There are a few ways in which chronic stress affects your overall health physically and mentally.
First, it harms your brain. It lowers your overall brain function and prematurely ages your brain. Higher cortisol levels directly effects the hippocampus, making it smaller and decreasing memory storage. Older adults with high cortisol levels have a 14% smaller hippocampus, which means they have a worse memory than older adults with normal cortisol levels. Not only does higher levels of cortisol negatively effect the hippocampus, it cause more cortisol to be released because the hippocampus is responsible for sending out signals to stop the production of cortisol when there is no longer a threat. Since there are not as many neurons in the smaller hippocampus, it can no longer send out the signal to discontinue cortisol, so greater amounts of cortisol are then released. Stress doesn't just make you feel uncomfortable or upset, it literally changes your brain for the worse, reducing your memory storage. Cortisol doesn't just affect the hippocampus, it also decreasing activity in the amydala, which is important for emotional balance, and the prefrontal cortex, important for planning. Overall, it reduces brain reserve which makes way for physical signs of stress as well.
Second, having chronic stress makes you age prematurely. Now, I don't know anyone who wants to look older than they really are (unless maybe they are a teenager, but as an adult, more wrinkles and looking ten years older than you really are isn't such a good thing), so managing your stress can help your skin to make you look and feel youthful. Stress has been found to be similar to the effects of smoking, being obese, or just looking ten years older than you actually are. The reason for this is because of telomeres, which are protective caps on the end of our chromosomes protecting our DNA. When telomeres become too short, DNA can be damaged in the replication process. Researches relate the length of telomeres to determine cell's age and how many more times it will duplicate. When they become too short they stop duplicating and cell senescence kicks in, which is basically what we see as aging. The longer the telomeres, the more protection there is for the chromosome. Telomeres naturally shorten over time, which we can all understand because we know that we all age as we get older, but stress can speed up this process. It is shown that women with higher levels of stress had shorter telmoeres, meaning premature aging. With aging, skin loses collagen and elastin (proteins that keep the skin wrinkle-free and tight). Stress cause both collagen and elastin to break down prematurely, causing wrinkles and sagging skin, as well as causing acne breakouts. This is not something most people want to have happen to them. Look at your life and the areas that cause you stress. There are ways to downplay the stress in your life and lead a calmer, happier, youthful life. I'll relay some of those ways at the end after displaying more ways stress is harmful to our bodies.
Third, chronic stress weakens our body's immune system which can make you sick more easily. Short-term stress boosts immunity because of the resilience and pumped up heart rate that you feel, but long-term stress starts to wear down your immune system and makes you more prone to getting sick or having a disease. Stress has been implicated in heart disease, hypertension, and even cancer. Not saying that stress makes you have those problems, but they can be a contributing factor, especially if you're already biologically prone to one. Anytime you weaken the immune system it is easier to contract a sickness and also makes it harder to get rid of it. I know that I just had a run in with this. During October when I was constantly stressed with school and work (and let me tell you I was very stressed and sleep-deprived) my immune system was weakened and as soon as stopped working the 20 hour weekends, I became sick like that and stayed that way for at least a week. My body was just entirely exhausted and if you are less stressed and get good sleep, even if you're exposed to someone who has a sickness, you have a better chance of not getting it or fighting it sooner if you do have it. I usually run every day, at least 20 minutes, if not up to 40, but I could not find the energy to run for about two weeks when I became sick. It was terrible, but there was nothing I could do except let my body recoup. Now I'm back to normal and I'm very grateful because it's terrible to not have energy and feel helpless all day long. I would much rather be able to manage my stress and feel calm and get good sleep so I remain healthy and thin, as I will talk about next.
Fourth, stress can make you gain weight, especially in your stomach. Stress, and the stress hormone cortisol, have been shown to increase appetite and cravings for sweets and carbohydrates, which make us fat because we can't just eat one. Studies have shown that stress causes people to turn away from healthy low-fat foods and eat more food than normal. People look for "comfort" foods when they are stressed to make them feel better because it gives them instant gratification, but that gratification wears off quickly, the sugar high bringing you back down, making your crave more. At least for me, I also know that this makes me feel shitty about myself because especially if I'm trying to eat healthy, it makes me feel like I'm not in control and overindulge on the stuff that I'm trying to stay away from. It also makes me gain weight which also makes me feel bad about myself, so why give in to the stress when it can have these bad effects on your body and brain when you don't want them to? This weight goes to your midsection, and that is not only something that makes us look worse, it is also bad for our health because having large amounts of fat in your abdomen surrounds vital organs that are associated with serious diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. A study done at Georgetwon University Medical Center found that high stress with a high-fat, high-sugar diet leads to abdominal obesity in mice because of the neurotransmitter neuropeptide Y (NPY), which the brain releases NPY directly into the fatty tissue in your stomach. In the mice, the release of NPY from chronic stress increased abdominal growth by 50 percent in just two weeks. Stress not only makes you gain weight, it does it fast. Another reason why you end up packing on the pounds is because chronic stress usually is linked to a lack of sleep, just like I experienced. This also throws your appetite out of whack and you have less prefrontal activation which keeps you from picking healthier foods and turning to sweets and carbs instead. I remember eating a lot of sweets and I seemed to never feel full. I just always wanted to eat and eat even though I didn't want to, but I didn't feel like I could control myself. Once my stress started to go away and I started sleeping more, my eating habits started to become normalized because of my hormones regulating again.
Fifth, even though this doesn't effect everyone at this time, or maybe even ever, stress can make it difficult to conceive. Chronic stress causes hormonal changes that disrupt your reproductive function which makes you infertile. Stress hormones can clamp on the smooth muscle of the fallopian tubes that makes it difficult for the woman to get pregnant, as well as emotional stress damages sperm cells. So, whether you're a male or female, stress can be part of the problem why you can't conceive if you are trying to.
Sixth, stress activates the limbic system and drains your emotional well-being. Stress causes anxiety, depression, and even Alzheimer's disease (as shown from memory in the first example). Some people have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which could never go away. If you're constantly stressed you could start to become depressed from problems that I've already explained, because if stress is hindering your brain from functioning at its best and you're also gaining weight, this isn't generally a positive feeling for anyone. Depending on the person, they can become depressed because of all the anxiety and maybe a feeling of helplessness and giving up under such continual stressful situations. I think we can all think of a situation where we were so stressed to the point of wanting to give up or just getting to the point where we go over the edge of what we can handle. This effects the health of our brain and body where we might not realize it. If you are experiencing short-term stress, it can be an upper and be good for your body because it pumps you up and if you concur whatever stressful situation you're in, that makes you feel good. But constantly being in stressful situations wears your body and brain down, which also makes it more difficult for you to handle more stress, which will then make you feel more depressed because you can't combat all the stress that is being thrown at you. Chronic stress can overwhelm you and cause mental problems. Why would we want this?
Now I will look at some of the ways that you can combat stress. These ways are laid out in Change your Brain, Change your Body by Daniel Amen, where I also got a lot of the information from above, as well as my previous post. Like I said before, this book is extremely informational and it makes you aware of how things we don't normally think of affect our body, and keeping us from being the person we want to be.
- Meditate or pray - meditating and praying both calm stress and enhance brain function. Meditating decreases activity in the left parietal lobes, which decreases awareness of space and time. It increases functioning in the prefrontal cortex, which helps to tune people in to their thoughts, feelings, and goals. It also increases activity in the right temporal lobe, which is an area that is associated with spirituality. Meditating helps you relax and get rid of all the stress that builds up in us over the days, weeks, months, everything. Most of us can relate to being on the run all the time, always having something to do at all times of the day, but this doesn't give our body any time to take a break and recuperate. What people need is to erase all the stresses from their mind for just 10 minutes a day and breathe. Meditating can make you lose track of outside spacial time, but it tunes you in. It increases your brain functioning and memory, which will help you out throughout the day paying attention and sticking to plans and schedules easier. It puts us in a place where we can let our worries dissipate. We all need a little time to relax, and it will make you feel calmer to combat the stress in your life as well as feeling rejuvenated. Also, people who pray or read the Bible every day are 40 percent less likely to suffer from hypertension that others. Spiritual coping strategies can help people to keep from becoming depressed and give in to the bad levels of stress that they may endure.
- Take a yoga class - this is such a great way to relieve stress because it is all about calming your entire body and deep breathing. Focusing on breathing gets more oxygen to the brain and to the body and it calms your heart rate. This gives you a calming feeling over your body so you don't feel so hopped up on everything. It promotes mental calmness, self-awareness, and a focus on being in the present. Thinking too much about the past or too much about the future is not a good thing. If you dwell upon past experiences or regret things, it is not good to continue having those bad thoughts, get past them and move on because you can't change it. If you're thinking too much about the future you can stress out too much about what you're doing and that can get in the way of what you want to accomplish now in the present. Now, it is shown to be good to think about good past experiences that make you happy because it enhances brain function. So take a yoga class and live in the present.
- Delegate - we pride ourselves on always being busy and having things to do, but it is better to be able to say no every once in a while. We don't need to do every single thing we're asked to do, we don't have to have every minute of the day planned with work, volunteer opportunities, etc, we have to say sometimes so that we have a little break. Most of the time we just say yes without actually processing the information, but take the time to think about it first and then decide if you should take part in an endeavor or not. We all need a break, so practice saying no thanks, maybe another time.
- Practice gratitude - be grateful for the good things in your life. Simple right? Well a majority of the time we don't do this. Maybe once a year on Thanksgiving, or when you're going through a really tough time and someone is really helpful so you tell them you're grateful to have them in your life, but this is definitely not something that is practiced enough. "Appreciation meditation" makes the brain look very healthy compared to always thinking about the stresses or fears in your life. In a brain scan done on a woman after she thought about fears and stressful situations in her life, her cerebellum had completely shut down, which is involved in physical coordination. New research has also shown that the cerebellum is involved in processing speed and thought coordination. With there is low activation in the cerebellum, people are clumsier and less likely to think through problems. Thinking about your fears and stresses can make it so you don't work your way through them as well! Thinking too much about the bad things and not the good things makes it harder for you to combat the bad things, which makes it even worse. Think about the good things in your life! Also, the left temporal lobe especially became less active, which is involved in mood, memory, and temper control. With less activation, people have a negative mood, think dark thoughts or about violence, and are associated with depression. Being in a negative mood while trying to combat negative things makes it harder to do this and your threshold to giving in to bad thoughts is lower. If you are in a negative mood you are less likely to be in a positive mood and brush off the bad things and get past them. A negative mood breeds more negative things to happen because you allow yourself to process them as negative. Being positive keeps negative thoughts out and makes it harder for bad stuff in your life to effect you. It has also been shown that people who have a greater sense of well-being are more helpful to others. If you are more grateful for the things in your life, you will be more optimistic and feel better about yourself and you are more likely to help other people are you. Sounds like a win-win to me.
- Get enough sleep! I think this one goes without saying since I've focused on this before. Sleep is essential to being less stressed and worn out.
- Exercise - read my previous post if you'd like to know more about the effects of exercise on your brain and body. Exercise helps to alleviate stress and it boosts your mood.
- Practice diaphragmatic breathing - when we breathe, we eliminate waste products such as carbon dioxide. When there is too much CO2 in our body, it can cause stressful feelings of disorientation and panic. Deep breathing gets the wastes out of the body and brings in more oxygen, which every part of your body needs to keep going, especially your brain. Brain cells start to die within four minutes when deprived of oxygen. Four minutes! That is a short amount of time before brain cells die. Oxygen is essential to keep your mind going strong. Diaphragmatic breathing calms the basal ganglia, which controls anxiety. It helps your brain run more efficiently, regulates your heartbeat, and relaxes your muscles. A lot of the time if we get anxious our heart rate starts to rise, but we can consciously change that with deep breathing because it forces your heart to not work as fast. This will start to help calm you down by using your brain power. Breathing is obviously important, but it is also very helpful in keeping you relaxed if you work at controlling it during anxiety-producing situations.
- Listen to soothing music - listening to soothing music can bring peace to a stressful mind. On the other hand, listening to upbeat music can get your heart rate up and pump you up. If you're trying to calm down, don't listen to upbeat music. A slower rhythm can calm your body and heart rate down to match its rhythm.
- Smell lavender - the smell of lavender has found to have calming, stress-relieving properties. It reduces cortisol and is involved in stress reduction.
- Practice being in stressful situations - the more you combat a stressful situation, the less you will fear it and be more in control. Rehearsing or being in stressful situations where you are focusing on being calmer and not getting too worked up will reinforce your behavior and help you to combat those stressful situations the next time it arises.
- Avoid substances that harm your brain - caffeine disrupts a natural process that keeps stress under control. Adenosine is a chemical that is released to reduce the body's response to stress, but caffeine actually prevents the release of adenosine, so stress is heightened instead of lowered. Caffeine increases stress hormone levels when people are stressed so it only makes stress worse, so it is definitely not something you should be consuming when you are stressed; it will only make it worse. Alcohol induces stress and lowers the blood flow to the brain, which decreases your ability to cope with stress. Most people drink to try to get away from their stresses, but it hinders your ability to deal with the stresses that you are trying to get away from.
- Laugh - laughing counteracts stress and is good for the immune system! Something so simple as laughing that doesn't seem like it would have an affect on the body actually is good for you. It releases endorphins that make you feel better and also lowers the flow of dangerous hormones that suppress the immune system. Spend time with people who make you laugh because it will make you feel better and lower your stress level. This is an easy thing to do, so why not take advantage of it. Have some fun and laugh your stress away.
