Dangerous emotions: what serious illnesses does stress cause?

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Every person has to deal with stress. This condition is caused by exposure to both negative and positive factors on the body. Any emotional shock leads to changes in life and health. During stressful situations, the body begins to produce adrenaline, which is necessary to overcome the problem that has arisen, so short-term stress is even useful because it forces us to move forward and improve ourselves. However, with prolonged negative effects, disruptions begin in the body’s functioning. Chronic stress poses a particular danger to mental and physical health.

Chronic stress is extremely dangerous

Types of stress

Stress is conventionally divided into short-term and long-term. In the first case, the body has enough time to recover, so problems rarely arise. This includes emotional upheavals in sports, gambling and romantic adventures, i.e. events that cause an emotional explosion.

Long-term tension cannot be controlled. Long-term exposure to emotional and physical stress has a negative impact on your physical and mental well-being.

Women's stress can be divided into several types:

• Physiological. Stress is caused by changes in the female body: breast development, the onset or pain of menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.
• Psychological. Unmarried women, housewives and businesswomen face psychological stress. Each has its own reason - loneliness, home routine, fear of losing family, constant feeling of fatigue, chronic lack of sleep.
• Emotional stress associated with ongoing changes in life - marriage, motherhood, divorce, financial difficulties, death of a spouse.

Frequent illnesses

If you feel like you're constantly fighting a runny nose, stress may be to blame. This condition can affect your immune system and may make you more susceptible to infections.

In one study, 61 older adults were given the flu vaccine. It was found that patients with chronic stress had a weakened immune response to the vaccine, indicating a possible link between the condition and decreased immunity.

In another study, 235 adults were assigned to either high or low stress groups. Over a six-month period, patients with high stress levels had 70% more respiratory infections and experienced symptoms 61% longer than the low stress group.

Similarly, one analysis of 27 studies found that stress was associated with increased susceptibility to developing an upper respiratory tract infection. More research in humans is needed to understand the complex relationship between stress and immunity.

A weakened immune system can also be the result of a poor diet, lack of exercise and certain immunodeficiency diseases such as leukemia and multiple myeloma.

Conclusion:

Stress can wreak havoc on your immune system. Research shows that higher levels of stress are associated with increased susceptibility to infection.

Signs of stress in women

The presence of severe stress can be determined by the following symptoms in women:

• Physiological: frequent headaches, sudden changes in blood pressure, disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract, muscle spasms. The possibility of seizures, exacerbation, sudden weight loss or gaining extra pounds cannot be ruled out. Physiological symptoms also include decreased libido, decreased appetite, and unstable sleep patterns. Often, during stressful situations, women experience increased sweating, menstrual irregularities, and gynecological diseases (thrush).
• Emotional: irritability, embitterment, fury. When women are in an emotional state, they lose interest in life, feel lonely and dissatisfied with themselves. All this entails a change in mood, as a result of which ordinary sadness often develops into serious depression.
• Behavioral. Women, being in a stressful situation, forget about their appearance and become absent-minded. They often begin to abuse alcohol and have constant quarrels.
• Intelligent. Negative thoughts prevent women from concentrating on specific tasks, they have memory problems, and have difficulty making decisions.

Thus, symptoms of stress in women are manifested not only by changes in behavior, but also by serious disturbances in the functioning of the body.

Every second woman encounters similar symptoms, so it is important to recognize stress in time and begin to fight this enemy.

This condition has a negative impact on human health, but for the female body it is a “killer cocktail” that can lead not only to infertility, but also to the development of cancer.

Physiological signs of stress

There is a risk of depression

With prolonged experiences and tension, the mode of operation of the brain and the mechanism of perception of reality change. The blood supply to the head deteriorates, the frontal part of the cortex, which is responsible for thinking, planning and finding solutions, is affected, and the limbic system (“emotional brain”) suffers.

Our “internal computer” seems to be looking out for negative factors, bringing them to the forefront. A person may become irritable and rude, or, on the contrary, overly vulnerable, crying a lot and without obvious reasons.

At the same time, self-esteem falls, the ability to experience joy is lost - over the years the feeling itself is completely “forgotten”, nervousness, instability of the emotional background, and depression increase. Against the background of stress, psychosomatic diseases (due to the state of the psyche) can occur - from headaches, sweating and hypertension to more severe conditions leading to complete extinction of vital functions.

What does stress lead to?

Strong and prolonged experiences often become the cause of physical and psychosomatic illnesses. Stress affects a woman's health in many ways, from headaches to heart disease.

The main effects of stress on a woman’s body include:

• Eating disorder. Strong and frequent experiences can cause the development of anorexia and bulimia. Severe stress for the body is dangerous due to a decrease in the amount of serotonin; due to its lack, the nervous system is destroyed. The likelihood of discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract increases.
• Abdominal pain. Every woman experiences psychological stress differently: some people indulge in unhealthy high-calorie foods, while others forget about food. Both overeating and complete refusal to eat lead to cramps, flatulence, heartburn and irritable bowel syndrome, accompanied by diarrhea.
• Skin, allergic reactions and neuroses. The appearance of severe itching or rashes on the skin is quite common.
• Emotional shock. Bad mood, twitchiness, indifference - all these are the main harbingers of depression. Touchiness, vulnerability and lack of self-confidence often lead to a woman being plagued by panic attacks.
• Disturbance of adequate sleep. During times of stress, women often suffer from insomnia; they forget what it feels like to feel relaxed. Healthy sleep is the first step towards overcoming depression, so you need to pay special attention to it.
• Cardiovascular diseases. During stressful situations, blood pressure increases, which, in turn, can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
• Weakened immunity. Due to the low level of immunity, the body is not fully able to resist diseases.
• Aching pain in the sternum during stress may indicate the development of mastopathy.
• Cancer. The most dangerous stress for health is the increased likelihood of developing cancer. According to research data, the likelihood of developing breast cancer is 62% higher in those women whose lives are full of difficult events (death of loved ones, divorce).

Prevention and methods of control

As a preventative measure, it is recommended to establish a work and rest schedule, which will reduce the stress on the body. However, this method does not always work in unforeseen situations when negative or positive events occur in life. This is why in most cases you already have to deal with stress. In this case, the following methods are used:

• Attention from loved ones.
• The ability to control your feelings and emotions.
• Look at life situations positively.
• Studying the problem of stress before it occurs. When a woman is aware of the symptoms and consequences of stress, she has the opportunity to prevent its occurrence.
• Sports activities lift your spirits and allow you to take your mind off negative thoughts.
• Life values. Women are advised to set their priorities correctly, choosing the most important moments in life. It is women who have to combine work life with caring for a child and maintaining a home.
• Relaxation techniques. Massage, breathing exercises, yoga.

If a woman understands that the listed methods do not bring the expected result, and sleeping pills become permanent attributes of the first aid kit, while they are taken regularly, it is necessary to consult a doctor and take a course of appropriate medications to balance emotions. You may need to consult a psychotherapist.

You should not delay your visit to a specialist, as the effects of stress on a woman’s body can cause serious damage. At the same time, the quality of life deteriorates, as a result of which a woman may feel lonely, losing the whole meaning of her existence. A competent approach to treating stress allows you to return to a normal, active life as soon as possible.

Read about the characteristics of depression in men in this article.

The effect of stress on sex drive

Doctors have proven that stress and a woman’s sexuality are incompatible concepts. With severe stress on the body, a woman exhibits many disorders:

• chest pain;
• the vaginal microflora changes;
• sexual desire decreases or completely disappears;
• having difficulty achieving orgasm;
• vaginal dryness;
• the level of sexual excitability decreases.

Don't forget that stress is the body's response to external stimuli. If signs of stress are detected, a woman should overcome the cause of its occurrence as quickly as possible.

It is possible to cope with the situation independently, without waiting for stress to begin to have a detrimental effect on a woman’s health, only when she herself realizes that she is in a stressful state or is on the verge of it.

When tension levels increase, it is better to seek help from a specialist.

Chronic pain

Physical signs of stress include chronic pain, which is a common complaint. One study of 37 adolescents with sickle cell disease found that higher levels of daily stress were associated with increased levels of pain over the course of one day.

Other studies have shown that elevated levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) may be associated with chronic pain. For example, one study compared 16 patients with chronic back pain with a control group. It was found that people with chronic pain had higher levels of cortisol.

Another study found that people with chronic pain had higher levels of cortisol in their hair, indicating prolonged stress.

Keep in mind that these studies show a link but don't take into account other factors that may also be involved. Additionally, it is unclear whether stress influences chronic pain or vice versa, or whether there is another factor that causes both conditions.

There are many other factors that can contribute to chronic pain, including conditions such as aging, injury, poor posture, and nerve damage.

Conclusion:

Some studies have shown that chronic pain may be associated with higher levels of stress, as well as increased cortisol levels.

List of possible diseases

Severe stress can have unpredictable consequences. The blow is delivered on a physical and emotional level.

Implications for mental health

The following disorders occur in the nervous system:

• increased anxiety;
• irritability;
• neuroses;
• emotional instability;
• intolerance;
• overexcitement;
• hypochondria;
• prostration;
• depression;
• fast fatiguability;
• insomnia;
• memory impairment.

A person experiences inexplicable, often uncontrollable attacks of aggression, mood swings, and loses interest in familiar things that previously pleased him.

Implications for physical health

The effect of constant stress on a person is as follows.

• Increased blood glucose levels. It is necessary for the body to obtain energy. But with constant stress, the sugar level constantly rises, the tension leads to disruptions in the functioning of internal organs, in particular the pancreas, it ceases to cope with its functions, which leads to the development of diabetes.
• The thymus gland is responsible for the production of leukocytes, which also suffers from stress. When immunity decreases, this organ contracts uncontrollably, which leads to disruption of the formation of leukocytes. This further reduces the body's defenses.
• When adrenaline is released, the capillaries expand, and when there is strong nervous tension, they burst. This causes the formation of hematomas and blood stagnation. The surface of the skin becomes unnaturally pale with a bluish tint. The blood supply to organs is also disrupted.
• Involuntary muscle tension leads to tissue destruction at the cellular level. Regular alternation of tension and relaxation negatively affects the functioning of internal organs. Glucosteroids accumulated in muscle tissue promote the breakdown of proteins and nucleic acids, which leads to dystrophy.
• Cells suffer from metabolic disorders; toxins accumulate in them, which provoke intoxication of the body. It is difficult to remove them naturally. Cell growth is disrupted, the skin becomes thinner, easily damaged, and wounds take a long time to heal. Bones also suffer due to a lack of calcium, their fragility increases, and osteoporosis develops.

Against the background of constant emotional stress, fertile ground arises for the development of cancer. Stress provokes problems in the gastrointestinal tract, causing stomach ulcers. This is the main risk factor causing heart and vascular diseases, heart attacks, strokes, hypertension and angina.

The complexity of the situation lies in the fact that modern people lead an inactive lifestyle. Biologically active substances remain in the body for a long time in high concentrations, which prevents the nerves and body from calming down due to lack of muscle activity.

Inactive lifestyle

Destructive reactions are caused not only by long-term, but also by short-term stress. A single large shock has been shown to have negative effects long after the impact. At the same time, the consequences of stress are irreversible; in some cases, brain cells are destroyed.