Stress affects you physically as well as mentally

The physical changes that occur in your body when stress becomes chronic are just as real as the changes caused by smoking or a high-fat diet.

It is almost un-American to take stress seriously. While we have accepted the importance of controlling blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, diet, smoking and activity level, we are slower to admit that stress could really be a problem.
But stress can be a problem, especially when it settles into our daily lives as chronic, uncontrollable, overwhelming overload. Feelings of anger and depression can be especially damaging. The problems created by too much stress are not "all in your mind."

How much stress is "too much"?

How much stress is "too much" depends upon your point of view. As Hans Selye, one of the early stress scientists, observed, "We all boil at different degrees." Too much stress for your friend might be an interesting and stimulating life for you, or vice versa.

Stress is not only about what is happening in your life, although that is certainly very important. The impact that stress has on your health is also a function of your perception-- what's happening in your mind. For example, you may get anxious or angry about something that may never have happened, but the stress of that anger is very real. So are the muscle tension, digestive problems and chest pain that the anger produces. Or you may perceive a problem in ways that make you more stressed than necessary.

 

Is tension also bad for me?

Some individuals may not feel much anger or depression, but they can still be overloaded and often feel overwhelmed, which can cause tightness while breathing. This sense of tension is bad for your health too.

Chronic stress means your body is in a constant state of arousal from the fight-or-flight response that gears you up to respond to an emergency. This fight-or-flight response is very useful when you need to rescue a child in danger, run to catch a bus or deliver a brilliant presentation. Our problem now is that nature never intended this adaptive response to stay turned on for more than short periods. Once the emergency is over, we need to gradually unwind and recover to an unstressed state.

How can I relax?

What's the best way to get yourself to relax? Balance is the issue. Stress does not appear to be harmful to your health as long as your body has some time each day to recover. Learning to provide a balance will greatly reduce the toll it takes on your health.