7 lesser known ways stress might be impacting your body, mind and life
April is National Stress Awareness Month.
So I thought I would take the opportunity to bring awareness to some of the lesser known ways that stress might be impacting your body, mind and life.
7 lesser known ways stress might be impacting your body, mind and life
Weight Gain: according to the Cleveland Clinic, “Cortisol is partially responsible for managing your metabolism, and when too much of it is released, it causes certain bodily functions to stop and your metabolism to slow down.”
Skin + Hair Issues: also according to Cleveland Clinic, “It (stress) can lead to hives and itchiness, excessive sweating and hair loss.
Muscle + Joint Pain: according to the American Psychological Association (APA), when you experience stress, your muscles tense up. When that stress goes away, your muscles release the tension. According to Dr. Dado of Henry Ford Health, "We hold emotions in our muscular tissue, so it makes sense that stress affects our posture. In fact, most low back pain is not a mechanical problem." This means that you might feel tightness in your neck and shoulders, which are commonly linked to stress, but your low back isn’t immune to stress.
Reduced Immune Function: speaking of immunity, according to Psych Central, studies have shown that chronic stress weakens your immune system’s ability to fight infection.
Memory + Focus Problems: according to Henry Ford Health, “Pumping out stress hormones requires significant brain power. To manage the flood of stress hormones and focus on fears, your brain puts memories for everyday things on the back burner. So if you're chronically stressed, it can be tough to focus. You might not be able to remember what you just read or lose your train of thought in the middle of a sentence. You might even forget to turn off the coffee pot.
Digestive Complaints: the Vagus Nerve is connected to both our stress response and our digestive system, so when activated it can increase symptoms of IBS. Stress also causes us to produce more stomach acid which can result in symptoms like heartburn, diarrhea, or stomach aches.
Irregular cycles: stress can be a contributing factor to late or missed periods, which often adds more stress. Continually missing periods due to stress can lead to hormonal imbalances.
I was reminded yesterday that no matter how much we plan, organize and proactively try to do things that help us feel good, there are always going to be unavoidable stressors in our lives.
Unexpected news.
Unplanned events.
Undesirable outcomes.
Not all stress is bad! And when we can learn to manage our negative stress, embrace our positive stress and create an overall healthy relationship to stress, we can reduce the impacts of stress on our body, mind, and in our lives.
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