Is Stress Making You Sick?

Many people may think it's silly to think that stress can make a person sick. Having been under extreme amounts of stress over the last few years I have been thinking more and more lately how people shouldn't blow off that possibility.

Becoming more and more convinced of this fact, I decided to research the possibility of stress making a person ill. I have found some very interesting information pertaining to this subject. Here is an interesting link I found with lots of information on related conditions as well.

medicine net's stress article

Stress is a natural body reaction to changes in our environment. It was useful in the days that we were surrounded by dangerous animals and helped our ancestors escape from some perilous situations. While stress is neither good nor bad, our reaction to it is what causes these problems. When we produce the proper amounts of stress for our bodies, it is healthy and it provides much needed hormones for normal body functions. Too much or too little stress causes an imbalance in these hormones which begins a toxic reaction which depresses our immune system.

The result from this can include a long list of disorders. These disorders include allergies, anorexia nervousa, arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, cancer, constipation, depression, diabetes, diarrhea, eczema, fatigue, headaches, high blood pressure, infections, insomnia, irritability, IBS, loss of appetite, muscle tension, neck and back pain, nutritional defeciencies, peptic ulcer, PMS, psoriasis, psychological problems, sexual problems, and weight changes.

While I don't know that I'd completely attribute stress to the only cause of any of these problems I can't help but think that it can be a big contributing factor. How do I know? We've gone through some of these things.

Miss-managed stress can lead to unhealthy habits such as poor eating habits, smoking, drinking, other drug use, or not sleeping enough which would obviously contribute to many of these conditions.

How to manage stress may differ depending on who you are. It is important to take time for yourself doing something that you enjoy. Yoga, meditation, taking a walk, a nice warm bubble bath, chatting with a friend, treating yourself to a dinner, exercising getting a massage, or petting a cat are all healthy ways to manage stress. I seem to let stress build up inside me and don't usually let it out. I know that strategy isn't helping me any. I am going to commit to trying to do a better job of managing my stress this year. It may even help me to become a healthier person!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy