If your boss is yelling at you for turning a report in late, your kids are noisy, you owe money to the IRS and you don’t know how to pay them back then you are probably stressed out a lot. Sometimes stress can be useful and to be fair it is an unavoidable part of life. It can be the push you need so you can work harder and get a promotion at work or finish a marathon. But, if small and healthy stress turns into a long term one, it can seriously have a negative effect on your health, life, job and family. So, you need to handle your stress. More than 50 % of the population in the US says that due to stress they fight with their close friends and family. About 70 % of them say that stress makes them experience emotional and physical symptoms. Continue reading this article if you want to learn how stress affects your life and why you stress.
Every person reacts to different stress triggers. According to surveys, on the top of the list of stress triggers, is work. 25 % of Americans say their work is the biggest cause of stress in their lives. 40 % say they experience stress at work. The reasons for work stress are:
- Too much workload and responsibility than a person can handle
- Long working hours
- Not being satisfied with the job
- Dangerous working conditions
- Being afraid of getting fired
- Uncertainty of advancement
- Unclear expectations
- Not having a say in the important decisions
- Poor management
- Harassment and discrimination at work, unsupportive environment
Life stresses also have a great impact on people. A few of them are:
- Getting fired
- Death of a loved one
- Divorce
- Marriage
- More financial obligations
- Injury or illness
- Moving to another house or apartment
- Having to take care of a sick or elderly member of the family
- Emotional problems
- Traumatic event
Sometimes people create their own stress by worrying about a lot of things. There are some factors that cause people to stress out:
- Unrealistic expectations. You can’t expect for everything to be right every time. Thing can sometimes go in a direction you didn’t expect so you cannot let yourself to stress out. No one is perfect.
- Perceptions and attitude. Depending on your view on certain situation or the world you can either stress out or not. For example, if your house got broken into and your TV was stolen, you can either get really upset or you can come to peace with the situation and let the insurance company take care of the cost. Also, people who believe in themselves won’t be stressing out before a big project. Those who don’t believe are good enough will constantly worry about their performance.
- Uncertainty and fear. Some people stress out when they don’t have control over some events. Even things like terrorist attacks, toxic chemicals or global warming can cause them stress. Also, not knowing how you will get by the month or if you’ll finish a project on time can stress you out.
- Even good big life changes like weddings, can cause stress. Financial setbacks, death, divorce are unpleasant events that cause stress. Depending on your character and response to situations, the stress level can vary. Some people get sick from worrying while others think of unpleasant situations as a small setback that can be overcome.
How stress affects your health
The body gives a physical response when you are in a stressful situation. The nervous system releases hormones that get you ready to fight. This response is called “fight or fight”. You may have noticed that when you are stressed you start breathing faster, your heartbeat speeds up, you sweat and your muscles tense. This is acute or short term stress that doesn’t leave consequences to the body. It recovers from it quickly. But, if your stress system stays activated for a longer period then it becomes chronic stress and leaves consequences to the health. The constant flow of the hormones that are released due to stress can cause aging, lower the immune system and tear down the body. Short term stress can induce these physical signs:
- Fatigue
- Upset stomach
- Headache
- Difficulty sleeping and concentrating
- Irritability
On the other hand, long term stress can lead to more serious consequences to the health:
- Arrhythmia
- Depression
- Heart attack
- High blood pressure
- Upset stomach
- Ulcers
- Weight loss or gain
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Flare ups of arthritis and asthma
- Fertility problems
- Changes in sex drive
- Hearburn
- Hardening of the arteries
- Acne, psoriasis, eczema and other skin problems
