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Emotional Effects of Stress on the Body

Stress is something we all deal with at one point or another. Small doses can be beneficial to your performance at various tasks, but large, continual amounts of stress can be severely detrimental to your emotional and physical health. The emotional effects of stress is all that a person notices initially, but if those are not dealt with properly, then they can transform into physical manifestations that range of stress related diseases from a stomach ache to a heart attack. This is why it is important to not only know how to identify the emotional effects of stress, but also how to handle them.

Common Symptoms

People’s initial emotional response to stress will vary. Some will become extremely agitated and frenzied. Others will withdraw all emotion and energy from the situation. While others will do both, appearing emotionally withdrawn on the outside, but feeling extremely agitated on the inside.

After this initial reaction period, the emotional effects of stress transform into a variety of feelings. Many will feel like they have no control over their lives, which in turn makes them depressed and hopeless. They are unable to relax and may experience a shorter temper than normal. A sense of isolation and feelings of being overwhelmed are often experienced by those under stress. Some people will feel all of these things in a rotating cycle of general moodiness.

Effects

During periods of stress your body is producing more cortisol, a hormone meant to help us efficiently handle life threatening situations, which can have many ill effects on your body if produced for long periods of time. Initial stress responses are mostly emotional, but if left unattended, they quick manifest as physical symptoms.

Some of the most common physical symptoms include hair loss, weight gain, insomnia, cardiovascular disease, muscles pain, mouth and stomach ulcers, skin outbreaks, involuntary muscle spasms, sexual dysfunction, and weakness. The immune system also begins to fail under long term stress, which makes you more at risk to a wide assortment of diseases. If untreated the accumulation of emotional and physical effects of stress can lead to the failure of various body systems and even death.

How to Deal with Emotional Stress?

In order to prevent the effects of stress from getting out of control it is important to properly deal with the emotions and underlying causes. Each person will find what method, or combination of methods, works best for them to cope with stress. Many just need to spend some time pinpoint what exactly it is that is making them stress and why. Others need to reach out to friends and family to talk about their stress as it helps them feel less alone. Some need to practice relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation or regular exercise.

Try to find a method of dealing with stress that you can continue in times of calm to help fortify yourself against the next wave of stressors. Being prepared with an arsenal of anti stress coping methods will help you enjoy a healthier, calmer life no matter what comes your way.

This article on the various emotional effects of stress has been written by expert author ‘Emily Cordz’.