Stress and the Impacts on Physical and Mental Well-Being
Stress is how your brain and body respond to any demand or situation. It can be anything, ranging from a school task, a life change, or a survival situation. Stress is something that everyone experiences at some point and there is no universal response to a stressor.
When we experience symptoms of stress, it's a natural reaction to a situation that makes us feel anxious or threatened. Some people recover quickly, while some are more deeply impacted. It is always important to remember that stress can impact both physical and mental health.
A stressor can be a one-time occurrence or something that happens repeatedly over time. They can be routine, brought about by the pressures of daily work and life or, or they can be traumatic life changes like the loss of a loved one or a natural disaster. It’s important to remember that not all stress is bad, but stress can lead to lingering health issues and illness. Knowing the difference and asking for help is key.
In a dangerous situation, stress can prepare the body for fight or flight, to either face a threat or to flee to safety. This is also defined as an acute stress response. In such situations, your body has a very specific set of responses honed for survival and tested throughout human history. The term fight or flight represents the choices our ancestors had to make when confronted with situations where they weren’t at the top of the food chain. This response is a survival instinct that has developed over thousands of years.
Some acute stress response reactions include increased pulse, adrenaline production, increased respiration (oxygen use), and increased awareness. These are a chain of reactions that prepare the body for action. They can be so potent after the threat has dissipated, it can take up to 60 minutes to return to pre-arousal levels.
In non-life-threatening situations, stress can fuel the motivation to overcome a challenge like taking a test or interviewing for a new job. The same responses that the body has developed as a survival strategy can be harnessed for increased performance. Stressors that are more long-term can cause those same survival instincts to disrupt normal body processes like the immune, digestive, cardiovascular, sleep, and reproductive systems. Because the body doesn’t receive a clear signal that the threat is over and can return to normal functioning, health is impacted over time. The result is an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, as well as a variety of mental health issues. Everyone needs to have strategies for managing stress as part of a healthy lifestyle. Because we all cope with stress in different ways, it’s important to have techniques that work for you.
Here are some tips and strategies to help manage stress:
Know yourself and how to recognize the signs of different types of stress and how they impact you. Do certain circumstances produce difficulty sleeping, increase the use of alcohol and other substances, cause low energy or anger, or agitation?
Communicate with your healthcare provider about changes in your life that may be producing stress and have impacts on your health. It’s important to address new or existing healthcare conditions as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Exercise regularly. This doesn’t need to be complicated or time-consuming. Waking just 30 minutes a day can improve both your health and your mood.
Set achievable goals and learn to prioritize. Learn how to say “no” and how to prioritize what needs to be done now and what can wait for a better time. Focus on what you have accomplished, not what you have failed to do.
There isn't one way to deal with the stressors of daily life, there is a spectrum of strategies that help mitigate the impacts stress has on our physical and mental wellbeing. Knowing how you react to stressful situations is the first line of defense in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and positive outlook. And most importantly, ask for help if you become overwhelmed.
Written by John Bulmer, Public Information Officer, Capital Cardiology Associates
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