Stress Management: The Effects of Stress on your health

In this month, we are sharing information about stress management with very interesting topics and useful information to help you manage stress properly, we will be shedding light on what stress is, its effects on health, causes of stress, signs and symptoms of stress, ways to manage stress, clinical interventions and more eye opening information. This is the best information to get you going as the year wraps up and as you plan for the new year.

Life is full of ups and downs, challenges here and there, deadlines, frustrations, disappointments and expectations. As a result of this, many have taken up stressful living as a life style.  Stress is the psychological and physical reaction to the challenges of everyday life. It originates from the body’s response to a perceived threat or danger, this response is known as the “flight or fight response which helps the body deal with unexpected situations by releasing some stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol and  prepares the body for action resulting in an “emergency state”.  In this state, there is an increase in heart beat and blood pressure, breathing becomes faster, there is also more stamina and speed. However, when an individual is constantly operating on this “emergency state”, It often results in serious health consequences.

Stress affects certain parts of the body such as the brain and nerves, muscles and joints, pancreas, intestine, stomach, heart, respiratory system and reproductive system. Therefore, problems associated with these parts of the body are common when an individual is going through a lot of stress.

Stress has been linked to various physical and emotional problems some of which include;

• Hypertension
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Relationship problems
• Burnout
• Heart problems
• Insomnia
• Migraine
• Memory problems
• Aches and pains

It also increases the body’s susceptibility to infections by weakening the immune system.

Anything that can cause stress is known as a stressor, which can be negative events or positive ones. Here are some common stressors:

• Financial problems
• Excessive job demands
• Family problems
• Fear
• Worrying
• Death of a loved one
• Threatening life events such as accidents and disasters
• Marriage
• Getting a new job
• Divorce
• Unemployment

Keep in mind that negative things will happen in life but it is how you are able to handle these negative situations that determines how much you can cope with stress. The warning signs of stress and more information will be discussed in the next article.

kindly visit www.mobilehealth consult.org also, follow @Drmorayojimoh for more interesting update on stress management.