Long term, high level stress is harmful to your overall health and your immune system.
How often do you find yourself in a storm of stress? Where the currents of life seem to bring waves of darkness, anxiety and worry. Stress can come from many places in our lives. From our work, relationships, physical health issues and more; however, our bodies cannot tell the difference between a perceived threat and a real one and will react the same way. There are three stages to the stress response. Fight or flight response, resistance reaction, and exhaustion. If you are in a constant state of stress, you may find yourself in an exhaustion state and your health will suffer.
The first part of the stress response is the fight or flight response. The fight or flight response is triggered by nerve impulses from the hypothalamus to the autonomic nervous system (ANS). This response will prepare the body for immediate physical activity. It will increase the amount of blood glucose and oxygen in the body so that you are ready to fight, or run, from whatever danger you are in. If the stress continues, then your body will enter the second stage, which is the resistance reaction. During the resistance reaction the hypothalamus triggers the release of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). CRH then triggers the pituitary to release ACTH, which triggers the release of cortisol. The release of cortisol allows for a longer lasting response to the stressor. It tells the liver to produce more glucose, breakdown triglycerides into fatty acids, and break down protein into amino acids. These fatty acids, glucose and amino acids are then used to create ATP for energy and cell repair. Normally, the resistance reaction resources are enough to handle any type of stressor that we encounter; however, if the stress continues then we enter the final stage. The final stage is the exhaustion phase. When we reach the exhaustion phase our body has become depleted in the resources needed to continue on. Long lasting, high levels of cortisol can then become damaging to our bodies.
When cortisol levels remain high over long periods of time the immune system can become compromised, we can have ulceration of the intestinal tract and our pancreas may have a hard time making insulin. Some of the stress related disorders that may be linked to exhaustion are gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, anxiety and depression (Tortora & Derrickson, 2015, p. 318).
In other words, long lasting stress can be very damaging to our bodies. We need to take steps each day to mitigate the stress in our lives. Just a few minutes each day is all we need to put our bodies in a parasympathetic state which can do wonders for lowering cortisol levels and relieving stress. Start today by taking 5 minutes to do some deep breathing. You can do this at any time of the day but first thing in the morning is a great way to start your day and set a calming tone.
- Place a hand on your belly and one on your chest.
- Inhale deeply and allow the breath to fill your belly for a count of 5. You should be able to feel your belly press out into your hand.
- Exhale for a count of 5. You should feel your belly move inward as the air is expelled.
- Continue this for at least 5 minutes.
- Repeat as often as you need to find calm in your day.
References
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. (2015). Introduction to the human body: The essentials of anatomy and physiology (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.