What is stress?
The human body is designed to encounter stress and respond to it physically, mentally, and emotionally.
At the most basic level, stress is our body’s normal reaction to pressures when changes occur. Some may face stressful situations occasionally. For others, it becomes a part of daily life- stress with work, family, lockdown, kids, etc.
Physical, physiological, or emotional factors make bodily or mental tension. And that’s the stress definition in a medical context.
Our body produces stress hormones triggering a ‘flight or fight’ response that causes the activation of the body’s immune system.
Stress can be caused by both external and internal factors, such as environmental, social situations, from a medical procedure, etc.
Three major types of stress
- Acute stress
- Episodic acute stress
- Chronic stress
Acute stress is the most common type of short-term stress. It comes from the demands and pressures of the past, present, and future. The possible symptoms include high blood pressure, racing heart, irritability, anxiety, gut problems, depression, overwhelming, headaches, back pain.
Episodic acute stress is the acute stress but appears more often and accumulates. Some of them are persistent headaches and migraines, heart disease, hypertension, chest pain, etc.
Chronic stress appears when acute stress isn’t resolved and lasts for long periods of time. It may destroy bodies and lives. Chronic stress can even cause suicide and violence. The symptoms include rapid heart rate, difficulty sleeping and resting, feelings of sadness and frustration, feeling overwhelmed, loss of emotional control, elevated blood pressure.
How do we get stress?
Some of the common stressors of major life event include:
- job issues or retirement.
- lack of time
- financial strain
- bereavement
- relationship conflicts at home
- increasing demands
- health problems
- moving to a new location
- traumatic incidents
Psychological and emotional signs of stress
- Depression or anxiety
- Memory or concentration problems
- Feeling overwhelmed, unmotivated, or unfocused
- Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
- Racing thoughts or constant worry
- Compulsive behavior
- Mood swings
- Making bad decisions
Statistics of stressed people in US
According to The American Institute of Stress, Americans are one of the most stressed-out populations in the world and 55% are stressed during the day. On a scale from 1 to 10, the rate of stress level is 4.9.
Work-related stress is another big problem for overall health. Furthermore, US businesses lost yearly up to $300 billion caused by workplace stress. As a result of stress daily around one million employers worry about missing work.
Ways to manage the stress?
You can change the stressful situation by making step by step changes that can go a long way to protect health. Gradual changes in our lifestyle are easier to maintain than major ones.
Here are some ways of managing everyday stress:
- Get better sleep,
- Work out, or maybe just generate a lot of buzz with friends.
- Do pleasurable things like reading, swimming, gardening, etc.
- Keep a positive attitude and accepting that there are things we can’t take control
- Exercise regularly
- Practice relaxation exercises like yoga, deep breath or mindfulness techniques like meditation
- Eat well-balanced meals
Getting help with stress
Dealing with stress, coming to grips with it, and can’t cope is a common and normal situation. You should apply to your primary care doctor to help you find ways to manage stress. Stress can be miserable but manageable. In light of that, we are always on call for patients. Get our constant support in case of having trouble with a stressful situation
