The Effects Of Stress On Body and Why You Shouldn't Ignore The Symptoms.

The effects of stress on body in the long term are often over looked in today’s world of treating the symptom rather than the cause. We get a headache so we take a pill we don’t ask why we have the headache.

When physical illnesses occur we have to receive treatment for these first before we look at possible causes of the illness.

But just because we have taken the medicine and feel better or at least the initial symptoms appear better, we should not forget to try and find out just why the illness may have occurred in the first place.

Stress and Disease

Too much stress in our lives is being recognised as a major contributory factor in many minor and major illnesses. Of course this is not true in every case but it is certainly worth considering. In fact the rates of stress related illnesses are on the increase; this may be due to the fact that we now recognise stress as a major contributory factor.

Unfortunately when stress does cause illness this in turn increases the levels of stress and the cycle of ill health continues. Leaving the person feeling completely at a low ebb and even despair.

Here is a short list of some of the illnesses in which it is considered that stress plays a major role;

High Blood pressure
Heart disease
Psoriasis
Irritable bowel syndrome
Migraines
Diabetes
Ulcers
Insomnia
Cancer
Depression
Asthma

Mind, body and soul the links

There has been a link between the body and the mind and their interactions for thousands of years. The Chinese have used this link as the main basis for their medicines and strongly believe that a healthy body relies heavily on a healthy mind.

These beliefs and effects of stress on body are now becoming more recognised by western medicine due to more research in the area. Once such project revealed that when we are exposed to excessive levels of stress it actually doubles our chances of catching cold etc. This is because the immune system is weakened and unable to fight off even the smallest of infections which a healthy body would have no problems with.

It has also been shown that wounds heal more slowly in those who are experiencing high levels of stress. This is particularly troublesome for those who have to under go operations as under going surgery is its self very stressful.

So how do you try to reduce these ill effects of stress on body?

Stress has to be tackled on many levels. Learning coping techniques, managing your levels of stress and also evaluating how you react to certain situations all need to be learned or thought about.

So:

Think about your lifestyle – are there things you could do differently that would reduce the pressure.

Could you do more exercise – exercise has been proven to relax the body

Look at your diet – are you eating foods which may be contributing to your inability to cope with life and are there foods which you could eat which could help your body fight stress.

These are just a few ideas, there are many different coping techniques which can help reduce the effects of stress on body. Explore as many as you can and find the ones that work for you and that you feel comfortable with. This is important as should become a part of your every day life from now on.