The impact of stress on human health what diseases. How does stress affect human health? Influence on the musculoskeletal system

Hello everyone! Stress is an immediate response of the human body to rapidly changing external conditions. It can be any situation, both harmless and requiring caution. An individual is able to experience shock at the sight of a car racing through a red light, at the approach of an aggressive person or a stray dog. Such situations cause the release of hormones, with the help of which one or another reaction to such an event is formed.

Stress is an essential part of everyday human existence these days. Its peculiarity lies in exactly how and with what intensity the individual's body will react to the current situation. Most often, the greatest burden falls on the emotional or physical sphere. And today we will talk about how stress affects human health.

Causes of stress

The most common causes of stress are:

  • overload;
  • new work;
  • constant nagging of the boss;
  • strong shock;
  • conflict;
  • anxiety;
  • panic fear;
  • lack of self-esteem;
  • significant hypothermia;
  • possible accident;
  • disease;
  • received injury;
  • hunger;
  • thirst, etc.

Such influences entail a corresponding reaction of the body. It can be very different. It depends on the complexity of the situation and its impact on the person. It also matters whether he himself, the people for whom he is responsible or his relatives are involved in it.

It is very important how it manifests itself. The person either hides and suppresses them. It may also be an option that he does not show the feelings that he actually experiences in order to achieve the necessary reaction of others.

Stress can arise at any time. Even a small child who is called to the blackboard at school is already experiencing it. In the future, almost every step of an adult is accompanied by one or another negative impact.

What are the reactions to stress?

If there are too many such situations or the body's reaction to them is inadequate, then they can be harmful. Gradually:

  • the person becomes anxious;
  • it decreases;
  • he is constantly nervous;
  • irritated;
  • crying;
  • screaming;
  • swearing, etc.

As a result, he is exhausted very quickly, gets tired, his attention is scattered, his memory decreases, muscle clamps begin to appear, which entail quite severe pain.

Human health gradually begins to suffer. Oriental medicine is generally of the opinion that most diseases occur under the influence of stress. Indeed, bronchial asthma, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, stomach ulcers, etc. develop precisely as a result of nervous overload.

This happens because a significant negative nervous effect does not pass without a trace for a person. He develops a severe emotional disorder, temporary under normal conditions or permanent under continued stress. Any failure in the body of an individual begins with a psychological trauma. It is she who pulls with her other dysfunctions of internal organs.

Therefore, specialists in the field of medicine and psychology are closely engaged in the study of this serious problem. It has been proven that most diseases of the internal organs occur under the influence of nervous overload. If they are repeated too much, then the development of pathology is possible.

It happens in the following way. At the moment of a stressful situation, the endocrine organs are activated. An active release of hormones begins. Their excess has a strong effect on the brain, stomach, cardiovascular system. If such a state is prolonged or not neutralized, then a failure occurs.

A sharp release of a large number of various hormones leads to a significant increase in heart rate, sudden jumps in blood pressure, and the reaction of the parasympathetic system. If this is repeated often enough, then gradually the body's defenses are reduced. Sometimes a poor state of immunity is no longer able to protect a person from even the development of cancer.

Thus, an abundance of stress weakens a person, disrupts his metabolism, and inhibits regeneration processes in cells and tissues. They suffer from this:

  • leather;
  • muscles;
  • brain;
  • spinal cord;
  • bones;
  • hair;
  • nails;
  • thyroid;
  • spine, etc.

Bones become thinner, which leads to fractures, and constantly elevated hormonal levels disrupt the activity of metabolism, the genitourinary system, the gastrointestinal tract and nerves.

In order to prevent this from happening, it is necessary to give an outlet to stress. This is possible in the presence of a muscular or emotional load. If you do not accumulate it, but get rid of it, then it can even be useful for the body.

The essence of a hormonal attack is to activate all the systems necessary to cope with the situation. Since these days, increased effort is usually not required for this, the way out can be given through an emotional or muscular response. Subsequently, the body, faced with a similar problem, no longer reacts to it so sharply, but quickly finds a solution already embedded in memory cells.

If stress occurs only occasionally and is not destructive, then it can be beneficial to health. This happens when his action does not exceed the danger of the situation or the person knows how to cope with it. The main thing is that the problems do not become too frequent and strong. Otherwise, the body will simply stop fighting them.

At first, headaches begin to appear. Then there will be an arrhythmia, an increase in blood pressure. After a short time, these pathologies become generalized and become chronic.

It is very important not to try to cope with stress with alcohol, smoking or drugs. In addition to a strong blow to the psyche, the influence of such substances will significantly worsen the state of health. The consequences may be delayed. That is, at first a person will experience relief, and then a serious illness will gradually arise that can even lead to death.

How stress affects human health

Then a state called distress manifests itself. It negatively affects health by damaging cells and tissues. It is subdivided into:

  1. nervous;
  2. short-term;
  3. chronic;
  4. psychological;
  5. physiological.

Therefore, stress can affect a person in a variety of ways. You should not think that for a significant impairment of health, too strong a nervous shock is required. Small, but constantly recurring nervous situations are no less dangerous. Gradually, they merge together and pose a direct threat to health.

It can manifest itself abruptly, under the influence of a specific negative situation, or accumulate day after day in a traumatic environment.

Then stress can create serious problems. This is due to the fact that its flow is subject to a certain logic. The body's response is aimed at helping a person adapt to the unfavorable situation.

Therefore, stress goes through three successive periods of time, consisting of anxiety, the stage of adaptation to specific conditions and exhaustion, if this did not happen.

Anxiety and adaptation are the normal course of this reaction, leading to positive results. But in the case when there are a lot of stressful situations and the body does not have time to adapt to them, or they are repeated so often that the adaptation loses its strength, then the stage of exhaustion begins. It is usually followed by the development of any disease.

They can manifest themselves in the psyche, nervous system, metabolism and the functioning of the internal organs of a person. If he already suffers from any disease, it may become exacerbated and even degenerate into a malignant tumor. Most often, an excess of stressful situations leads to:

  • ischemic heart disease;
  • heart attack;
  • stroke
  • hypertension;
  • angina;
  • cholecystitis;
  • duodenal ulcer;
  • gastric colic;
  • dermatitis;
  • urticaria;
  • neurodermatitis;
  • neurosis.

Stress brings considerable harm to the nervous system and psyche. It becomes more and more difficult for a person to cope with ordinary everyday situations, he ceases to believe in himself, it is difficult for him to force himself to do something, he does not believe in the success of the work begun. Gradually, he develops depression and even suicidal thoughts.

A completely healthy person may first start to catch a cold. Then suffer from minor ailments, and later find that he has developed a serious illness.

Stress is very bad for women. Under its constant influence, they age, the skin ceases to be fresh and elastic, and the hair begins to thin.

Thus, a person should be able to cope with such situations or, if this is not possible, avoid them. If you live in a state of constant nervous tension, this can end in very serious consequences.

Under the influence of chronic stress, the human body simply wears out, the resources of his psyche and nervous system are depleted, and internal organs cease to cope with their load. The individual falls ill and is not always able to recover. As soon as one disease recedes, another immediately begins. The overall life expectancy is also reduced.

Therefore, it should be understood that stress can arise both under the influence of an external situation (conflict, attack) and internal (anxiety, fear). Moreover, the problem does not have to be real, it can only occur in the imagination of a person. For example, a student who has perfectly prepared for an exam experiences an inexplicable horror of the teacher. Or a person who has received a new position and is thoroughly familiar with the technological process is worried that he will not be able to cope with the work.

Therefore, the manifestation of such unreasonable emotions should be controlled, since the human brain, which sends signals to the endocrine organs, does not distinguish between where the real danger lies and where the imaginary one lies.

In addition, even if a person has already developed some kind of psychosomatic illness, he must learn to properly respond to stressful situations. This can be achieved by putting your emotional reactions under the control of your mind, for example,.

If a person begins to fully realize that every traumatic problem leads to a sharp deterioration in his health, then he should think about how important it is for him to work in an unfriendly team, engage in overly stressful work, or be married to an alcoholic.

Now you know how stress affects human health. Take care of yourself! See you soon!

During life, it is impossible to avoid stressful situations. Strong and weak, short and long negative factors act on adults and children, and their consequences are not limited to momentary discomfort. The magazine "Together with You" has analyzed the scientific data regarding stress and its impact on the human body, and is ready to tell its readers about the potential threat.

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Classification: such different stress

The impact of stress on human health directly depends on its type. It does not always have a negative impact, and may even be useful, because it triggers adaptation mechanisms.

By emotional coloring

In the view of the inhabitants, something unpleasant always acts as a provoking mechanism, but in fact, a stressful situation is any strong shock. From this point of view, psychologists distinguish two groups of stress factors:

  • Eustress is caused by positive emotions. For example, preparing for a wedding, the birth of a child, and even graduation from school are quite intense experiences that can be incapacitating. The positive or negative effect will be exerted on the body, depends on the duration of eustress.
  • Distress provokes negative experiences, but even this does not mean that the impact of stress on health will be negative. The decisive role will be played by the intensity and duration of exposure, as well as the characteristics of the psychology of a particular individual.

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By intensity

Big and small events happen every day, and it is significant, serious incidents that are perceived by our consciousness as the most traumatic. But in terms of the degree of impact on health, small stresses can give odds to shocks. In psychology, the following types of influences are distinguished:

  • micro-events. A one-time scolding from the boss is a short-term mild stress and its impact on a person will not be significant. On the contrary, sometimes it will help to throw out long-accumulated emotions or mobilize forces to solve a difficult task.
  • macro events. For example, the death of a loved one, a divorce, a natural disaster experienced - at these moments the body goes beyond its capabilities, and the person clearly feels the deterioration.

This does not mean that micro-events are absolutely harmless. The quantitative factor also plays a role. For example, moving is a period of life associated with many microstresses. Packing things, finding movers, keeping track of safety, getting upset at the loss of something, processing documents ... a chain of troubles that need to be put in a limited period of time, in total gives a high degree of psychological stress.

Psychological stuff

To assess the significance of an event, psychologists use an individual stress scale, in which each situation has a certain intensity value. The most shocking incidents, such as the death of a loved one, are rated as 100% stress, and a quarrel with a store clerk is only 3%.

Accumulating for several days, micro-events in total can become a more traumatic factor, and the impact of stress on a person's health will be comparable to a serious shock.

By duration of exposure

Depending on how long a person is in a stressful state, it can become a completely insignificant episode or leave an indelible imprint on a person’s health.

acute stress

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Short-term impact, the consequences of which will be directly proportional to its intensity:

  • Being late for work, if it did not entail a disciplinary sanction, is an acute mild stress that a person will forget about after a couple of hours. On the contrary, it can even be beneficial, as stress affects the body in a tonic way. The release of the stress hormone cortisol leads to an increase in heart rate and centralization of blood circulation, peripheral vessels narrow, and the blood supply to the brain and heart increases. Thus, thinking is activated, and a person becomes capable of instant decision-making.
  • A journalist who witnesses a shelling with a high death toll experiences a high-intensity short-term shock. Health effects can be immediate, in the form of stuttering, blackouts, dizziness, heart attack or stroke. The delayed effect of stress on the human body, which is called post-traumatic stress disorder, is very dangerous, and it is impossible to cope with it without professional medical help.

chronic stress

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The long-term effect of stress on a person is always destructive, regardless of the intensity. The insidiousness of this state is that it proceeds in three successive stages:

  • Anxiety. This is the first reaction to changed conditions, which is characterized by awareness of what is happening. An acute period of anxiety usually proceeds brightly and openly, a person receives support and sympathy from loved ones, and it becomes less difficult to experience stress.
  • Resistance. After awareness comes the stage of adaptation and resistance. Characteristic external signs are that a person is ready to fight, looking for ways to eliminate it. For example, the constant nitpicking of the authorities makes a person study labor legislation, reorganize work and prove the correctness of his position. This is a rather dangerous stage, since both the person himself and those around him perceive it as a victory over stress, although in fact it continues its destructive effect.
  • Exhaustion. Psychological stability is not unlimited, and if the psychotraumatic factor is not eliminated at the previous stage, the person gets tired of fighting and completely surrenders to negative experiences. The cunning is that often neither the patient himself nor his relatives associate the painful condition with the event that seems to have long been experienced. The task of the psychotherapist is to highlight the starting moment of the disorder and help develop the right attitude towards the problem.

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The effect of stress on the body: concepts of psychosomatics

Official medicine knows about the many manifestations of the so-called psychosomatic pathology, in which serious diseases arise due to psychological influences, including stress.

Understanding the terminology

Do not confuse psychosomatic diseases with hypochondria, in which a person, as a result of suspiciousness, tends to find manifestations of non-existent diseases in himself. The hypochondriac is physically healthy, despite numerous complaints.

The most common psychosomatic illnesses are:

  • ischemic heart disease, including heart attack;
  • primary arterial hypertension;
  • bronchial asthma;
  • gastritis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum;
  • nonspecific ulcerative colitis;
  • irritable bowel syndrome;
  • neurodermatitis, atopic dermatitis;
  • rheumatoid arthritis.

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Which pathology will manifest itself depends on the background state of health, since stress affects the human body in the most vulnerable areas. Here the principle “where it is thin, it breaks” works, and against the background of stressful situations, existing chronic diseases or those to which a person has a predisposition become aggravated. Treatment of somatic pathology in this case is difficult, since it is prone to recurrent course and resistance to drug therapy.

Stress and its impact on human health: mental disorders

The relationship of various mental disorders with stress can be traced quite clearly, and diagnosis is usually not difficult. Manifestations can be both relatively harmless and destructive, often progressive, so timely seeking psychological help is extremely important for the patient. The impact of stress on human health occurs in the following forms:

  • Sleep disorders. These disorders can take the form of sleep disturbance, shallow, restless sleep, or insomnia. In the daytime, a person may not suffer from lack of sleep, or, on the contrary, may feel lethargic and drowsy.
  • Eating disorders. Under conditions of acute or chronic stress, bulimia develops, in which a person impulsively eats huge amounts of food. The opposite form of an eating disorder is anorexia, characterized by an almost complete refusal to eat. These conditions pose a direct threat to health, since with critical weight loss, internal organs undergo irreversible changes.

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  • Panic attacks. An attack of unmotivated fear, which is accompanied by palpitations, alternating heat and chills, profuse sweating, feeling short of breath, nausea. This condition occurs in a person in conditions associated with a previously experienced stressful situation. Panic attacks can occur in an elevator, subway, airplane, doctor's office, boss, or any other place that the subconscious associates with the stress experienced.
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorders. Studies that have looked at stress and its effects on adolescents and children have found that stress responses at this age often take the form of OLE. Their manifestations range from a relatively harmless craving to count everything that comes in the way, to biting nails and fingers in the blood.
  • Behavioral disorders. Violation of behavior in the form of deep apathy, depression or unmotivated aggression is perceived by society as an adequate response to stress. Psychologists see this as a wake-up call that a person is not able to cope with the problem on their own. If conduct disorders are not corrected, they can affect the social sphere of a person's life.
  • Dependencies. Various forms of mental dependence fall on a favorable background of a stressful situation. Patients often become addicted to alcohol, nicotine, psychotropic drugs, or gambling.

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Do not ignore the listed symptoms in the hope that over time they will spontaneously disappear. A qualified psychotherapist will help you get out of a stressful situation with minimal consequences, even if you have to use drug therapy along with psychotherapeutic techniques.

Common manifestations: alarm bells of stress

Low-intensity chronic stress is hidden, and rarely attracts the attention of even the patient himself, not to mention those around him. Almost all people had to work under pressure from management, or constant deadlines. Even in general, the positive period of motherhood consists of many small stresses that accumulate and result in such non-specific symptoms:

  • Hair loss. This manifestation is attributed to hypovitaminosis, hormonal changes, age-related changes or heredity, without even associating it with stress. The structure of the hair shaft also suffers, which becomes thin, brittle, and depigmented (gray).
  • Premature aging. A high level of cortisol in the blood causes spasm of the peripheral vessels. As a result, the skin receives less nutrients, and the removal of metabolic products slows down, which leads to the early appearance of wrinkles, thinning and flabbiness of the skin.
  • Sexual dysfunction. In men, this manifests itself in the form of a decrease or disappearance of sexual desire, women note an irregular cycle or complete amenorrhea. Against the background of stress, pathologically early male and female menopause often manifests itself, which overtakes even young people under the age of 30.

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  • Headache. Chronic pain reduces the quality of life of the patient, negatively affecting the speed of thinking and sleep. Analgesics help relieve headaches, but due to its chronic nature, sufferers often fall into the trap of dependence on painkillers. You need to be careful with drugs containing codeine, such as Solpadeine.
  • Decreased immunity. The production of antibodies and immunoglobulins is disrupted, as a result of which a person is at high risk of infectious pathologies. The cold season passes under the sign of respiratory diseases, and the warm season is accompanied by intestinal infections and poisoning.

Manifestations of how stress affects human health largely depends on the characteristics of the person. Of course, there are people who easily and naturally go through any trials. But it is very difficult for many to get out of the abyss of their own experiences without professional help and support from loved ones. Do not ignore even minor symptoms in yourself or relatives, because the sooner a person receives help, the more likely it is that this will not entail any consequences.

Human well-being and well-being is an important aspect of life. During constant stressful tensions, you undermine your well-being and the health of the whole organism. The impact of stress on health is very detrimental. Not knowing how to get rid of stressful tension and not taking appropriate measures in time often lead to serious health problems.

Every system of your body reacts to overstrain caused by a stressful state: cardiovascular, digestive, reproductive, nervous, endocrine, musculoskeletal and others. Irritability of the psyche during stress often leads to disorders of the immune system. The result of this is the degeneration of healthy cells, and quite often leads to all kinds of diseases.

Under the influence of stress overvoltage occurs:

  • sudden fatigue;
  • sudden weight loss;
  • excitement, depression, or sudden mood changes;
  • loss of appetite, or strong cravings for a certain type of food;
  • various kinds of reddening of the skin, rashes or peeling.

Unexpected stress is often the cause of:

  • spasms of muscle tissue, blood vessels, damage to motor function;
  • miscarriages in pregnant women and decreased libido;
  • panic attacks, heart attack;
  • decrease in testosterone, development of impotence;
  • nausea and intestinal disorders;
  • high blood pressure.

The impact of stress overvoltage on the psyche and state of mind

Constant exposure to stress negatively affects the state of mind, as a person can worry for a long time or even lose interest in life. The consequences of this condition may be:

  • bouts of irritability, irascibility, aggressiveness, intolerance;
  • insomnia;
  • complexes and self-doubt;
  • depression, neuroses.

It is difficult for a person who is often in a stressful state to intelligently plan his time and completely relax. Trying to distract yourself from unnecessary problems, you try to immerse yourself in work or simply get away from your problems with the help of alcohol.

Often, stress leads to the emergence or aggravation of bad habits and changes the behavioral characteristics of a person.

Effects of stress overexertion on health

Prolonged and uncontrolled stress often negatively affects your health and leads to disorders of various systems and organs. The long-term impact of stress on human health leads to the following consequences:

  • frequent and rather severe headaches and migraines;
  • deterioration in performance, inattention, severe fatigue;
  • chronic sleep deprivation;
  • growth of malignant neoplasms is possible;
  • the body becomes vulnerable to infectious and various viral diseases;
  • possible muscle dystrophy, degradation of the brain and spinal cord at the cellular level.

Short term exposure to stress

Short-term stress signals the muscles to act

Under conditions of transient stress tension, certain signals enter the nervous system, which turn on special parts of the nervous system and contribute to the survival of the whole organism in difficult, critical situations. There is a rapid heartbeat, as a result of which there is a decrease in blood flow to the digestive system, and to the muscles, on the contrary, it increases.

At the same time, your adrenal glands begin to secrete adrenaline, which prompts the release of glucose. It, in turn, quickly splitting in muscle cells, is converted into energy. Muscles, tensing, are preparing to act actively.

After the cessation of stressful tension, the energy reserves of the body are exhausted, the amount of glucose decreases, the feeling of hunger increases, and the nervous system is excited. Its activation is carried out during sleep, eating and rest. Such a system works during short-term exposure to stress, when you cope with stressful tension, and it does not have a further effect on you.

Prolonged exposure to stress

Chronic stress often leads to overeating

The mechanism of action of such stress is significantly different from a short-term stressful state. The pituitary gland, which produces a significant amount of hormones, stimulates the work of the adrenal glands and the thyroid gland, which, in turn, begins to produce the hormone thyroxine in large quantities. The adrenal glands begin to secrete (cortisol), increasing glucose levels and breaking down proteins into amino acids.

During a chronic stressful state, the body does not expend much energy, and you do not take active actions. As a result, excess glucose is sent by insulin to the connection of fat molecules.

In a state of chronic stress overstrain, the glucose reserve is used up much faster, and you feel an overwhelming feeling of hunger. The need for food increases significantly, as a result of which the body gains extra pounds.

In the future, prolonged stress turns into chronic fatigue or depression, and is accompanied by sexual disorders, insomnia and headaches.

All this can be prevented if you clearly understand how destructive the effect of stress on your body is, and that it is necessary to prevent, eliminate or reduce the effect of such factors in a timely manner.

The positive impact of stress

It may sound very strange, but nevertheless stressful tension can have a positive effect on your health. During the release of a sufficient amount of adrenaline, your body will help to cope with difficult and difficult situations, thereby finding a way out of them, and having overcome them, you become more efficient and resilient.

Stress helps to improve relationships with loved ones, as the level of oxytocin in the blood, which is often called the hormone of attachment, increases. Also, short-term stressful tension can rationalize the working memory that you use to solve all sorts of problems.

Thus, health is uncertain, and, naturally, the negative consequences are much greater than the positive ones. Therefore, you should be positive and try not to take everything to heart enough, try to properly and fully relax and refrain from stressful situations in all its manifestations.

Stress is a kind of replica of the body in response to unusual external requirements. It is an integral part of life experience. At different times, the sources of disturbing situations were different - predators, epidemics, campaigns of conquest, natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Every person is subject to experiences, and stress has a certain effect on the human body, regardless of what provoked it.

Phases of development of stress

The founder of the doctrine of stress, Hans Selye, distinguishes three stages of its progress.

First stage- a feeling of anxiety, provoked by an increased synthesis of hormones by the adrenal cortex, which give energy to adapt to unusual circumstances.

Next stage- resistance phase. If the body has adapted to the requirements, the production of the hormone is normalized. Anxiety symptoms go away, and the degree of body resistance increases significantly.

Last phase- exhaustion. After prolonged exposure to a stimulus to which the individual is accustomed, the adaptive abilities of the body decrease, anxiety returns, and deformations in the adrenal cortex and other internal organs become irreversible.
All three stages of development of stress constantly replace each other: first there is a reaction of surprise due to the lack of suitable experience, then a person learns to cope with a new situation, after which fatigue comes.

Causes of Stress: Why Stress Occurs

The impact of stressful positions due to the emergence of many diseases. In order to learn how to neutralize the harmful effects of stress and protect yourself from relapse, you need to find the primary source of psycho-emotional stress.

The most common causes of stress are emotional factors. Each illness or injury, physiological and psychological stress, infections and illnesses provoke tension in the body.

There are also many universal reasons for the emergence and progress of stress: too fast pace of life, excessive information flow, loss of traditions, overcrowding, constant lack of time, decrease in physical activity, illiterate diet.

Stress in small doses has a positive effect on a person: the formation of glucose in the liver is activated, fat is burned faster and more efficiently, inflammatory processes are inhibited, and the body's resistance increases.

However, chronic exposure to stressors always negatively affects the state and capabilities of all organs and systems. Emotional internal pressure will certainly find the weakest point in the body: the nervous system, digestive tract, immunity, and suppressed tension will turn into a disease or an addiction.

The most common signs of chronic stress are:

  • incessant migraines,
  • constant lack of sleep
  • ailments of the cardiovascular system become acute, high blood pressure and tachycardia appear,
  • addictions are formed in various variations, including alcohol, gaming and drug addiction,
  • increased fatigue, deterioration in concentration and memory capabilities,
  • exacerbation of gastrointestinal diseases, the appearance of gastritis or ulcers,
  • increased trauma,
  • weakened immunity, as a result - constant colds and viral illnesses,
    decreased sensitivity.

The consequences of the constant presence of stressful situations are often insomnia, irritability, unmotivated anger and depression.

Moreover, the results of exposure to stress may not be revealed immediately, but after some time develop into a dangerous disease. Hormones synthesized by the body during the period of life collisions are necessary, but their quantity should not go off scale.

The negative impact is getting worse sedentary lifestyle. Active elements rotate in the body for a long time in high concentration, keeping the body in a state of tension.

How stress affects the organs and systems of the body

If a person is nervous, working out cortisol rapidly growing in the body; which, in turn, compromises the functioning of the immune system. Levels rise when anxiety is high adrenaline, due to which hypertension appears, sweating becomes more active. The increased synthesis of these hormones makes it very difficult for some human organs to work.

Effects of stressors on the skin

Constant tension provokes a lot of skin problems: from the usual acne to eczema and other forms of dermatitis. Sometimes the skin becomes sensitive and prone to allergic manifestations.

Effect of stress on the brain

Stress causes constant headaches, which is explained by the increase in tension in the neck and shoulders. Therefore, migraine weakens if a person manages to sleep or just relax. Long-term anxiety coupled with depression can cause Alzheimer's disease by stimulating the growth of the proteins that cause it.

If an individual tries to relieve stress by smoking or drinking alcohol, brain cells are exposed to the most destructive effect, which leads to memory loss.

Pressure on the heart

Since stress is a provocateur of hypertension, it also becomes a source of heart disease. Prolonged stress violates the normal level of sugar in the blood and leads to type 2 diabetes mellitus and loss of vascular elasticity.
Stressors can change the rhythm of the heart and increase the likelihood of a stroke or heart attack.

Consequences for the stomach and intestines

The digestive system is very sensitive to the effects of stress, food is not digested properly. The volume of gastric secretion changes, disrupting blood circulation in the intestine. Constant anxiety can change the composition of the microflora and cause serious gastrointestinal diseases.

The role of stress in the immune system

Under the influence of stress factors, the immune system reduces the protection, and the body becomes defenseless against viruses, bacteria and cancerous growths. Chronic stress leads to the fact that the immune system is not able to adequately respond to hormonal surges; and this provokes inflammatory processes in the human body.

Occupational stress

Residents of megacities are more exposed to the increased influence of stressors on the body. Chronic stress often appears in the background of overtime and hard work.

Its main reasons are:

  • high intensity of work or its monotony,
  • rush jobs and initially insufficient deadlines for completing the task,
  • malnutrition,
  • mode of operation that is not suitable for a particular individual,
  • conflicts with management or colleagues,
  • hazardous operating conditions.

An employee exposed to occupational stress quickly burns out as a valuable specialist.

How to deal with stress

Stress is considered the root cause of a decrease in life expectancy, people who are in a state of permanent tension cannot even perform daily duties. And what would be good to learn is to adequately respond to difficulties.

Here it is important not to change drastically living conditions, not to give up routine habitual affairs. Their monotony has a beneficial effect on mood.

It is preferable to start the day with physical activity.. Yoga and meditation, tai chi and other techniques that have been tested for centuries will help. It is very important to have a good enough rest.

Particular attention should be paid to nutrition. The menu should be formed from low-calorie and fresh food filled with vitamins and nutrients. The amount of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol should be reduced to the lowest possible doses.

Balm for the soul often becomes communication. It is necessary to regularly visit theaters, live music concerts, and museums. You need to find what brings joy and enjoy life.

As you know, the life of every modern person is replete with many stress factors. Troubles at work, sometimes escalating, sometimes subsiding global economic crisis, troubles with children, health problems, and probably a couple of dozen other reasons, all this constantly affects the psyche.

At first, the problems, most likely, are purely psychological in nature: increased excitability, anxiety, imbalance, but over the years, much has changed. Somatic diseases may also occur.

Over the years, the factors listed above can lead to the emergence of many somatic diseases. How to avoid all that promises a person constant psychological troubles, how to reduce the impact of stress on health?

What is stress?

Stress is a combination of psychological factors that are assessed by a person as threatening. Of course, no matter what we do, in our life there is always a place for such phenomena.

The same phenomenon can be perceived by a person as stress, and by another individual as a completely normal phenomenon. The reason for this lies in various psychotypes or in personality accents.

Perhaps many people know that we are all divided into two categories, optimists and pessimists. Remember the famous phrase about the same glass, which can be half empty or full.

Optimists tend not to view what happens to them as stressful. Rather, this kind of phenomenon is accepted as a challenge to reality, which should be dealt with. At this time, many life support systems are mobilized, which ultimately leads to victory.

Pessimists, on the contrary, tend to exaggerate the significance of this or that phenomenon. Even the slightest difficulties lead to the fact that a person begins to withdraw into himself, problems seem insurmountable, and so on.

Effect of stress on the nervous system

Of course, the nervous system suffers from stress more than anyone else. And, as a result, it can affect other organs of our body, because the brain is endowed with the rights of the regulator of all biochemical processes. How are disturbances in the work of the nervous apparatus manifested?

There are many deviations in the human psyche. First of all, the appearance of emotional instability should be noted. Even the most insignificant factor can unbalance such an individual: an awkward look or a harsh word.

Episodes of anger can alternate with periods of depression, during which the person begins to withdraw into himself, falls into a deep depression, and the like.

The imbalance of neurobiochemical reactions over the years can lead to the appearance of deviations in the work of many organs. There are changes in the endocrine background, the immune system suffers, problems appear in the genital area.

The effect of stress on the immune system

As I have already indicated, nervous tension negatively affects the work of many organs. The immune system is also subject to similar influences. Through a complex chain of biochemical reactions, the qualitative and quantitative composition of the so-called natural defenders of the body changes.

If normally, these internal protective agents easily coped with all potential threats, then in pathology, the immune system is no longer able to perform its duties with high quality. Such people are very often prone to seasonal colds, and this is far from the saddest thing.

It has been scientifically proven that in the presence of constant stress, the likelihood of oncological pathology increases significantly.

Upon learning of the presence of such a diagnosis, many people experience a real shock, go into themselves, refuse treatment. Of course, in this case, it is not necessary to hope for a positive outcome.

Effect of stress on metabolism

The imbalance of internal biochemical processes inevitably leads to failures in the main metabolism. Most often this is expressed in violations of lipid catabolism. The body, as if preparing for difficult times, begins to intensively store fat reserves, and slows down the process of lipolysis.

I think many people understand that we are talking about obesity. Add to this the habit of "seizing" stressful situations, and then the scale of the problem becomes obvious. According to the World Health Organization, every third person on the planet suffers from this disease to one degree or another.

Given the ever-growing global economic crisis, for the most part, it is not necessary to count on the fact that this trend can somehow change.

The effect of stress on the cardiovascular system

As you know, during stress, the hormonal background of a person is significantly rebuilt. Substances are released into the blood, which contribute to a sharp decrease in the lumen of peripheral vessels. This results in a condition called hypertension.

Increased pressure, at first, is tolerated by a person easily and calmly. Many of us go years without noticing anything even remotely indicating this kind of problem.

As a person gets older, his resistance to hypertension decreases significantly. If, in this case, the disease is not given due attention, the situation can turn into much more sad consequences, including strokes and hemorrhages.

Conclusion

As you know, any disease is easier to prevent than to deal with its consequences. While stress has not yet made itself felt, all measures should be taken to eliminate their harmful effects. A reasonable alternation of work and rest, proper nutrition, exercise, giving up bad habits, this is what will help in this difficult matter.