Understanding its sources, causes, symptoms and the effects of stress on health.
Stress – a very used notion in everyday life. But what is stress? Is it as harmful as some pretend? Understanding its causes and sources would be very helpful for those who are facing day by day its effects.
Stress has not always only negative parts. It may sound strange but sometimes even positive events in our lives lead to stress.
Examples of good stress
Marriage, pregnancy, meeting a beloved person that you haven’t seen for a very long time, a vacation (especially if changing the time zone), even a good news is a stress for our body but a positive one.
Usual the positive part of the stress manifest a shorter period of time. Sometimes even a positive stress can turn into a negative one.
The other part of the positive stress (Eustress) is that it motivates you to move on and help you perform better and have better results. When it comes in small doses it is benefic for us but if you’re in a constantly hurry and you’re permanently running to do the best you can, your body and mind are in a permanent stress.
The negative stress (Distress): the events, incidents, quarrels, life situation or everything what you perceive to be negative. By learning to recognize its signs you’ll learn to protect yourself from its destructive and harmful effects.
Stress is a normal physical response to life situations that make you feel upset or threatened in a way. If you feel fear or other negative emotions the levels of stress hormones are raising so quickly that in few seconds your body are sending SOS messages to your brain. It’s a way your body protects you, permitting you remain concentrated on a task, energetic and ready to react to any life situation. That happens when stress comes in small doses but beyond a certain point, stress shows its negative parts causing major changes in your health, relationships, productivity and life.
Below there are few examples of stress symptoms:
1. Being a pessimist and seeing only the negative
2. Anxiousness and irritability. Inability to stay calm or to relax
3. Memory problems. Inability to concentrate
4. Long time depression or a bent for depressions and unhappiness
5. Sense of loneliness. Inability to have a normal communication
6. Constant worrying or suicidal thoughts
7. Poor judgment
8. Diarrhea or constipation
9. Chest pain or rapid heartbeat
10. The libido loss
11. Problems with sleeping (sleeping little or too much)
12. Dizziness or nausea
13. Frequent seasonal colds
14. Being irresponsible
15. Alcohol or drug abuse. Smoking
Many of the symptoms above also correspond to other medical problems and it is advisable to see a doctor for a full medical evaluation.
The most important think about stress is how you react and how you respond to stress. Some people are facing big problems every day of their lives but their inner something don’t let them to fall down. How do YOU respond to stress factors and how do you react in front of a stressful situation? Does it affect you very much for days or even months or your inner something is keeping your positive mind? Stress is affecting us all in different ways and everyone perceives stress differently. What looks as a stressful situation to me it’s not necessarily would look the same for you.
There are also different ways people respond to stress. Some people that are exposed to stressful situations become angry or agitated and hard to calm down. Others are showing little emotion facing stressful factors in a passive way. The last group is those paralyzed by the situation but having inside a bubbling pot.
Which category describes you best?
The ability to face and normally react to stress depends on a lot of factors including genetics, emotional intelligence, the general look on life, the quality of relationships and financial status.
Between factors that cause stress there are external and internal factors: life changes, work, difficult relationships, financial problems; uncertainty, pessimism, a low self-esteem, negative thoughts, being a perfectionist.
A long time stress turns into a chronic stress and the effects of it are very harmful because the body doesn’t make difference between physical and psychological threats reacting in the same way.Chronic stress affects every system in your body being often the cause of suppress of the immune system, of the blood pressure raising, of the infertility or aging too quickly. It also causes or deepens other medical problems like: heart diseases, digestive problems, obesity, skin conditions, sleep problems, depression or pain of any kind. A chronic stress affect your mind making you more vulnerable to depression or little life incidents.
Researchers define stress as a physical, mental, or emotional response to events that causes bodily or mental tension
That is why it’s so important to learn dealing with stress. Learn manage your anger and anxiety in order to reduce its impact over your life and health. Learn to relax and detach from problems that wouldn’t matter tomorrow or the next year. Learn to control stressful situations and the ability of bringing yourself to a normal state.
