As a modern day person, you may be well acquainted with stress. It has nearly become a part of daily life and you may also be unaware of its existence. Although stress is important to motivate you to perform better, when the levels of stress in your life exceed more than required they may cause harm to you, your health and your life as a whole.
Stress
Stress is your body’s natural response to any stimulation. The stimuli could be external or internal and both have the capacity to produce stress in response. This is like a feeling of fright when you see a dangerous situation, when your body responds to it. It is a feeling that you get before your examination or a presentation and makes you focus on your work in order to succeed.
However, when such a stress condition persists for long, it can be dangerous for your health. As it builds up slowly and plans to engulf you, you remain busy with your chores and are completely oblivious of its increasing intensity. It is necessary to identify the increasing stress level.
Effect of stress
If you are so used to stress that you are not able to recognize stress, it adds to the problem. If you are continuously working on an auto mode without realizing the stressful situations, your health can be at stake. Stress can affect your health in the following ways:
- Emotional problems like irritability, agitation, feeling of isolation, increased sensitivity or moodiness, increased anxiety;
- Physical problems like muscle pains, headaches, stomach upset, indigestion, nausea, chest pain or rapid breathing, dizziness and lack of sexual desire;
- Performance problems like inability to focus, poor memory and judgment, pessimistic attitude;
- Behavioral problems like changes in eating or sleeping patterns, avoiding responsibilities, unwilling to work, abuse of smoking, alcohol or other drugs ;
While these are some of the effects, constant stress can severely affect your health and invite major health problems like
- Muscle spasms, neck or back pain,
- Headaches and migraines,
- Digestive problems like constipation, indigestion, hyperacidity, peptic ulcers,
- Heart diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, chest pain
- Other problems like depression, insomnia, obesity, diabetes, exacerbation of asthma, eczema autoimmune disorders
Thus the key to good health and better performance is to manage stress and let it be only a small factor that keeps you motivated. In order to manage it, you first need to identify the stressors in your life and then take the necessary action.