Stress Awareness Month

April is recognized as National Stress Awareness Month to bring attention to the negative impact stress can have on both mental and physical well-being. National Stress Awareness Month also brings mindfulness to learning healthy ways to cope with stress to help minimize health-related issues.

What is Stress?

Stress is your body’s response to a situation where you feel anxious, overwhelmed, or threatened. During stressful situations, our bodies release the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which increase alertness and put a person in a “fight or flight” mode.  This often causes increased heart rate and an increase in blood pressure and glucose levels. Our bodies can handle stress in small doses, however, if stress is continuous it can turn into chronic stress, which can cause serious mental and physical health problems.

Chronic Stress Hurts the Body

Chronic stress negatively affects different parts of our bodies:

• Cardiovascular system: When the body regularly produces increased levels of cortisol, the heart rate and blood pressure rise, increasing the chances of a heart attack.
• Endocrine system: The endocrine system makes the body’s hormones. Chronic stress can interfere with this which can cause your immune system to break down.
• Gastrointestinal system: Chronic stress can cause problems with your gut by weakening the intestinal barrier, resulting in the release of gut bacteria into the body.
• Musculoskeletal system: Consistent muscle tension can lead to severe headaches, migraines, back pain as well as pain in other parts of the body.

How to Manage Stress

If you are experiencing chronic stress, it’s important to learn ways to cope with it to decrease the risk of developing chronic disease or other negative effects. Some things you can do include:

Deep breathing: Research shows that deep breathing exercises can help lower blood pressure. Meditation, journaling, and yoga are also known to help with stress by reducing cortisol levels.

Exercise: Doing some kind of regular physical activity can help reduce stress levels. Studies show that the activity doesn’t need to be anything vigorous. Simply walking for 30 minutes a day is a great stress reliever and a good way to get your mind off your daily worries.

Healthy eating: Sometimes chronic stress can cause people to eat unhealthy foods that are high in sugar and saturated fat. The gut and brain are constantly sending signals to each other, so by keeping your gut healthy, your brain will feel less stressed. Eating a regular healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, proteins, and whole grains as well as limiting alcohol intake will help stress levels decrease.

Sleep: Getting a good night’s rest can help improve your thought process and relieve stress. If you have trouble shutting your mind off, try some relaxation techniques and disconnect from technology an hour before bedtime.

Visit your doctor: It’s always a good idea to talk with your doctor so that they can help you manage chronic stress with certain techniques.

Stress can be debilitating, and it can cause many different health problems. Learning how to manage your stress and getting the proper support is critical to help reduce stressful feelings and symptoms.