Health Problems Widely Linked to Stress

Lisa Franchi November 28, 2016

Health Problems Widely Linked to Stress

Stress is inevitable. Regardless of our environment, status in life, or job - we all are bound to experience stress. But believe it or not, feeling stressed is actually a defence mechanism of our body. It evolved from our primal need to survive. Thousands of years ago, people depend on their instinct to survive against various forms of threat in the environment - bad weather, wild animals, and even other human beings. Stress puts a person under high level of alertness, which is necessary to get ready for any action.

But as years go by, and with the advancement in technology, healthcare, and security, we don’t need to be immersed in a high level of stress to survive. Well, feeling stressed once in a while is still beneficial, as it somehow pushes you to overcome your limitations - like when you are trying to get a promotion, complete a project in less time, or engage in a business venture. But you don’t need a lot of it. Instead of survival and preservation, these days too much stress causes health problems - even death.

Common Health Problems Linked to Stress

If you are always sick, chances are, you are always stressed. Here are some of the most common health problems that experts say have something to do with too much stress:

Common Cold

Let’s start with the least frightening condition: common cold. Don’t always blame it on the weather. If you are well-rested, your immune system stays strong. Thus, you are less likely to experience common cold. A 2012 study carried out by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University found that chronic psychological stress is associated with the body losing its ability to regulate the inflammatory response. The researchers found that under continuous stress, cells in the immune system are unable to respond properly to the cold virus.

Sleep Problems

Stress can cause havoc on your sleep pattern. It can make quality sleep less achievable. Stress aggravates sleep deficit and makes it harder for one to go back to sleep in the middle of the night. The reason is that high levels of cortisol (stress hormone) keep a person awake (remember our primal need for survival?) But in the modern world, our brain responds by making us think about or problems.

Digestive Problems

You’ve probably heard about the brain-gut connection. When you are stressed, it affects not only your mental health but also all other aspects of your health, including your digestive system. When you are under chronic stress, you are more likely to suffer from various types of stomach problems, including ulcers. That is because stress wrecks the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut, allowing the bad ones to thrive and cause damage to your digestive system.

Pain

Yes - stress can cause pain, literally. Neck, back and shoulder pains are among the most commonly reported health concerns of individuals suffering from chronic stress. While stress doesn’t always cause these problems, it can intensify their severity. Scientists are still unsure why this happens, but one finding was that stress aggravates inflammation in the body, worsening pain.

Depression

One major condition that is linked to unmanaged stress is depression - a very serious form of mental illness. Depression can be triggered by a series of stressful episodes. Just as it destroys the balance in your gut flora, stress also destroys the balance between the hormones in your brain that play an important role in mental health. They include the serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.

Heart Disease

Another life-threatening condition that you might develop if you allow stress to take over your body is heart disease - which happens to be the biggest killer worldwide. A study by Harvard University found that blood samples from people with high levels of stress had a surplus of white blood cells. Cortisol changes the texture of white blood cells, making them attach to the blood vessel walls. This creates plaque, which disrupts blood flow and hardening of the arteries - major factors for cardiovascular disease.

Stress is something you don’t want to ignore. If you feel like you have been under high stress for quite some time, now is the time to prioritise rest and relaxation. There are many things you can do to manage stress and stay healthy, mentally and physically.

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