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Mental Stress Can Affect Your Body – Find Out How

Imagine you’re at home, trying to finish a presentation for your office meeting the next morning, and the power goes off suddenly. This causes the Wi-Fi to stop working and your mobile to run out of charge. You begin to worry. Your brain’s hypothalamus orders your body to produce stress hormones. You begin to breathe rapidly, your heart rate increases, and your muscles get ready for ‘fight or flight’. This response has evolved over time to protect you in an emergency by enabling your body to react fast. However, when you are under mental stress every day, it could cause major health problems for you. Basically, the side effects of mental stress can be more serious than you think.

Read on to know how mental stress affects the various systems in your body

• Central nervous and endocrine systems

The central nervous system is what responds to a fight or flight situation in your life. Your brain signals the adrenal glands to produce stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. The stress hormones increase your heart rate and send more blood to your heart, muscles, and other vital organs.

Once the fear or threat is gone, your brain signals your body to get back to normal. However, if whatever is stressing you is still there, your central nervous system continues to respond by producing more stress hormones.

Problems like substance and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, and social withdrawal are caused by chronic stress. Thus, the side effects of mental stress can be very harmful.

• Cardiovascular and respiratory systems

Your heart and breathing can get affected by stress hormones. Your lungs work harder when you are stressed and breathe rapidly to increase the flow of oxygenated blood. Stress can make breathing harder if you suffer from wheezing or asthma.

When you are stressed, the heart also pumps harder to increase the flow of oxygen-rich blood. Blood vessels become constricted and supply more blood to your muscles during fight or flight response. This causes your blood pressure to increase. Chronic stress thus makes your heart and lungs work much harder, increasing your risk of heart attacks.

• Digestive system

Another one of the side effects of mental stress is that your liver produces more glucose for extra energy. Chronic stress keeps your blood glucose constantly high, causing you to develop diabetes mellitus.

Stress also causes acid reflux, heartburn, and stomach upsets. It can increase your risk of developing ulcers too. Chronic stress may also cause eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

• Muscular system

When you are under stress, your muscles tense up. This protects the muscles from injury. If you’re under chronic stress, your muscles never get a chance to relax and result in neck, shoulder or back pain, headache, and body pain. This can become debilitating as you grow older and your muscles get weaker.

• Sexuality and reproductive system

Chronic stress can cause a drop in testosterone levels in men. This leads to low sperm count and erectile dysfunction. Another side effect of mental stress is an increased risk of infection in the testes and prostate.

In women, chronic stress negatively affects the menstrual cycle, causing painful or irregular periods. It can also worsen your menopause symptoms.

Chronic stress also decreases fertility in both men and women. So, if you are constantly stressed, you and your partner may have trouble conceiving.

• Immune system

The stress hormone cortisol is responsible for regulating your immune system and fighting inflammation. This is an advantage in a stressful situation as your immunity increases. However, chronic stress weakens your immunity and slows down the body’s immune response. This can cause you to catch flu or cold more often and delay your recovery from injuries too.

Conclusion

The side effects of mental stress affect your whole body. When left untreated, chronic stress can affect your quality of life. It can increase your risk of type-2 diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks, and stroke. It can also cause mental health conditions like anxiety disorders.

If you feel you are constantly stressed, try relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation. You could also try art therapy and regular exercising to help reduce stress and anxiety. Consult a mental healthcare professional who can recommend therapies or medication to reduce your stress levels.

Disclaimer: This blog provides general information and discussions about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this blog, website or in any linked materials are not intended and should not be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Kindly contact your Doctor before starting a new medicine or health regime.

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Published on February 11, 2022