How To Manage the Effect of Stress on the Body
Stress causes a cascade of physical responses in the body, triggering the fight or flight response. While acute stress can be beneficial to react to a stressful situation, chronic stress can have far-reaching negative effects on your physical and mental health, impacting your nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, immune, and gastrointestinal systems. Once the stress cycle has been activated, it is essential to move through the stress response and complete the stress cycle to prevent chronic stress. One of the best ways to complete the stress cycle and bring your body back to a calm state is exercise.
The Effect of Stress on the Body
Stress is a natural physical and mental response to life experiences, particularly triggering or adverse circumstances. A cascade of reactions occurs in the body in response to a stressful situation. There are three types of stress: 1) routine stress from pressures of daily life such as work and family obligations, 2) stress brought on by unexpected changes in normal routines like a job loss or financial issues, and 3) traumatic stress from a life-altering event like a natural disaster or assault.
First, the hypothalamus sends a signal to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) to release stress hormones. This triggers the fight or flight response, causing the heart to race, breath to quicken, and muscles to tense to be ready for action. This is beneficial in the short term to address and react to a threat quickly. Once the perceived fear or stressor is gone, the hypothalamus should signal all systems, particularly the central nervous system, to return to normal.
However, if the stress response cycle is not completed and the individual stays in a constant reactive response to stress, moving from stressor to stressor throughout the day, the stress response can become chronic. Chronic stress can have far-reaching negative effects on an individual’s physical and mental health.
Chronic stress is pervasive. In 2021 in the United States, 74% of adults reported experiencing negative physical impacts from stress within a 30-day period such as headaches, fatigue, and sleep disturbances. About 59% also noted they experienced stress-induced behavioral changes in a 30-day period, such as stress eating and avoidance of social situations.
Chronic stress can exacerbate and heighten the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension, stroke, diabetes, or a heart attack. Stress has wide-ranging effects on every system in the body:
Cardiovascular system: The heart pumps faster raising your heart rate and causing the heart to pound, and blood vessels constrict and divert more oxygen to your muscles to provide more strength to take action during the stress response. This raises your blood pressure. A sustained increased heart rate and high blood pressure can damage the arteries and increase the risk of a heart attack.
Nervous system: Your nervous system is in charge of the stress fight or flight response with the hypothalamus telling the adrenal glands to release the stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol and leading to increased heartbeat, breathing, and muscle tensing. If the central nervous system fails to relax once the stressor has passed, chronic stress occurs, and the nervous system remains continually activated. This can contribute to the development of chronic pain throughout the body and hypersensitivity of the nervous system to stimuli.
Brain: Acute stress can sharpen your memory and cognition. However, chronic stress contributes to structural changes in the brain and memory and cognition problems. MRIs have shown that in those with PTSD, there is a reduction in the volume of the hippocampus along with neurophysiologic effects such as a weak verbal memory. Chronic stress can also cause decreased brain mass and weight, leading to memory, cognitive, and learning difficulties.
Gastrointestinal system: Stress affects the normal function of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract. Stress negatively affects the absorption process of the intestines, intestinal permeability, mucus and stomach acid secretion, and GI inflammation. This contributes to heartburn, nausea, vomiting, and gastrointestinal conditions like IBS or Crohn’s disease. Stress also affects the movement of the GI tract, often accelerating the movement (contraction and motility) of the large intestine, leading to stress-induced diarrhea.
Immune system: Acute stress can stimulate the immune system which can be a benefit in an immediate situation, helping avoid infection and heal wounds. However, sustained stress weakens your immune system and reduces your body’s ability to respond to foreign invaders. Chronic stress contributes to increased susceptibility to viral illnesses like the flu or the common cold and can increase the time it takes to recover from an illness or injury.
Respiratory system: When stressed, you may begin to breathe rapidly causing you to be short of breath. Researchers note that during stressful responses, the airways between the lungs and nose may contract and therefore affect breathing.
Endocrine & reproductive system: Stress can activate or change the activity of many endocrine processes of the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands, pancreas, thyroid, and sexual organs. Stress has a negative impact on men's and women’s reproductive systems. Chronic stress lowers a man’s testosterone levels, which can interfere with sperm production and cause erectile dysfunction as well as an increased risk of infection in the prostate and testes. Stress also negatively affects the menstrual cycle, causing periods to become irregular, heavier, or more painful, and decreasing female fertility. It can also exacerbate the physical symptoms of menopause. Stress also lowers men's and women’s libido, or sex drive.
Liver: Stress causes the liver to release extra glucose into the bloodstream to boost energy. This temporarily causes high blood sugar and reduces your body’s sensitivity to insulin. Chronic stress over an extended period of time can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.
Musculoskeletal system: In response to stress, the muscles tense up to protect themselves from injury. They should release once you relax, but if you are constantly under stress, your muscles remain tight which can contribute to back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, and headaches.
Skin: Higher levels of stress can increase bouts of acne. Studies have shown that during college exam periods in which stress commonly increases, acne becomes more severe. Stress also affects hormones and inflammation in the body which contributes to more acne.
Sleep cycle: Chronic stress often leads to insomnia and problems falling and staying asleep. During a stressful experience, the body activates the HPA axis and the sympathetic nervous system, releasing hormones that stimulate attention and arousal. Without completing the stress cycle, the body remains in this activated state which can cause issues with falling and staying asleep.
Mental health: Chronic stress is highly correlated to increased symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as low self-esteem and negative mood. In one study of over 800 women with major depression, researchers found that the onset of depression was significantly associated with acute or chronic stress.
Completing the Stress Cycle with Exercise
Once the stress cycle has been activated, it is essential to move through the stress response and complete the stress cycle to prevent chronic stress and its negative effects on your physical and mental health. An incomplete stress cycle causes stress to build up, compromising our ability to manage the next stressor. Completing the stress cycle builds resilience for the next stressful event and allows your body to calm down and return to equilibrium.
Exercise is an excellent way to manage stress and complete the stress cycle, whether you run, dance, swim, or do Pilates. Exercise boosts your endorphins, which are the brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, and improves your mood. Exercise provides stress relief for your body by engaging you in movement; this completes the flight response your body prepares for when encountering a stressor. Exercise can also be a “meditation in motion,” helping you forget worries and stressors as you concentrate on your activity and take the focus off the stressor. Exercise improves your mood and sleep, helps you relax, increases your self-confidence, and lowers symptoms of mild depression and anxiety. Exercising outdoors in nature is particularly effective in helping you release stress and relax.
Other ways to manage stress and complete the stress cycle include rest, getting enough sleep, or doing something creative like painting or baking. Engaging in slow deep breathing down-regulates the stress response and laughing at something or allowing yourself to cry helps to regulate your emotions and release emotional and mental tension and stress. Casual friendly social interaction also helps to calm the stress response as social interactions are an external sign that the world is a safe place.
Seeking safety and comfort from a loved one like a 20-second hug or a six-second kiss with your significant other triggers the release of oxytocin which slow your heart rate and increases feelings of comfort, calm, safety, and well-being. Removing unnecessary triggers that stress the body and mind is essential, such as substance use, excessive social media use or news viewing, or eating unhealthy foods. Instead, unplug from technology regularly and eat a balanced nutritious diet.
Are you struggling with chronic stress? Start engaging in exercise every day to help you manage stress. Work with a physical therapist for an exercise program customized to your specific needs and condition.
