Do you know the effects of stress? Learn how you can Overcome them !

effects of stress

Whenever we hear the word stress, we immediately think of effects of stress as negative. This is because stress can cause a great deal of wear and tear on your body, mind, and spirit, wearing you down to the point where you feel you’re unable to cope and might even be physically ill as a result. As a result of effects of stress, you may fall into depression. This article will take you through some critical tips and effects of stress to your body, which are personal Stressors, which are internal stressors and how you can overcome depression.

What Is Stress?

Stress is a hormonal response to something the mind perceives as a threat. We can trace back this reaction to the “fight or flight” situations our ancient ancestors used to have to face to stay alive.

Modern stress is not usually about life and death struggles with wild beasts or other tribes (maybe it can feel like it at times). Unfortunately, no matter what the cause, the body starts to get “pumped” and ready for action. Breathing and heart rate increase muscles tense, and all your focus turns to dealing with that stressful thing. All non-essential bodily functions shut down, including your digestion.

Acute Stress

Most effects of stress are acute (that is, short-term), and after the issue is dealt with, everything goes back to a resting rate.

Chronic Stress

With chronic stress, however, the body and mind are almost constantly on alert, with adrenaline and other hormones powering you through your day. The trouble is that most of us can’t live in this hyper-aroused state.

Effects of chronic stress are:

* Backache
* Headache
* Jaw ache
* Teeth grinding
* Muscle tension
* High blood pressure
* Heart health issues
* Poor quality sleep or no sleep

Also, it often leads to digestive disorders such as:

* Heartburn
* Indigestion
* Acid reflux
* Ulcers
* Constipation
* Irritable bowel syndrome
* And more

Most common sources of stress

Workplace Stress

The workplace is the most common source of stress. Stressors include:

* A difficult boss
* An unpleasant working environment
* Financial trouble/low pay
* Long hours for low wages
* A lot of responsibilities and a long to-do list with little help
* And so on

Personal Stressors

The older we get, the more likely we are to encounter some of the more stressful and difficult things in life. Some of the most common negative stressors that can alter a person’s life significantly include:

* Illness (yourself or a family member)
* Injury (yourself or a family member)
* The death of a family member – the closer the relationship, the more stressful it can be, such as parent to child, child to parent
* The death of a spouse
* Separation from the spouse, or divorce
* Abusive relationships
* Neglectful relationships
* Arguments
* Discovering infidelity
* Discovering dishonesty
* Money issues, living paycheck to paycheck
* Credit card debt
* Bankruptcy
* Getting fired or laid off
* Struggling to find a job
* Problems with your child/ren
* Legal problems
* Trouble with your house, such as breakages, needing repair
* Conflict with neighbors
* Car trouble
* Car accidents
* Being let down by someone you trusted
* Being a victim of a crime, such as a robbery, mugging
* Being a victim of an assault – physical or sexual
* The illness of a pet
* The death of a pet
* Being bullied in person or online
* Not being helped when you ask for it, especially if you have always gone out of your way to help others

Internal Stressors

Sometimes we even generate the stress ourselves. Here are some examples:

* We don’t say no to others when we should
* We take on too much
* We don’t practice self-care
* We always volunteer, then struggle to get it all done
* We worry a lot
* We let our worry get out of proportion to the issue
* We procrastinate and miss deadlines, or hand in shoddy work
* We practice poor time management and are always late
* We are a perfectionist
* We have trouble letting go and delegating to others

No matter what the source, there will always be stress around to affect us and effects of stress will be various

How To reduce the effects of stress and Overcome Feeling Depressed

In the ordinary course of our life, we come across a lot of things, (almost all mentioned above) most of which affect our emotions either positively or negatively. Among such things are our lifestyles, the people we associate with, our achievements and objectives, the weather conditions, our state of mind among others. Luckily, most of this factors are within our control which means that you can always manipulate them to work to your advantage. The last thing you want is to let this emotion get the better part of you. Depression is one of those feelings that need to be handled with a lot of care as it does not only affect the state of your health but in the extreme case can lead to death.

Here are some tips which can help you to Overcome Feeling Depressed

Work on your lifestyle

Available research indicates that one of the major causes of depression today is our way of life; that is our eating regime, exercises, the way we associate with people, the way we live at our homes among others.Health experts recommend that you eat a healthy diet and pair it with some regular workouts if you want to help manage your mood swings. Some diets are known to cause a lot of anxiety to different types of people which mean that the earlier you know about such foods, the higher your chances of managing such situations. On the other hand, workouts are known to keep your mind and your body engaged which reduces the chances of you thinking about your issues that may be causing the depression.

Get some rest

Usually, after a busy day or activity, there is a high chance that your mind or the body will be exhausted which may result in depression if you fail to get some rest. Most people especially the parents have a lot on the plate be it taking care of their family, doing the normal chores among other activities that the would wish to do before they can get some rest. In the long run, such activities cause dizziness and fatigue as you are forcing your mind to handle more than it is supposed to. Most physicians recommend that you at least sleep for six hours a day to give your mind enough time to get enough rest.

Do not let your work issues to affect your family life

Finally, there is time for everything, do not let your work issues to affect your family life. Most people make the mistake of dragging their issues to their work which ends causing more problems and making the situations even worse. It is therefore highly recommended that you draw a line to everything, leave your work issues at your office and have fun with your family. Try as much as possible to remain relaxed without worrying about tomorrow or how your days have been.

Stress relief strategies

Learn more about effective stress relief strategies and see what a difference it can make in your life.

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