Stress is a normal biological reaction to changes or danger that causes physical or emotional tension. It is triggered by things that make you angry, frustrated, or nervous.
Stress responses enable your body to adjust to new situations and can be positive or negative. When you encounter a stress trigger or stressors, the brain produces hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones make the heart beat faster, sending blood to important organs and muscles.
The duration of stress depends on its cause, current management efforts, and the environment you are in. Stress is usually classified as acute, episodic acute, and chronic stress depending on different factors.
- Acute stress- This is the most common and happens to everybody. It is a short-term response to a challenging situation like hitting the brakes too fast or arguing with a partner. It could also result from something you enjoy, like riding a roller coaster or skiing.
- Episodic acute stress- This is when you have frequent acute stress episodes. This happens when you are worried or anxious about something you suspect will happen. This can happen to people like firefighters and law enforcement officers.
- Chronic stress- This happens when you have high-stress levels that last for long periods. This is considered a danger to your health as it might result in other issues like anxiety and depression.
Triggers Stress May Cause
Increased blood pressure
The hormones released when you experience stress increase your heart rate. This helps supply blood to essential muscles and organs for the fight-or-flight response. If the stress prolongs, these increased heartbeats could result in high blood pressure.
Heightened muscle preparedness, alertness, cramping, and sweating
The brain produces more chemicals and hormones to deal with your stress, like HGH, cortisol, adrenaline, and gonadotropins. It means your body and muscles are prepared to move. This causes alertness, muscle preparedness, and sweating.
Additional pressure on your blood vessels could also contract your muscles, causing cramping and spasms. While HGH might increase during physical stress, it could decline with psychological stress, and you might need to buy Genotropin to get the levels back to normal.
Fainting
A stressful event could trigger a vasovagal reaction. This causes the heart to beat slower, pumping less blood throughout the body. The lack of enough oxygenated blood in the brain could result in fainting.
Headaches
Headaches, mostly migraine, and tension headaches are common side effects of stress. They come in the form of mild to moderate dull headaches, scalp and forehead tenderness, or a band of pressure around the forehead.
Stress could also cause digestive problems, insomnia, obesity, depression, anxiety, chest pains, and reduced sex drive.
Reasons For Stress
Job issues or retirement
Having a job means you and your family are financially well-off, giving you security. Losing that job, whether by being fired or retiring, takes away that independence and security, increasing a level of stress.
Stress comes from the lack of security given by your job, and you might even lose friends, making you isolated.
Lack of time or money
Money allows you to do whatever you want, buy whatever you want, and give your loved ones a comfortable life. Without the money, you will spend a lot of time thinking about how to pay the bills, school fees, and mortgage.
This could result in you selling personal property, taking a loan., or using your savings, resulting in chronic stress.
The same applies to time. You might have a lot to do within a short time, exerting too much pressure on yourself. This applies to deadlines at work or personal goals. It also applies to people whose time is limited because of illnesses.
Bereavement
Losing a loved one or a pet takes a heavy toll on people. The grief could result in you isolating yourself, and the numerous thoughts could result in chronic stress and, later, more serious mental and physical challenges.
Family problems
Numerous family problems could affect children or parents, causing stress. It could be parents arguing, a divorce or separation, financial trouble, the introduction of new step-parents, neglect, a loved one suffering physically or emotionally, sibling rivalry, or different personality clashes.
These issues could affect one person or several people in the family and, if left unchecked, could become a serious issue to other family members.
Illness
While some illnesses last a short time, some last a long time or are terminal and could require the patient to receive constant assistance. This causes stress to the patient because they might feel like a burden.
It also stresses the person taking them because of the lack of social interaction and financial strain.
Moving homes
The process of finding a home is usually long and strenuous. It becomes even more stressful considering the mortgage and the effects of being in a new neighborhood. This means you have no friends yet and your children might feel the effects when they move schools too.
Relationships, and marriage
Whether you have been in a relationship for a few months or married for decades, breaking up with someone is not easy. It results in loneliness, and some people might blame themselves for the breakup. This, plus the pressure of getting back on dating sites and the insecurities that come with it, could result in chronic stress.
Conclusion
Whether you are experiencing acute, episodic acute, or chronic stress, it is best to manage them before it gets out of hand. The following are some ways to manage and prevent stress.
- Do relaxation activities like yoga, breathing techniques, and meditation
- Remain active
- Have a positive mentality and practice gratitude
- Have a support system to talk to
- Set attainable goals
- Have a hobby like drawing
- See a professional therapist
