Can stress actually make you sick?
The human stress response was designed for situations where it was beneficial for our survival to temporarily go into a state of increased performance. Examples of these situations were when we’re hunted by a lion and had to run for our lives, when something or someone poses a threat towards our family, or when our home was invaded and we needed to go into protection and action mode. To survive these situations our bodies - smart as they are - have an inbuilt system called the fight-or-flight response that kicks in to prepare us for peak performance.
This is what physiologically happens in our body when the stress response kicks in:
Glucose is released in our bloodstream to provide energy for our body to fight or run away
Heart rate and blood pressure increase to mobilise this energy and oxygen as quickly as possible to our muscles
Breathing becomes more rapid for extra oxygen, which is sent to the brain for increased alertness
Any bodily functions that are not needed in crisis such as digestion, immunity and reproduction slow down
As you can see above, our stress response is necessary and has historically kept us alive, and still initially promotes peak performance in demanding situations, so I’m definitely not saying the stress response in itself is harmful. The key difference between then and now is that before, stressful situations were short lived and the hormones associated with the response (cortisol, adrenaline etc.) were released and came back down to normal levels fairly quickly thanks to physical activity triggered by the situation such as running (when we ran away from lions…). Whereas nowadays stressors are everywhere - we live in cities, have constant access to social media, emails & news through our phones, many people don’t have access to nature, the pace at work has picked up significantly thanks to digitalisation, the economic environment across the world is uncertain with rising costs & many companies laying people off etc. In addition to this, we aren’t taught healthy ways to release stress and calm down our nervous system. This essentially means that many people live in a state of chronic stress with wired up nervous systems and no tools to self-regulate.
The effects of chronic stress on our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing
So what happens with the body when we live in a state of chronic stress? As you can imagine, it isn’t too healthy for the body to have excess glucose floating around and an increased heart rate and blood pressure, breathe rapid and shallow, and live in a state of lowered digestion, immunity and reproduction without a release or return to baseline. If we don’t manage stress, the body will begin to show physical symptoms… kind of like our body communicating with us, asking us to slow down and prioritise rest. These whispers from the body can look like:
Lowered immunity: recurring colds, sickness, inflammation
Sleep problems: difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up
Digestive problems: weight increase / decrease, loss of appetite, cravings, bloating, diarrhea, food intolerances or sensitivities
Hormone imbalance: PMC, acne, PCOS, irregular periods, skipped ovulation
Pains and aches: Headaches, migraine, body aches
Mental or emotional symptoms: Anxiety, depression, mood swings, anger
Performance related symptoms: Memory loss, concentration problems, lack of motivation
Stress related symptoms are often misdiagnosed or treated without a deeper consideration of the root cause of these symptoms. Examples of this would be taking vitamins for recurring colds, sleep medication for sleep problems, pain killers for body aches or birth control pills for PMS. Whilst these can temporarily offer relief, they act as a temporarily bandaid and won’t resolve the problem long-term. With all health related concerns, I recommend going deeper than the immediate symptoms, turning inward and listening to the body and what it actually needs, and aiming to resolve health concerns through long-term lifestyle changes.
Managing chronic stress by incorporating stress management techniques into our daily routine
As pointed out earlier, today’s world is stressful and avoiding stress nearly impossible. To manage chronic stress, I therefore recommend incorporating stress management techniques into our daily routine and placing as much importance on this as on brushing our teeth or taking a shower (instead of saving all our relaxation or de-stress time to weekends or holidays). The tools that work for you, might not work for me and I encourage everyone to try different things to see what works best. Here’s some inspiration for de-stress techniques for you to try (some of them can be done anywhere, at the office or worst case bathroom, whilst others require more planning):
Breathwork: check out my article about different techniques that can be done anywhere here, join my in-person de-stress events here, search for breathwork on Youtube or Google, or simply place one hand on your heart and one on your belly, take deep breaths to your belly through the nose, and exhale slowly through the mouth.
Time in nature: walks, hikes, spending time in parks, swimming.
Bodywork: reiki, energy healing (read more about it here), somatic work, acupuncture, yoga, tapping, massages.
Emotional release: Crying, screaming into a pillow, punching a pillow, yoga boxing, shaking the body, or google emotional release techniques. With emotional release, the important part is to move the body and make noice.
Exercise with the intention to emotionally release: Going into these sessions, set the intention to release stress and envision the stress leaving the body whilst throughout your workout. Ex. boxing, running, weights, dance.
Other techniques: Meditation, float tank, shakti mat, sauna, cold plunge, warm showers, or whatever works for you!
