Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. Basically, we have all been under stress at one point or another. Do you know what happens to your body when it is stressed? “Stress tends to be a physical response, so when stressed, the body thinks it’s under attack and switches to fight or flight mode. In doing so, it releases a complex group of chemicals and hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine to prepare the body for action.”[1] Stress causes physical actions with “blood being diverted to muscles, and pausing unnecessary bodily function such as digestion.”¹ Essentially, stress messes with your tummy which explains why some people get so stressed they can’t eat, they overeat, or overall feel sick to their stomach.
However, not all stress is bad, occasionally when you are faced with a situation where you need to fight or run stress comes in handy as it decreases blood in the brain to put it into your muscles. This allows one to think quickly without over thinking and if one needs to run that is a split-second decision. By chance, if, one needs to fight that is also a split-second decision. Stress in these situations is how we survive. Stress also allows us to meet deadlines and teaches us to perform under pressure. Stress in itself is a motivator in these cases.
What happens “when our body goes into stress in inappropriate situations?”¹ With blood flow going away from the brain at this point it leads to being unable to think straight. Which, as some of you know it only causes ones stress to become worse. By staying in a state of stress for extended periods of times it ends up being bad for our health by increasing blood pressure and sugar levels. By staying constantly stressed it can lead to depression, anxiety, sleep problems, getting sick easily, skin conditions, weight problems, and even problems with memory.
Some signs and symptoms of stress overload can cause many wide-ranging symptoms like; being more pessimistic than usual, moodiness, irritability, feeling overwhelmed, loneliness. Some physical symptoms are headaches, getting sick frequently, aches-and-pains, nausea, and upset stomach. Stress can even cause one’s behavior to change, where you are unable to relax, nervous habits like biting your nails and pacing become worse. You smoke and or drink more than normal. You end up eating too much or not enough and the same goes for one’s sleep. You either sleep too much or not enough.
Okay, so you are stressed. Now what can you do to relieve some stress? You can become more active. By being active, it helps drop one’s stress level. Talk it out, don’t be afraid to talk to someone. By communicating with another person, it releases a hormone that relieves stress. Engage your senses, listen to music, watch TV, take up a hobby like painting, anything that keeps the senses busy is a fast way to reduce one’s stress. Try getting a better night’s sleep because that can do wonders to one’s stress. But ultimately know your body and know how it works. Try to become aware of when it is stressed and then learn how to relax. You know your body better than anyone else, so it’s up to you to take care of it and learn how you handle stress.
[1] What is Stress? (2017, January 04). Retrieved September 06, 2017, from