How Does Stress Affect Health?
The human body is designed to experience stress and react to it. Stress can be a good thing, stress is a natural human and animal response system that allows us to stay alert and aware of danger. The negative things about stress is when a person faces continuous challenges without relief or relaxation between challenges. As a result, the person becomes overworked and stress-related tension builds in our bodies and minds.
Stress that continues without relief can lead to a condition called distress — a negative stress reaction. Distress can lead to many physical symptoms including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and problems sleeping. This list is limited and involves much more. If you have any of these, you should contact us for suggestions and assistance. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases in the body.
Stress also becomes harmful when people use alcohol, tobacco, or drugs to try and relieve their stress. Unfortunately, instead of relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances tend to keep the body in a stressed state and cause more problems.
Consider the following notes:
- Forty-three percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
- Seventy-five percent to 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.
- Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) declared stress a hazard of the workplace. Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually.
- The lifetime prevalence of an emotional disorder is more than 50%, often due to chronic, untreated stress reactions.
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