Table of contents:
- Can stress cause illness?
- Nausea
- Indigestion
- Easily hurt
- Stay healthy when stress hits
- 1. Consultation with your doctor
- 2. Exercise every day
- 3. Eat healthy foods
- 4. Learn to relax
- 5. Expand your friendship
- 6. Talk to a professional therapist
- 7. Get enough rest
Most people have experienced stress. However, it turns out that stress can affect your body and make you susceptible to disease. Especially if the stress you have lasts for a long time, this may increase your risk of developing disease. How can? What should you do to stay healthy? Check out the answer here.
Can stress cause illness?
Stress can occur due to changes in the surrounding environment, so the body will react and respond to it as a protective measure. When stress hits, usually the body will try to restore the situation. However, if stress occurs frequently, the body will take longer to heal.
As a result, the body's performance will be disrupted. Of course, these problems can involve many systems, organs, and glands that are affected by the stress response. The following are the kinds of reactions your body has when under severe stress.
Nausea
A study reports that stress can make the production of the hormones serotonin and adrenaline disturbed. As a result, when you are under stress, you will experience nausea. This is because when you are stressed, your gut sends a message to your brain that you should be afraid and cause nausea.
Indigestion
Anxiety and worry that lead to stress, can put a lot of pressure on the stomach and intestines, including stomach acid and digestion. So that often when you are under stress, you will feel that something is wrong with your stomach.
Easily hurt
Every day your body fights against viruses or bacteria that will and have invaded the body. It turns out that stress can weaken the immune system as a result, it can increase your risk of experiencing minor illnesses, such as nausea, coughing, flu, swollen lymph nodes, dry tongue, dizziness, headache, or stomach upset.
Stay healthy when stress hits
Anxiety or excessive worry that leads to stress can cause an imbalance in your body. Even so, there are several ways to take care of your health when stress strikes. Here are some tips you can do.
1. Consultation with your doctor
If you already experience symptoms that indicate stress, consult your doctor immediately. Get a thorough physical exam to make sure other health problems don't trigger stressful feelings.
Your doctor may prescribe medications such as antidepressants to help you deal with excessive stress.
2. Exercise every day
Do exercise every day on a regular basis so you can maintain your health. However, before starting it, it's best to consult your doctor first. The chemicals produced during moderate exercise can be of great use in enhancing immune system function.
Regular aerobic and strengthening exercises are also an effective way to train your body to deal with uncontrollable stress.
3. Eat healthy foods
Many people take their stress on food. So that you don't pay attention to the food that is consumed healthy or not, the important thing is that stress will subside after eating.
Even if you are under stress, you need to eat a healthy diet too. You can eat avocado, berries, cashews, yogurt, or oranges as an outlet for your stress.
These healthy foods can help prevent prolonged stress. Also, it contains good nutrients that have been shown to provide an energy boost, lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and increase levels of the hormone serotonin (the happy hormone).
4. Learn to relax
Relaxation techniques can trigger the relaxation response, which is a physiological state characterized by a feeling of warmth and calm mental alertness. This is the opposite of the “fight or flight” response.
Relaxation techniques can offer real potential for reducing anxiety and worry. It can also improve your ability to cope with stress. With relaxation, blood flow to the brain increases and brain waves shift from alert, beta rhythm to relaxed alpha rhythm. Common relaxation techniques include deep belly breathing, meditation, listening to calming music, and activities such as yoga and tai chi.
5. Expand your friendship
Loneliness makes it more difficult for you to manage stress. People who have a large network of friends not only have a higher life expectancy compared to people who don't, but they also have less incidence of many types of illness.
6. Talk to a professional therapist
Psychological counseling can help you develop appropriate coping strategies for dealing with issues that trigger excessive stress.
Your therapist will help you identify what kinds of thoughts and beliefs are causing you to be overly stressed. Therapy can also help you suggest ways to help you change, and with your will to change. Because the success of the therapist is also supported by your willingness.
7. Get enough rest
Take care of your health with adequate rest. Numerous studies have shown that lack of sleep can be confusing mood as well as brain performance. When you are stressed and sleep deprived, your body will be increasingly overwhelmed to defend itself against disease. So, try to keep getting enough sleep every night.
