We all experience stress from time to time, and while a little is OK, heavy degrees of stress can impact your body. Read on to discover common effects of stress.
Stress isn’t just an emotion, it’s a physical response we feel throughout our entire body. The physical effects of stress can make you feel exhausted. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released to help manage the situation. Cortisol is responsible for increased oxygen to the brain and a rush of energy. Sustained stress can produce too much cortisol, which depletes the adrenal glands and lead to chronic fatigue.
Stress is helpful in small amounts. It can help increase energy and motivation. It helps us meet goals and get tasks accomplished.
This is one of the most common physical effects of stress. If stress has you eating more calorie-dense foods, you’ll store any excess, unused energy as fat. The kicker? Cortisol enjoys storing fat around the belly, so you could wind up thicker through the middle. One study shows chronically stressed-out women metabolise fat and sugar differently, and another found obese women who did nothing other than practise mindfulness (in other words, stress less) did not gain weight, and actually experienced reductions in belly fat.
If you’re suddenly ill all the time, you may be experiencing one of the effects of stress on the body. Stress hormones affect immune cells. When we’re stressed, immune cells are supposed to prepare to fight invaders or heal after injury, but long-term stress can supress the function of immune cells. It’s the reason why it’s easier to get sick when you’re stressed, or you can take longer to heal and recover.
While we can’t look young forever, trauma and chronic stress can shorten telomeres – the protective caps on the end of chromosomes – which cause you to age faster. To ward off wrinkles and other physical effects of stress, exercise several times a week.
The physical effects of stress include soreness and pain throughout your body. That’s because stress causes muscles to tense up. There have been multiples studies linking chronic back pain with chronic stress. Our flight-or-flight response causes our muscles to tense, so we’re ready for action at the drop of a hat. But when we’re sitting at a desk all day and there isn’t a bear to outrun, this primitive response, sparked by a flood of adrenaline into our bloodstream, can mean ongoing muscular pain.
Life is full of stressful situations – but what matters to your brain and body is how you handle that stress. Now that you can recognise the effects of stress on the body, take steps to combat it. There are many different ways to manage stress, including dietary and lifestyle changes, exercise, identifying triggers, relaxation aids, seeking support from friends and family, counselling, and even through technology.