Stress & Your Body
When you’re faced with a stressful situation, your body goes into what’s known as ‘fight or flight,’ a human response to potential danger where the body gets ready to either physically defend itself or run away. After perceiving a ‘threat,’ your brain sends signals to your body to release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. These chemical messengers enter your blood and temporarily increase your blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart rate.
In the short term, these changes help more energy and oxygen get to your brain and muscles, so you’re more mentally alert and physically prepared. Even your blood changes; it becomes more likely to clot, stopping you from bleeding too much if you were to be injured. It’s helpful for your brain and body to be prepared when you’re about to take an exam, need to meet a tight work deadline, run a race, do an important presentation in front of others, or face a situation where you might be physically harmed. However, if this ‘fight or flight’ stress response is activated again and again, it can take its toll on the body over time.
This type of chronic stress can happen for many reasons such as work, financial difficulties, family life, or loneliness. It can leave us with emotional and physical symptoms such as feeling easily angry, upset, or worried, or having headaches, odd pains and trouble sleeping.
Since the release of stress hormones affects the heart and circulatory system by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure, people often wonder whether stress can lead to heart problems. A study published in the journal Nature showed that adults experiencing stress at work or in their private life have an increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. It also suggested that, for people who already have heart and circulatory diseases, stress is linked with worse outcomes.
What we do know for certain is that stress can make us more likely to turn to unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol, overeating or eating too much food that is high in salt, sugar and saturated fats, and being less physically active. These coping mechanisms can lead to high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, which increase your risk of heart and circulatory diseases.
While it might not be possible to remove sources of stress from our lives, the good news is that there are things we can do to improve how we respond to them and how we feel.
British Heart Foundation. (2024, September 10). Effects of stress on the body. British Heart Foundation.
www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/wellbeing/stress-and-the-body
3 Tips to Manage Stress
Chronic stress can keep you from feeling and performing your best–mentally, physically, and emotionally. It’s important to know how to manage the stress in your life. These three simple techniques may help you deal with stress.
Positive Self-Talk
Positive self-talk can help you calm down and manage stress. With practice, you can learn to shift negative thoughts to positive ones. You can do it in the car, at your desk, before you go to bed, or whenever you notice negative thoughts. It’s a great practice to teach kids, too!
Emergency Stress-Stoppers
These ten emergency stress-stoppers are actions to help you defuse stress in the moment. You may need different stress-stoppers for different situations, and sometimes it helps to combine them.
- Count to 10 before you speak or react.
- Take a few slow, deep breaths until you feel your body un-clench a bit.
- Go for a walk; this can give you a chance to think things through.
- Try a quick meditation to get some perspective.
- If it’s not urgent, sleep on it and respond tomorrow.
- Walk away from the situation for a while and handle it later once things have calmed down.
- Break down big problems into smaller parts. Take one step at a time.
- Turn on some music or an inspirational podcast to help you deal with situations like road rage.
- Take a break to pet the dog, hug a loved one, or do something to help someone else.
- Do something active. Exercise is a great antidote for stress.
Stress-Busting Activities
Even when you’re down, you may find pleasure in simple things like going for a walk, catching up with a friend, or reading a good book. When stress makes you feel bad, do something that makes you feel good, even if only for 10 or 15 minutes.
3 tips to manage stress. www.heart.org. (2024, April 4). www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/3-tips-to-manage-stress
– Mental Health Moment –
Stigma, Discrimination, & Mental Illness
Stigma is when someone sees you in a negative way because of a particular characteristic or attribute. When someone treats you in a negative way because of your mental illness, this is discrimination.
The harmful effects of stigma:
- Feelings of shame, hopelessness, and isolation
- Reluctance to ask for help or to get treatment
- Lack of understanding by family, friends, or others
- Fewer opportunities for employment or social interaction
- Bullying, physical violence, or harassment
- Self-doubt
Dealing With Stigma
- Get The Mental Health Treatment You Need: Don’t let the fear of being labeled with a mental illness stop you from getting help.
- Do Not Believe It: Try not to let other people’s ignorance influence the way you feel about yourself.
- Do not hide away: Reaching out to people you trust (family, friends, coaches, or religious leaders) can get you the support you need.
- Connect With Others: Joining a mental health support group–either online or in person–can help you deal with feelings of isolation and make you realize that you are not alone in your feelings and experiences.
- You Are Not Your Illness: Don’t define yourself by your illness. Instead of saying “I’m schizophrenic”, say “I have schizophrenia”; there is power in language.
- It’s Not Personal: Remember that other people’s judgments often come from a lack of understanding rather than anything to do with you personally.
