress throughout the world exponentially. And that particular type of stress was consistent for at least 18 months and still continues at some level.

Stress is a part of our lives, but when it is continuous, all areas of our life begin to suffer. Stress will affect our mood, our ability to think, concentrate and remember. It also will weaken our immune system allowing us to get sick much easier. Thank you to Kim Erickson for this wonderful information.

In our autonomic nervous system there are two branches, parasympathetic and sympathetic. The Parasympathetic branch is our rest and repair part, which is very important for recovery from stress. The Sympathetic branch is the fight and flight part that we enter when we stress. If that stress never lets up, we get stuck here, and this is when we will have noticeable physical changes in our body. Some of those changes could be:

Change in weight or appetite
Change in your sleep patterns
Loss of interest in activities that you used to enjoy
Restlessness
Sadness, guilt, irritability
Negative thinking
Hopelessness

Now we will discuss how stress affects our body physically.

STRESS AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
Your immune activity will initially increase at the first sign of stress. If it is prolonged you will deplete your B vitamins, suppress your stress hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine), and increase your cortisol levels which can reduce natural killer cell activity. Then you are open for disease and illness to enter your body.

STRESS AND YOUR HEART
As mentioned above, increased cortisol levels also will affect your heart. If that level remains high, your blood pressure will go up, triglycerides increase which increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.

STRESS AND YOUR GUT
Chronic stress will affect digestion! It can either cause the food in your stomach to sit so that it feels like a rock, or it will speed up digestion so your food goes right through you. It can also lead to heartburn, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, or gut pain. Prolonged stress can lead to irritable bowel syndrome, IBS, or inflammatory bowel disease.

STRESS AND INFLAMMATION
If you suffer from allergies or asthma, stress can escalate these quickly. Nasal congestion and atopic dermatitis can also increase. General aches and pains can become more intense and chronic.

So, how do we deal with stress?
First, identify what is causing the stress. If you have control over it, then do what you can do to decrease it. If you do not have control over it, you do have control how you respond to it.

Take time for yourself, ground, meditate, talk to a friend or a counselor. Exercise, mild movement is so beneficial for your well being. Eat better, slower and think only about what you are eating, not the world’s events. Find a hobby, and be easy on yourself.

In conclusion, stress is a normal natural response in our body. When it is prolonged and we are not able to recover from it, is when we start to have negative consequences from it. Take the opportunity to stay on top of your stress and stay healthy!