How Stress can Affect Us Physically and Mentally

Stress is an inevitable part of human life, but too much stress can cause some negative effects on your body and mind. Although some stress is healthy to motivate us toward our life goals, too much can start to cause headaches, raise your blood pressure and send you into depression. 

There are many sources of stress, a long line at the restaurant, getting disappointing news from your employees, or being stuck in traffic, all these can cause stress. And the thing about stress is that it tends to creep up on you. In our evolutionary past, stress is actually what kept our ancestors out of danger. Your brain sends these stress hormones as a signal for you to get out of danger and triggers your natural fight-or-flight response. Your body reacts by increasing your heart rate, breathing faster, and tensing your muscles for a quick reaction. However, in our modern day, this constant stress response can affect our health. 

Doctors have observed that stress can cause a multitude of negative body responses They are:

Headaches – Stress causes pain in our brains, and too much can even cause it to become a migraine. 

Heartburn – When there’s too much stress, your stomach reacts by producing more stomach acid, which could lead to heartburn. 

Insomnia – When you’re stressed, it can make it difficult to fall asleep, which causes insomnia. If it’s not resolved early, it can quickly become a cycle leading to something worse. 

Depression – This is ‘something worse’ that we were talking about. Depression can sneak up on you, and before you know it, it can cripple you and send you into a dark abyss that would require you to seek medical help. 

The best way to guard against stress is to find as many breaks as possible and put yourself in situations where you can feel relaxed.