10 Signs that Your Health is Affected by Chronic Stress
We all experience chronic stress from time to time, but if you’re experiencing it constantly, it could have negative effects on your health. Stress is our body’s natural fight-or-flight response to challenges or events that make us excited or anxious. Short-term stress can help you accomplish goals or get you out of a difficult situation. On the other hand, chronic stress can damage your health from being exposed to stress over a long period of time. The first step to overcoming stress is to recognize how it could impact you.
1. Weakened Immune System
When we experience stress, our body reacts by increasing amounts of cortisol. This hormone promotes glucose use in the brain and supports tissue repair. It also dampens bodily functions that aren’t essential in a fight or flight response, like your immune system. By experiencing chronic stress, your immune system weakens, and you can catch colds and other illnesses easier.
2. Chronic Pain
While under stress, the body’s natural response is to tense its muscles. For example, many people carry a lot of stress in their shoulders, back, and jaw. If you find yourself having to remind yourself to unclench your jaw or relax your shoulders, it could be due to stress. Over time, the tension can cause chronic pain and inflammation.
3. Sleep Issues
A prolonged fight or flight response means your body feels as if it has to be constantly alert. It may be harder to fall asleep or stay asleep. If you find yourself feeling exhausted or you’re constantly tossing and turning, it could be due to chronic effects of stress.
4. Gut Health Issues
While in a fight or flight state, the physiological mechanisms of digestion are slowed down. The stress hormone, cortisol, will suppress digestive processes until you can relax again. Chronic stress can lead to indigestion, bloating, cramping, and heartburn.
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5. Heart Issues
When you’re caught in a fight or flight response, your body releases hormones that constrict your blood vessels and cause your heart to beat faster. Over time, prolonged stress can cause high blood pressure and heart palpitations.
6. Skin Irritation
Acne, eczema, and psoriasis flare-ups are three common reactions to continuous negative stress. When hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are released during stress, it affects blood flow to the skin and even bacteria in the gut. With the body out of balance, it can lead to chronic inflammation, which causes issues with your skin.
7. Blood Sugar Issues
In times of high stress, one way your body adapts is by reducing insulin levels and increasing the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. In small doses, it can help you react to stressful situations. On the other hand, being exposed to negative stress for a long time can cause high blood sugar and put you at risk for diabetes.
8. Food Cravings
The stress hormone cortisol affects many areas of your body when you’re under duress, and one unexpected area is your choice of food. Cortisol causes us to crave fat and carbs. It can also increase feelings of hunger even when you’re not hungry. So, if you find yourself reaching for the chips more, it may be a sign you’re experiencing chronic stress.
9. Difficulty Concentrating
Negative stress can often disrupt our concentration and memory. The lack of focus can be due to poor sleep, stressful thoughts, or increased attention to your surroundings. If you don’t address the stress, it can cause a negative feedback cycle, which makes you feel more stressed due to a lack of focus and unproductivity.
10. Mood Symptoms
While struggling with the physical effects of chronic stress, it’s not uncommon to also be affected mentally. When you are stressed out, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed, fatigued, irritable, and hopeless.
How to Manage Your Stress
Now that you can identify symptoms of negative stress, you’ll want to find a healthy coping strategy for them. Some effective approaches include:
- Light exercises like yoga or daily walks
- Spending time with loved ones
- Journaling
- Talking with a therapist
- Breathing exercises
- Massages
These are only some of the methods that are available to you. A doctor or another medical professional you trust can help you determine a treatment plan that can target your sources of stress. At Robinson MD, we use a functional medicine approach to examine all aspects of your lifestyle to find the root cause of your negative stress. To learn if functional medicine is right for you, take our Wellness Questionnaire.
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