How does stress affect health? Stress is a major element of being human -- a state of bodily or mental tensions resulting from factors that tend to alter an existing balance. Everyday we are faced with struggles, hardships and angst in our home, school or workplace that are all complementary components of stress. It would be rare for anyone not to undergo this kind of state every once in a while. In this day and age, the question 'How does stress affect health?" has brought tremendous concern for most of us, and it has been an increasingly talked about issue. Stress is the body’s response to certain environmental changes. In relation to our health, this is any factor that may have an adverse consequence on our body and its proper functioning. Eustress vs. Distress According to Hans Selye, a well-known endocrinologist in the early 1930’s, not all types of stress are detrimental; thus, he came up with eustress and distress. We all do undergo mild, brief and controllable moments of nervous tension that are considered to be common, and act as positive stimuli towards a person’s intellectual and emotional growth. Selye termed these eustress. He defined distress to be something of the opposite and is characterized by severe physical and psychological distress that is disruptive to general health. The physiological effects of distress on the body include: - chest pain - insomnia or sleep problems - constant head aches - hypertension - ulcers Stress is said to be a contributory factor to the production of a certain disease, or it may be the cause of negative behavioral response, such as smoking, drinking alcohol and drug abuse †all of which may make us susceptible to diseases. It can adversely influence the immune system, thereby causing our body to be less resilient to a number of health problems. Stressors versus Response To know how does stress affect health, you should understand the triggers. Stressors are events or environmental agents directly responsible for the body’s stress response. On the other hand, stress response would mean how we react to these stressors and are intended to protect us against the threats they might bring. They can be physical, emotional, or mental reactions, or even all of them. Adapting To Stressful Factors As A Way to Fight Stress Our ability to adapt to these stressors has greatly helped us combat the detrimental effects. Knowing how does stress affect health can help you manage better. Coping can be negative or positive. An example would be when a person is faced with a serious emotional distress because of a death of a love one. He can either cope with such loss positively by directing his thoughts towards more meaningful things that would help ease the pain, or he can cope with the loss negatively by maintaining an unhealthy eating habit and even threatening serious injury to himself. How to Combat Stress Studies and research tell us that treatment should be directed towards helping a person cope positively with its known adverse effects. After knowing how does stress affect health, you need to adopt some stress-reducing strategies: 1) Relaxation. Mental and muscle relaxation are good ways to relieve tension. Too much muscle activity can bring forth anxiety and strain. 2) Massage Therapy. Gentle strokes and application of pressure along the length of our body helps alleviate physical strain and muscle tension. 3) Scenic imagery. In this kind of strategy a person is asked to sit and close his eyes and focus on a scene that is asked of him, usually by a therapist. 4) Music Therapy. This involves listening to selected music as a means of reducing feelings of pain, loneliness and anxiety. Certain rhythms of selected music are said to harmonize with bodily rhythms, like heart and respiratory functions. Depending on how does stress affect health, you get to choose the proper methods for relief.
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