Untreated stress can turn into a mental illness such as an anxiety disorder or depression. Almost everyone experiences some anxiety. This is normal. However, an anxiety disorder is different from everyday anxiety – it is more severe, can persist and may interfere with a person's daily life.
Stress that's left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke. Sleep problems. Weight gain. Memory and concentration impairment.
Over longer periods of time, stress leads to imbalance,” says Birk. Research shows that chronic stress is associated with such health issues as muscle tension, digestive problems, headaches, weight gain or loss, trouble sleeping, heart disease, susceptibility to cancer, high blood pressure, and stroke.
“But if someone has three to five of these symptoms for more than several weeks, they might be suffering from chronic stress.” Those potential symptoms include: Aches and pains. Insomnia or sleepiness. A change in social behavior, such as staying in often.
"When the body cannot handle emotional overload, it simply begins to shut down. And that is often manifested by a sense of extreme tiredness and fatigue," says Kalayjian.
The same factors impacted the life expectancy of both men and women. For 30-year-old women, e.g. smoking shortened the life expectancy by 5.5 years, diabetes by 5.3 years, and heavy stress by 2.3 years. The effects to the life expectancy of older people were similar but smaller than in younger age groups.
If chronic stress has led to overwork, you can usually recover from it within a few weeks. If chronic stress has led to burnout, your body is exhausted. With exhaustion, recovery usually takes six months, a year or even longer. There can be a lot of variation in that.
Despite being unpleasant, stress in itself is not an illness. But there are connections between stress and mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Luckily, the plasticity of the brain allows it to mold, change, and rebuild damaged areas as you practice new behaviors. So implementing healthy stress-relieving techniques can train your brain to handle stress more effectively and decrease the likelihood of ill effects from stress in the future.
Under chronic stress, grey matter in parts of the medial prefrontal cortex reduce. This affects a lot of your function — and contributes to anxiety and depression. Stress could increase the risk of a stroke. You can help your brain recover from stress with exercise, meditation, and sleep.
Chronic Stress Examples
Work: Starting a new job, losing a job, retiring, difficulties at work, being unable to find a job, etc. Financial: Having money problems, difficulty meeting basic needs such as housing or food, etc. Life changes: Moving, starting a new school, etc.
Aging, like stress, is also a natural part of life. While we're young and resilient, stressful situations may not take as much of a toll on our bodies and minds. As we get older, though, the body's natural defenses gradually begin to break down, making it more difficult to cope with stress and anxiety.
A shocking 91% of the respondents of our survey were stressed at one point or the other in their life. Out of which, we found that the most stressed were the respondents in their late twenties and thirties. There was an increase in the stress levels until the age of 40, after which it starts reducing.
We may feel toxic stress when we face strong, frequent, or prolonged challenges. These can include abuse, neglect, violence, or substance use in the home. These experiences can trigger our body's stress response. This response floods our body with "fight or flight" chemicals.
However, stress that is prolonged, severe, or chronic, can cause significant problems with health and development. (Franke, 2014). Such stress, that itself creates additional challenges for a person's functioning, is toxic stress (Harvard University Center for the Developing Child, n.d.).
feel isolated — disinterested in the company of family and friends, or withdrawing from usual daily activities. feel overwhelmed — unable to concentrate or make decisions. be moody — feeling low or depression; feeling burnt out; emotional outbursts of uncontrollable anger, fear, helplessness or crying.
A cortisol test measures the level of cortisol in your blood, urine, or saliva to see if your levels are normal. Cortisol is a hormone that affects almost every organ and tissue in your body. It helps your body: Respond to stress (cortisol is sometimes called the "stress hormone")
Depending on symptoms experienced from chronic stress, the doctor may prescribe an anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, SSRIs. These selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are a common treatment for depression. They prevent your blood cells from absorbing some serotonin, leaving more of it in the brain.
Occasional stress is a normal coping mechanism. But long-term or chronic stress requires an immediate visit to your primary care doctor. Almost every day, Dr. Namrata Singhi at Atrium Health Primary Care Steele Creek Family Medicine says she treats a patient who is dealing with stress.