- Stress can kill brain cells
- Stress makes you forgetful and emotional
- Stress can make you fearful and anxious
- Stress prevents new brain cells
- Stress causes depression
- Stress can shrink your brain
- Stress puts off toxins in the brain
- Stress can cause suicide
Statistically, ninety percent of doctors visits are for stress-related health issues. The doctors office then refers the patient to psychology for help on how to manage and reduce the stress in their life.
The Brain
It is statistically found that the white matter of the brain is where the changes are happening due to stress. Due to these changes mental behavior diseases are changing and it could be good or bad. The white and gray matter of the brain change in size and connectivity. Cortisol (stress hormone) can create a domino effect that hardwires a vicious cycle of the mind being in a constant state of flight-or-flight (Bergland, 2014).
Chronic stress can decrease the stem cells in the brain that mature the neurons and due to this the affects are memory loss and decreased learning. The neurons in the brain are the transmitters to the rest of the brain and the body. If these are decreased due to stress then the messages are not sent the way they should be.
The brain has a blood-barrier that protects the brain from anything that can cause damage. When there is stress, it can make the blood-barrier more permeable. Then toxins that do not belong will enter the brain and can cause damage. Not saying that stress along causes this, there are other medical conditions that can cause this situation but stress does affect this issue. Cancers and infections to the brain exist and may not be able to escape with medications. So stress should be reduced or managed.
The Mind
Psychological conditions such as; depression, anxiety, worry, obsessiveness, brain fog, racing mind, and others are effects of the mind due to stress. When stress enters a persons life the mind starts to weaken. The mind is not as sharp or knowledgeable as it should be. The conditions above prevent people from being at their full potential at home or at work. The conscious and unconscious mind are both affected whether it is acute or chronic stress. Making good decisions is compromised when there is stress in your life and when there are bad decisions there are consequences to those decisions.
A persons mind may start to feel overwhelmed by the stress and then they are not able to complete even the simplest tasks. People want to be happy and enjoy others company but when there is too much stress then there is no happiness. There is lack of interest and fatigue when a person is unhappy, then depression can sneak in. People want to be happy and stress free just trying to find a way is hard for a lot of people. There are skills and techniques that can be done to improve the mind which is explained in a different frame.
The Body
Stress can cause issues with your body. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, headaches, and issues with sleeping are just a few symptoms of what stress can do to your body. If your body is showing these signs it could mean that you are unhealthy and it could lead to bigger health issues the longer you are exposed to the stress that is causing the issues. Our body has to be healthy to go forward in life. Stress needs to be managed or prevented so that the body does not start having physical issues.
Along with body is behavior. Stress causes behavior changes with those body effects. If a person is in pain due to a physical illness then the behavior of the person changes. This can all be singled down to stress as the cause. Usually the behavior change is not pleasant and others suffer the consequences of the behavior. There are a few unhealthy behaviors that people choose to do to manage the stress they are having. A lot of people stress eat. By doing this it causes more physical issues such as fatigue, lack of energy, irritability and nervousness. Another unhealthy behavior is inactivity. With this and stress eating the overweight population starts increasing and then the health effects of obesity is a problem.
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