Chronic stress can wreak havoc and cause harmful disruptions to our health and well-being. It can make us vulnerable to disease, drain joy from our lives, and throw our metabolic systems into disarray, from the immune system to blood sugar and the cardiovascular system.  

In fact, the damaging effects of long-term stress are so pervasive that researchers have been unable to produce an exhaustive list of everything that stress can cause to go wrong in the human body. This means that stress can trigger symptoms that physicians might be unaware of or know are stress-related.  

In addition, medical research estimates as much as 90 percent of illnesses and diseases are stress-related.

What Is Stress?

Stress can be anything from aggravating things that go wrong during the day to losing a job. 

Anything that interrupts your daily routine or nightly sleep can have a cumulative effect on the body and brain. 

Bad things happen to the brain when a person is overly stressed for a long time without relief. Consider this:

“Chronic stress and prolonged exposure to cortisol also increase the production of glutamate. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that plays a vital role in mood regulation, cognition, and memory functions. Excessive glutamate, however, can contribute to the damage or death of brain cells.”

Hormones

Powerful hormones are released during stressful situations or events. These include corticosteroids, cortisol, and others released from the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. 

These hormones are released in ways that drive the body to respond appropriately during stress and then bring the body back to a normal state.

When these hormones continue to run rampant throughout the body of a person who is dealing with ongoing chronic stress, they cause mental and physical health issues.  

Life Events That Trigger Stress

Certain life events cause stress in all people. Some of these include the death of a spouse, divorce, jail time, change in financial situation, sexual difficulty, pregnancy, mortgage, change in residence, change in church activities, going back to school, change in sleep habits, vacation, and minor violations of the law. 

Just about any significant change in one’s situation or circumstances – positive or negative – is perceived as stress by the body.

Symptoms of Stress

Stress-related physical illness can include backaches, insomnia, cancer, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, absence of menstruation, changes in sexuality, sexual dysfunction, headaches, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, colds, infection, dermatology changes, and emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances.

Eliminating Stress

It’s impossible to eliminate all stress from your life, and even if you could, you wouldn’t want to because stress, when “used” appropriately, has an important function.  

However, we can reduce some of its harmful effects and hormonal responses by implementing stress reduction techniques. 

Stress-Reducing Strategies

Most people find these strategies helpful: following a balanced diet, regular exercise, and 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.

Other effective techniques include deep breathing, prayer, meditation, memorizing scripture and reading Bible promises, staying present and not dwelling on the past or the future, or becoming overwhelmed by everything that has to be done, focusing on one thing at a time instead, and spending time with trusted friends and loved ones. 

You’ve Got This!

While it’s true that life gets increasingly stressful every day and chronic stress damages one’s health, you can control the damage. 

Using stress reduction techniques and getting emotional support disrupts stress’s disruptive influence in your life. 

Consistency is king. By consistently managing your stress levels, you will reduce any long-term effects on your health and, as a bonus, unlock your best life! 

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