Is Stress likely to you in the next 5 years?

The term stress does not invoke the same fear as the word cancer, maybe because it gets thrown around so often and hence taken lightly. The truth is that the effect of stress is worse than you think, stress can actually be fatal.

Commonly labeled as the wear and tear, stress does not just affect your peace of mind but also reduces the functioning of your brain and your body system over a period of time. Studies have shown that people who suffered from chronic stress had started to sensitize towards the aspect of stress and ancillary feelings of depression and despair that often walks hand in hand with stress.

Short term psychological effects are often marked by:
• bouts of forgetfulness
• acute depression
• helplessness
• mood swings
• resentment
• panic attacks
• cynicism

When one or all of these factors are bottled up inside, it could lead to various mental and behavioral problems such as panic, anxiety and acute stress disorders.

Chronic stress in children is worse as that leads to years of pent up dangerous emotions that later manifests in the form of psychological disorders. Stress puts a pressure on the brain and this pressure in excess can start to weaken the functioning to a point where one loses complete control over their internal activities.

Physiologically, being stressed out causes certain changes in the body like speeding up of the heart rate, increasing the flow of adrenaline in the body and contracting of the blood vessels. These changes have a profound effect on your body and immune system, leading to the following health conditions:

• Ulcerative colitis (a type of inflammatory bowel disease)
• High blood pressure
• Stroke
• Eczema (as the result of stress affecting the immune system)
• Irregular menstruation and problems in conceiving
• Muscular aches

Physiological and psychological effects are mainly the consequence of the stress acting in an adverse manner on the brain and mind. However, the direct implication stress has is mainly on behaviorally disorders.

In a survey conducted on alcoholics, 97% of them confessed to embracing alcohol in order to escape stressful circumstances. Not just alcohol, people who are stressed turn towards excess smoking or substance abuse. Stress also leads to various eating conditions and people start to either overeat or skip meals leading to anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating, and when coupled with insomnia, stress can cause evening polyphagia and night eating syndrome.

The good news however is that being stressed out does NOT mean that you are bound to suffer from all these conditions mentioned, it merely means that you are more likely. Now that you know the adverse effects that stress garners, you must ensure to take proper steps to deal with stress in a positive manner.

Yoga and meditation are two potent preventive measures that equip you to handle stress better and there are also a number of therapies that you can undertake to come out of a state of stress.