Can Stress Affect Your Physical Health?

Ever felt so mentally drained that your body seems run down? Ever worried about something so much that you feel physically ill? Ever been so anxious that you get a terrible headache? Ever considered why this really happens? Let’s take a look!Stress is what everyone will tell you you’re experiencing however it is first necessary to clear something up. Stress isn’t all bad! There are actually two kinds; eustress and distress. Eustress is commonly thought of as ‘positive’ stress, this is the stress we get when we perceive that our capabilities are challenged but not necessarily exceeded such as a difficult workout, an enjoyable yet challenging assignment or starting out at a new job. Distress on the other hand occurs when we perceive a situation as exceeding our capabilities, or as more harmful than beneficial. While eustress motivates us, distress drains us. While eustress can lead to positive life satisfaction, distress can leave us feeling upset and anxious.So how does it all work?When we perceive a threat/stressor our bodies ‘fight or flight’ response is triggered by our sympathetic nervous system. Our body undergoes a number of changes including an increased heartbeat to feed more blood to our muscles, nausea as blood is delivered away from our digestive system, tensed muscles, dilated pupils and the release of adrenaline into our system. These are short-term changes, which are counteracted by our parasympathetic nervous system when the perceived threat goes away.But what if this stressor doesn’t go away? Well this is where it can get harmful.This is when we experience what has been coined as an allostatic load – the wear and tear on the body when we are exposed to chronic or persistent stress through the bodies neural changes. Brain regions including the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and amygdala also show alterations.Sooooo then what happens?Headache: Tense muscles, particularly in your neck and shoulders can cause or worsen headaches (commonly referred to as tension headaches). Weight fluctuations: You've been eating right, working out and consistently getting leaner and then all of a sudden you hit a massive plateau; while there are many reasons for this stress may be one of them. You might have heard of the hormone called ‘cortisol’, this hormone is triggered in response to stress and can impair your body’s ability to metabolise macronutrients and process blood sugar levels. This can lead to difficulty losing weight or fluctuations in ones weight. Upset stomach: The gut can be particularly susceptible to the impact of stress, with experiences of gastric secretion, gut motility and barrier function among other consequences. In simple terms, stress can cause physiological changes to the gut, which in turn may leave you with an upset tummy or even diseases such as irritable bowl syndrome or gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Taking ages to recover from an illness: Deadlines piling up, a to-do list that keeps growing and now a cold has struck you … what could be worse. Cortisol has also been proven to suppress ones immune system as well as inflammatory pathways. This means that not only are you more susceptible to illness when you are under long-term stress; but also that it may take you longer to recover from it.Burnout: We’ve all been there, you’re in a routine, working hard, pushing yourself to your limits and then … you seem to just hit a brick wall. Burnout can be caused by a number of different factors including workload, working too long/hard, tasks exceeding ones perceived capabilities or a tense environment. Burnout can also impact your amygdala (the part of the brain that regulates emotions) causing difficulties in regulating ones emotional reactions.Although most of these changes seem to be reversible; some studies suggest that early life stress may even lead to impaired physical functioning later on in adulthood. So it’s true what they say, healthy mind, healthy body; our minds are more powerful than we give them credit for and it is very important that you take care of both.