We live in a society where we are dealing with situations in which stress is unavoidable, due to high-pressure workdays, long commutes, raising kids, not enough sleep or exercise basically trying to make ends meet.
I would like to say a little stress is good, it encourages us to take action and activate the mind, another bonus is you will live longer, healthier and be happier. Remember only short small bursts not prolonged stress, as prolonged stress leeds to an array of health issues.
We are all different and we each are able to cope, bear or sustain different amounts of stress. When we reach our own limit we then go into overflow, once in overflow we start to accumulate the stress, when we reach this point it’s called distress. And this is where stress starts to damage your health causing minor to fatale symptoms, early aging, disease and long-term disability.
When we are in a state of accumulation, stress causes us to make more mistakes, become forgetful, a feeling of disconnection and fearfulness.
Here are nine examples to illustrate “Why this extra level of stress is more dangerous than you think”.
Stress makes it difficult to control your emotions.
It’s no secret that stressed people can fly off the handle. But new research reveals just how little stress is actually required for you to lose your cool. A study by researchers at University of Sydney, found that even mild levels of stress can impair our ability to control our emotions.In the study, researchers taught subjects stress control techniques. But after participants were put under mild stress — by having their hands dunked in icy water — they could not easily calm themselves down when shown pictures of snakes or spiders.
Stress can promote disease.
Some people are more prone to certain diseases, and stress can give these conditions the green light. Stress has been linked to illnesses that include cancer, lung disease, fatal accidents, suicide, and cirrhosis of the liver. Researchers at University of Sydney, have discovered that children exposed to stress are more likely to develop a mental illness if they are genetically predisposed.
Stress can affect your love life.
Sex is a pleasurable and effective way to relieve stress. But stress can also get you out of the mood quicker than you think.
According to the researchers at the University of Sydney, stress can affect a man’s body weight, testosterone levels, and sexual desire.High levels of stress in pregnant women also may trigger changes in their children as they grow, specifically behavioral and developmental issues.
Stress can ruin your teeth and gums.
Some people respond to stressful situations through nervous tics or by grinding their teeth.While people often grind their teeth unconsciously or when they sleep, it can do lasting damage to your jaw and wear your teeth thin.A multi-university study in 2012 also linked stress to gum disease.According to the researchers at the University of Sydney, the pressures of marriage, parenthood, work, or lack of romantic involvement were factors in periodontal disease.But those at greatest risk were people who became highly emotional when dealing with stress caused by their finances.
Stress can ruin your heart.
Stress can physically damage your heart muscle.Stress damages your heart because stress hormones increase your heart rate and constrict your blood vessels. This forces your heart to work harder, and increases your blood pressure.According to the researchers at the University of Sydney, the incidence rate of heart attacks and sudden death increases after major stress inducing incidents, like hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis.
Stress can make you gain weight.
In the ancient days of hunter-gatherers, harsh conditions forced people to eat as much as possible when food was available in order to store up for lean times.That compulsion lives on inside us, and comes out when we are stressed. Researchers at the University of Sydney found that when people find themselves in stressful situations, they are likely to consume 60 percent more food than normal. Those scientists recommended turning off the nightly newscast before eating dinner, to keep bad news — and overeating — at bay.
Stress can make you look older.
Stress contributes significantly to premature aging.Australian public research university in Sydney, Australia discovered that stress shortens telomeres the structures on the end of chromosomes, so that new cells can’t grow quickly. This leads to the inevitable signs of aging such as wrinkles, weak muscles, poor eyesight, and more.
Stress weakens your immune system.
The connection between mind and body is often underestimated. But everyone has experienced a cold when they can least afford to.That’s because the high demands stress puts on the body make the immune system weak, which makes you more vulnerable to colds and infections. Stress caused only if you are not doing exercise and do not indulge in social activities. So please become social animal and quite often do calming exercises, as well as social outlets, to relieve stress.
Stress can lead to long-term disability.
The potential dangers created by even mild stress should not be underestimated. They can lead to long-term disability serious enough to render you unable to work.Researchers reached these conclusions after five-year study of 25,000 Australian working adults, ages 18 to 48.One in four study subjects in Rose Bay, New South Wales, who had mild stress were awarded disability benefits for physical conditions like angina, high blood pressure, and stroke. Nearly two-thirds drew benefits for a mental illness.
In conclusion – stress is killing us and it is in many different ways and if we don’t start to work on reducing our stress and looking out for the signs we are going to live a life of continuous health issues.