LETS LOOK AT WHAT SOME OF THE PHYSICAL REACTIONS OF STRESS DOES TO OUR BODY

In my last post I wrote on stress,  I mentioned the physical symptoms of it.  So let us look in more detail of how these physical symptoms actually affect the body.

SLEEPLESSNES

Lack of sleep affects the central nervous system. The central nervous system is responsible for its sending and receiving messages from and to the brain.  If this is disrupted, then its difficult for the body to function.  Lack of sleep leaves your brain so tired that it becomes slow in functioning.  It cant process information as fast as it normally does.  This means the individual will lack in performing their daily activities as they would have normally done.  This can add more to the stressful life of the individual since it will cause more problems for the individual.

TENSION  PAIN  AND  HEADACHE

These headaches,  are experienced periodically by more than one-third of adults. They involve both sides of the head and generally feel like a tightness in the forehead or back of the neck.   A cause can also be lack of sleep which is also one of the affects of stress.  Therefore the one symptoms can be the cause of another.

TENSION  PAIN

Stress  causes muscle tension. Stress causes muscles to contract, and after a while this contraction leads to tension. Therefore how you respond to the stress may also affect future muscle aches. There are relaxation activities and exercises that can reduce muscle tension.   Tension in the shoulders is one of them. You might note that they feel stiff with contracting muscles that often reach up into the neck as well.   Your legs may become tight and contracted. Although it might just seem like a minor thing, this can cause cramps and even make you lose sleep at night.

There are relaxation activities and exercises that can reduce muscle tension.

HEART RACING

Our bodies may be respond to current stressful situations in our lives, by creating more adrenaline and cortisol to prepare us for action (the fight or flight response). This increases our heart rate when we feel stressed.   Furthermore when our heart races, it makes us feel even more anxious and overwhelmed. This could also bring on panic attack (which will be discussed in my further posts).  However if feeling any form of continuous abnormal heartrate or chest pain, you should seek medical advice from a medical practitioner.

HIGH  BLOOD  PRESSURE

Your body produces a surge of hormones when you're in a stressful situation. These hormones temporarily increase your blood pressure by causing your heart to beat faster and your blood vessels to narrow.

Stress can cause hypertension through repeated blood pressure elevations as well as by stimulation of the nervous system to produce large amounts of vasoconstricting hormones that increase blood pressure. Factors affecting blood pressure through stress include, job strain, race, social environment, and emotional distress. 

A  WEAKENED IMMUNE  SYSTEM

Stress can reduce the number of natural killer cells or lymphocytes in the body, which are needed to fight viruses, according to the American Psychological Association. 

Ongoing stress makes us susceptible to illness and disease because the brain sends defence signals to the endocrine system, which then releases an array of hormones that not only gets us ready for emergency situations but severely depresses our immunity at the same time. Some experts claim that stress is responsible for as much as 90% of all illnesses and diseases, including cancer and heart disease. The way it does this is by triggering chemical reactions and flooding the body with cortisol that, among other things, decreases inflammation, decreases white blood cells and NK cells (special cells that kill cancer), increases tumor development and growth, and increases the rate of infection and tissue damage.

GASTRIC  REFLUX  AND  STOMACH  ULCERS

Stress can induce reflux esophagitis because it increases the esophageal mucosal permeability.  Stress can worsen acid reflux symptoms, and anxiety is a natural response to stress in the body. Paradoxically, experiencing anxiety can also in itself be stressful, which can continue the cycle. There is some evidence to suggest that stress and anxiety may provoke acid reflux or make the symptoms worse.  Stress causes your brain to turn up pain receptors or deplete substances that protect your stomach from acid.

If these symptoms start worsening or starts affecting your daily activities, then its time to consult your healthcare professional. 

 

ABOUT STRESS

 Everyone experiences stress at sometime in their life.   Stress can be caused by any changes in your life,   be it at home, work or the environment that we live in.  It is natural to experience stress but the problem arises when we feel we have problems coping with our stress. 

A stressor can be considered as a change or a challenge to your daily living or a sudden demand from the environment that the individual was not prepared for.  But prolonged stress turns to chronic stress.  This can cause physical, emotional and behavioural problems which can have and effect on one's daily functioning.

PHSYICAL  REACTIONS OF STRESS

The human body has an autonomic nervous system that controls your heartrate, breathing etc and uses the built in stress response, the  "fight or flight response", that helps us to deal with stressful situations.   Some physical symptoms are sleeplessness,  tension pain (maybe head and shoulders), feeling your heart racing even leading to a panic attack,  can cause high blood pressure, may cause digestive problems (even leading to ulcers),   also can weaken our immune system making us susceptible to infectious diseases.  I will cover these in-depth symptoms in future blog posts.

MENTAL  REACTIONS

Mental reactions could include panic attacks,  depression, anxiety.  These will also be covered extensively in future blog posts.

UNHEALTHY MANAGEMENT OF STRESS

People easily get involved in unhealthy ways of dealing with stress as a "quick fix" to forget the stress.  They can easily start excessive drinking (could lead to alcoholism),  smoking, using drugs, loss of appetite or over eating, gambling.   How these can harm us physically and mentally will be covered in future blog posts.

HEALTHY WAYS TO MANAGE
STRESS

Getting involved in healthy physical activities dose a world of good for boosting your mood and physical health.  Find a good exercise routine to do cardio exercise if physically fit to do so.  You can also look at some yoga routines for relaxations.  There are many meditations ailable to help with falling asleep at night as well.  During Covid 19, it may be difficult  to visit a gym, but you can easily do these at home as well.

Don't isolate yourself from the people who care about you.  This maybe difficult to do so during the pandemic but there are always social media platforms to reach out to people.

 

The famous saying "You are what you eat"  has some truth in it.  Yes if you eat unhealthy, you will feel unhealthy.  Its alwayseasy to start eating "comfort food" which maybe junk food.  This will only cause you more physical ill health, causing more worry and stress for you.  Remember to eat healthy foods and drink lots of water.  Studies have shown that dehydration increases the cortisol levels (which is the stress hormone).

If you are not able to cope with any healthy ways to manage your stress or feel you have been been using the wrong coping strategies, contacting a therapist would be another option.  Talking to a trained  professional would help you put things into perspective.

Its often how you perceive the  situation that causes you to stress rather than the actual event itself.  Follow the good management of stress ideas and try to less think of a negative ending to your stressful situation.  Instead stay in the present moment and think in the here and now and what can be done about it at present. Don't think that all endings will end up bad. We all can't live a stress free life, but we  can choose how it affects our lives.  So try out choosing the positive management of stress.

WELCOME TO THE PSYCH KIT

 Hi Readers

Thank you for reading my very first post in my brand new blog.  This blog is will take on a  holistic approach meaning it will include articles about how to understand your mind, body and soul.   At present times, because of Covid 19,  people are learning to isolate themselves from other people.  Its like unlearning all the socialisation skills we  learned all our lives.   There are many problems in adjusting to this new way of life including psychological and physical issues.

Therefore this blog will be exploring issues of present life of the individual as a whole.  It will take into consideration how the mind processes the happenings around us.  We will include individuals relationships, their physical  and psychological health, work and home lives and how they relate to their physical world.   Therefore it will take a holistic approach to psychology.