Chronic Stress – Is it harmful? (Yes!)
10 Ways to Manage Chronic Stress
STRESS. You can’t avoid it – it literally surrounds us in everyday life and no one is immune to it. The way our bodies respond to stress is protective in the short term but damaging in the long term. Let’s look at how stress functions in the body and what you can do to protect and rid yourself of excessive stress.
Short-lived stress – the kind where you suddenly think you are in danger – is generally harmless, and can even be helpful to activate your fight-or-flight response. If you were confronted by a lion in the wild, it would be a good thing for your heart rate to increase, your blood pressure and blood sugar to rise, and your blood to divert to your extremities so you can stay and fight or run away. But if those physiological changes are frequent or persist, that kind of chronic stress can really start to create havoc in your life, and in your health.
Chronic stress can cause a wide range of concerning symptoms, not just the psychological ones mentioned above. Chronic stress can also contribute to the development of a multitude of physical and mental disorders — it truly has a full-body impact!
In fact, chronic stress has become so stealthy at infiltrating every part of our lives that health professionals have declared it a new illness for this era… Chronic Stress – the health epidemic of the 21st century.
What Does Chronic Stress Do To Your Body?
First, let’s look at the natural (normal) stress response
You encounter a perceived threat – whether it’s real or imagined, physical, mental or emotional. The hypothalamus, a tiny region at the brain’s base, kicks into gear and sets off the alarm system in the body. The ‘alarm’ travels via nerve and hormonal signals to the adrenal glands, which are prompted to release stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline increases heart rate, elevates blood pressure, and pumps up energy reserves – the well-known fight-or-flight response. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases glucose in the bloodstream, enhances the brain’s use of glucose, and bolsters tissue repair function. Cortisol also downgrades nonessential functions that would take up precious resources needed during the fight-or-flight response. For example, the immune system, digestive system, reproductive system, and growth processes are all paused.
When the perceived threat has passed, hormone levels return to normal. For example, as stress hormone levels drop, heart rate and blood pressure return to baseline levels, and other body systems resume their regular activities too.
But, what happens when the normal stress response goes into overdrive?
Even though a lion isn’t chasing you across the grassy plains anymore, you probably have a seemingly continuous accumulation of different types of stress – from your private life, professional life and everywhere in between. Typical daily stressors include traffic, heavy workloads, toxic relationships, lack of sleep, pain, feeling rushed, poor nutrition, overwhelm, and little down time. But more ‘invisible’ stressors abound: overeating, negative thoughts, and even digital overload!
Long-term activation of your stress-response system (as if your natural fight-or-flight reaction switch stays in the ‘on’ position), coupled with the overexposure to stress hormones like cortisol can disrupt nearly all your body’s complex systems and processes.
Symptoms that may be associated with chronic stress:
- Morning exhaustion, even after a good night’s sleep
- Energy crash after lunch or late in the afternoon
- Difficulty recovering from exercise or difficulty gaining muscle or increasing athletic performance
- Susceptibility to viruses (immune suppression)
- “Second wind” late at night
- Insomnia and sleep disturbance
- Low sex drive
- Poor memory
- Extra abdominal fat
- Salt cravings
- Low body temperature
- Hypothyroidism
- Postural hypotension (getting dizzy or feeling faint when you stand up)
- Decreased stress tolerance
- Tendency to feel better just after eating
- Need for coffee or other stimulants to get going in the morning
- Unexplained fatigue
- Anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, including phobias, bipolar disorder & schizophrenia
- Auto-immune exacerbations
- Weight gain and obesity
- Headaches and chronic body pain
- Rapid heartbeat and palpitations
- Increased risk for hypertension, heart attack, heart disease & stroke
- Contributes to premature aging
- Hormone imbalances (closely associated with Adrenal Dysfunction) and fertility issues
- Skin issues like acne, eczema, hives and psoriasis
- Excessive sweating
- Stress can also contribute to, or exacerbate, addictions
Managing Chronic Stress
Chronic stress can become very overwhelming, especially due to that feeling of constantly being under a full body and mind attack! However, there are a number of ways you can reduce stress levels and improve the uncomfortable symptoms you might be experiencing.
Here are 10 ways to manage chronic stress:
- Symptoms. Learn to recognize the signs & symptoms. Obviously, they can vary from person to person, but if you can recognize your own signs of too much stress, you’ll be better equipped to manage them.
- Triggers. Identify – and then avoid – your personal stress triggers, when possible. Taking note of the specific things that cause you stress so you can develop personalized coping and management strategies. Reducing exposure to your triggers is going to be key in prevention!
- Sleep. Improve your sleep. This may be easier said than done; however, getting too little sleep or poor quality sleep can significantly contribute to stress load. Avoid these things an hour or more before bedtime: drinking caffeine, eating, exercising, or using electronic devices.
- Diet. Eat a healthy diet, including limiting caffeine, alcohol, and excessive sugar intake which can all stress the nervous system.
- Exercise. Exercise regularly to increase the body’s production of endorphins – chemicals that boost mood and reduce stress. You can try walking, cycling, running, circuit training, a HIIT workout, or playing sports. You just need to move your body, work up a sweat and do something that you actually enjoy. Just remember to not exercise close to bed time.
- Relax. Practice relaxation techniques such as yoga, deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing, massage therapy, or other type of hands-on “touch therapy”.
- Be mindful. Mindfulness has been shown to have a positive impact on reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.
- Enjoy. Take time for hobbies, such as reading, listening to music, or volunteering in your community.
- Love & Laugh. Foster positive relationships (and ditch the toxic ones) and try to have a good belly laugh more often!
- Connect. Connect, seek support and talk it out – with friends & family, as well as professional counseling if needed.
With the very real risk of being affected by chronic stress, it’s increasingly more important to pay close attention to how you deal with both minor and major stress events, and be able to tune into and recognize the signs & symptoms of chronic stress so that you know how and when to seek help.
Recipe for Relaxation
Here’s a relaxing essential oil blend recipe for those times when you’ve scheduled one too many activities into your day – which is probably every day ; )
RECIPE: Essential Oil Blend for Busy Schedule Relief
Essential oils recommended to blend:
12 drops of ylang-ylang – or jasmine
10 drops of patchouli – or vetiver
8 drops of lavender – or chamomile
6 drops of cedarwood – or cypress
4 drops of bergamot – or grapefruit
Preparation & uses:
In a clean, dark glass bottle (to protect it from UV light), blend together ¼ cup carrier oil (fractionated coconut oil or jojoba or sweet almond oil work best) with 5 of the recommended essential oils.
Rub a few drops of the blend between your palms and breathe deeply for an immediate feeling of relief from stress and anxiety caused by your too-busy schedule and other stressful situations.
Or place a few drops on your temples and the back of your neck, and rub gently.
For a relaxing bath, just add a few drops of the 5 essential oils (no carrier oil) directly into your bath water. Ahhhhh!
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