The effects of stress on the body: effects on the body, brain and soul. The effect of stress on the human body and health

Stress is another factor (besides environment and nutrition) that affects human health.

Very harmful. If we don't know how to cope with stress, then the risk of serious illnesses is great. We need to learn how to react correctly to stressful situations. This will be discussed in today's article on MEDIMARI.

IN modern world we do not need to hunt game and wild animals to feed ourselves and we do not need to run away from predators to save our lives. But, nevertheless, stress follows us everywhere.

Do you know anyone who isn't stressed? I don't know. Just remember: on the street, at home, at work - stress is everywhere. Watched or listened to the news - stress, went to the store (saw how prices have risen or a lot of products on the shelves with the additive E) - stress, sat in line at the clinic - stress. In such a state, it is difficult for a person to think about happiness.

Not only adults, but also children from very young to teenagers experience great emotional stress. The older children become, the more serious the stressful situations are: anticipation of punishment for wrongdoing, relationships with classmates, tests and exams, health problems.

Unlike ancient man, sometimes we don't have time to recover from stressful situation. Therefore, the human body gradually wears out both physically and emotionally.

If we hold back our emotions for a long time, being exposed to stress, then they tend to accumulate and then an explosion occurs, as if out of the blue. There is an effect of one drop overflowing the glass. And all this affects our health.

What is stress? Stress– this is the body’s response to any impact that disrupts balance or a stable state of health. This impact can be both emotional and physical.

All systems of the human body react to stress: nervous, digestive, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, endocrine, reproductive and others.

Mental tension during stress, which persists for a long time, disrupts the immune system. Healthy cells degenerate and this leads to serious diseases. Under the influence of stress, the following occur:

• a state of depression and excitement or changes in mood;
• feeling suddenly tired;
• loss of appetite or sudden cravings for certain foods;
• sudden weight loss;
• various rashes, redness, peeling.

Sudden stress can lead to:

• To heart attack, panic attack
• to an increase in glucose and adrenaline levels, which means blood pressure becomes high
• in men, a decrease in the hormone testosterone is possible, impotence develops
• women lose libido, pregnant women may have a miscarriage
• there is a refusal to eat or, conversely, bouts of gluttony
• when we are very nervous, we feel like butterflies are flying in our stomach
• some at this time are susceptible to nausea and even sudden vomiting
• Sometimes, during stress, diarrhea occurs
• often stress causes spasms not only of blood vessels, but also of muscles, motor function is impaired

If a person is constantly under stress, the body wears out. The health of such a person is at risk. But stress has an impact not only on human health, but also on the health and life expectancy of animals.

Here's an example:

The average urban sparrow is under constant stress: getting food, external danger. The lifespan of such a sparrow is 1-2 years. Scientists have demonstrated that if a sparrow is protected from stress and placed in greenhouse conditions, it can live 17 years!

How to cope with stress?

People who have increased feelings of anxiety are most often exposed to stress. First, their mood changes, excitement arises, then an expectation of negativity appears, i.e. fear of the future. The body then begins to react to this behavior with heart palpitations, sweating, hand trembling, voice trembling, etc. The result is various manifestations of the body, which were written about earlier: from tears to diarrhea.

If the state of stress has already become a chronic reaction to irritants, then, as with allergies, you need to try to avoid “contact” with them. But this is not always possible. Therefore, it is important to learn how to cope with stress. How to do it? Use all the reserves of your body. If you learn to adequately assess the situation, this will help prevent the human body from reacting to stress.

In such cases, psychologists and psychotherapists use methods of influencing the psychological, intellectual, and spiritual resources of the body.

• art therapy: drawing your worries on a piece of paper and then destroying this drawing;
• written practices - keeping a diary in which all a person’s feelings are described, and then the reasons and methods for overcoming stress are analyzed - as if looking at the problem from the outside;
• meditation, relaxation, auto-training

All this frees the brain from unnecessary worries and emotions, relieves stress. As a result, a state of calm and confidence in oneself and one’s abilities arises.

Also helps with stress:

• Dousing with water, contrast shower, hydromassage.
• Acupressure, in which hardened areas of the body that are constrained by spasms are kneaded
• Any physical exercise are able to remove the state of anxiety leading to stress. Swimming is especially good: the muscles relax, the water washes away all the negativity.

Negative emotions such as irritation, worry, anxiety, fear cause tension in the muscles. If you learn to relax your muscles, you can reduce the impact of stress on human health.

Learning to relax:

• We make a “relaxant mask” - alternately tensing and relaxing the facial muscles.
• use anti-stress breathing: holding your breath before deep exhalation
• rephrase negative thoughts into positive ones: “Bad, evil person" - "This man has something in pain. I feel sorry for him"
• counting backwards “from ten”, and back: “to ten”
• listening to relaxing music
• we pronounce: “conversation with a fellow traveler”
• We learn to smile, even in difficult situations.

You can brag about your excellent health and ability to resist any disease as much as you like, but never experience stress in your life?! Such people simply do not exist! Negativity, conflict situations, reasons for nervous tension in life modern man, alas, plenty. A is the body’s natural reaction to such factors.

Everybody knows bad influence stress on human health, both mental and physiological. It’s not for nothing that they say that all diseases arise from nerves, but how exactly can this manifest itself?

Psycho-emotional state

splash negative emotions regardless of the reasons that caused it, it introduces an imbalance into the usual measured way of life. Stress affects a person’s behavior in society and affects his mental abilities, reduce performance. The body can cope with isolated cases. In this case, stress is not so dangerous and does not lead to serious consequences. But if nervous overstrain lasts for a long time, a person experiences stress constantly, then this can cause various psycho-emotional disorders and nervous disorders.

Common consequences of stress include:

• imbalance;
• causeless mood swings;
• neuroses;
• emotional instability;
• memory impairment, deterioration of attention;
• anger;
• increased fatigue.

In this condition, a person’s quality of life deteriorates significantly. Simply put, life becomes much more difficult for him, since any action is given with great difficulty and requires incredible mental strength. Often, against the background of stress, insomnia, irritability, intolerance, etc. may occur.

The most disappointing post-stress state is severe, prolonged depression, apathy towards everything around you. The consequence of this may be a complete loss of interest in life, suicidal behavior, and obsessive thoughts of suicide.

Stress and physical health

One way or another, stress causes temporary disruption of the functions of the central nervous system and brain. And since all systems and organs in the human body are interconnected, this cannot affect his physical health. That is why stress is mentioned as one of the main reasons for the occurrence or exacerbation of huge amount somatic diseases. Its most common consequences are:

• Weakened immunity, low body resistance to viral, bacterial, and infectious diseases.
• Muscle dystrophy.
• The likelihood of cellular degeneration of brain and spinal cord tissue.
• Increased development risks oncological diseases various etiologies, etc.

Most often, due to stress, diseases of the cardiovascular system (coronary disease, angina, etc.) and gastrointestinal tract develop (,). But severe nervous overstrain also affects the functioning of other systems in the most negative way. This happens due to the fact that during stress, hormones necessary for the normal functioning of the body are produced in excessive quantities. As a result, hormonal regulation gets out of control, which causes reactions that provoke the appearance of ailments, the occurrence of certain diseases, and the exacerbation of chronic diseases.

For example, increased level glucocorticoids cause rapid breakdown of proteins and nucleic acids. The result of a deficiency of these substances is muscle dystrophy. In addition, the high concentration of glucocorticoids in the body makes it difficult for bone tissue to absorb calcium, as a result of which their structure changes, becoming more porous and fragile. Stress- one of the most probable causes the development of such a common disease these days as.

Hormonal imbalances caused by stress also affect the condition of the skin. An excess of some hormones and a deficiency of other hormones impede the growth of fibroblasts. Such structural changes cause thinning of the skin, resulting in its easy damage and decreased ability to heal wounds.

Negative consequences of increased levels of stress hormones in the body, exceeding acceptable standards, it doesn’t end there. Among the most dangerous are growth retardation, destruction of spinal cord and brain cells, decreased insulin synthesis, development of tumor processes, and oncological diseases.

Based on the above, there is only one conclusion: stress– an extremely dangerous condition that entails serious consequences for both physical and psychological health! Therefore, you need to try by any means to avoid stressful situations, emotional stress, and depression.

In addition to nutrition and ecology, stress is one of the main factors affecting human health. The negative impact of stress has a detrimental effect on the normal functioning of the entire body and often becomes the impetus for the occurrence of serious illnesses, which can be quite serious. This is what you need to learn - to respond adequately to stressful situations. Stress follows a person everywhere - at home, in a store, on the street, at work. A person under the influence of such a state cannot be fully happy.

If you do not actively fight this disease, the effect of stress on health will become severe. chronic stage. First you need to understand what was the provoking factor. When the cause disappears, then the consequences for the body can be eliminated.

Physiological state of a person

The influence of stress on the human body almost always has a bad effect on all organs and systems of the body, only worsening the patient’s well-being. Most often, a person’s physiological health suffers.

1. Constant headaches.
2. Chronic lack of sleep.
3. Diseases of the cardiovascular system are getting worse. Hypertension and rapid heartbeat.
4. The risk of cancer cell growth increases.
5. Alcohol and drug addiction.
6. Fatigue and decreased concentration and memory.
7. Due to the increase in hormones, the development of osteoporosis and skin thinning is possible.
8. Exacerbation of gastrointestinal diseases, gastritis and ulcers.
9. Immunity decreases and as a result - regular viral diseases.
10. The effects of stress cannot always be cured; degeneration of cells in the brain and spinal cord often occurs.
11. Decreased libido.
12. Increased blood glucose.

State of mind of a person

The harmful effect of stress on the body, which arose on a mental background, does not allow a person not only to work normally, but also to live. Any action requires a lot of mental effort.

The main consequences of stressful situations:

• Insomnia,
• Neuroses, depression,
• Aggressiveness, irritability, fits of anger,
• Reluctance to live or do something.

It is very difficult to cope with stress alone; the main thing is to understand the reason and get rid of the source of such well-being. Most effective way- learn techniques for overcoming stressful situations.

Career and stress

Stress can arise due to overtime work and carry professional character. In medicine, it is called professional stress, the effect and distribution of which is increasing every year.

Here are its main reasons:

Childhood stress

In the modern world, stress in children is quite common. Many children are in comfortable conditions and live in a certain, already formed way, and any violation leads to a stressful situation. Thus, they react as if protecting themselves.

Causes of stress in a child:

• Family (separation from relatives, divorce of parents, quarrels, birth of another child).
• Fears (age-related, instilled, conscious and unconscious).
• Misfortunes (changes in children's living conditions, death of a relative).
• Medical (fear of doctors or pain, injury).
• Social (conflicts with other children, fear of being misunderstood, competition).
• Telephone, computer (emotional stress on the psyche).
• Other (change of room decor, potty training, etc.)

It is not always possible to distinguish between stress and the usual whims of a child, although often these signs are of a completely different nature. For example, a fidgety child can dramatically change his behavior and his actions become calmer and quieter. The most obvious physiological manifestations are stuttering, sleep disturbance, fear, redness of the skin, slurred speech, etc. If you can recognize your child by the description, then you need to urgently contact a specialist, that is, a psychologist.

Pregnancy and stress

Expectant mothers are the most susceptible to stressful situations because negative impact stress on a person extends not only to them, but also to the fetus. During this period, the woman becomes especially susceptible to external stimuli, and the very state of pregnancy brings inconvenience: fatigue, limited movement, fear for the child, etc.

Causes of stress in a pregnant woman:

• Tensions between spouses
• Trouble at work or school,
• Uncertainty about the strength of the family,
• Dissatisfaction, need for something.

Situations in which a woman will become overly worried or nervous should be avoided. After all, the effect of stress on the body can be very dangerous and destructive, causing difficulties in bearing a child and poor health of the woman. If you do not get rid of the source of this condition in time, then sad consequences are possible.

The most common effects of stress:

• Inability to give birth on your own
• Suffocation of a child due to lack of oxygen,
• Developmental abnormalities and prematurity,
• Thick blood,
• Premature emptying of water
• Postpartum depression.

Now there are many different techniques, allowing to reduce bad influence stress on human health. To begin with, the attending physician must prescribe a course of fortification for the woman. The daily diet requires the mandatory presence of vitamins A, B and C. The best medicine to stay calm is your favorite activity, no matter if it is reading, knitting or drawing. Calm classical music promotes relaxation.

A person is accustomed to not paying attention to problems, accumulating and restraining his emotions within himself. But after a while, he can explode over any trifle. To maintain your health, you should not be exposed to negative influence from someone else's side. We must not forget that such concepts as the positive effects of stress or the benefits of stress do not exist.

Video on the topic

Stressful situations can have different effects on a person’s well-being and the functioning of organs and systems. Short-term stress helps to mobilize forces, make the right decision in a critical situation, and improve relationships with those close to you. Prolonged and intense exposure to stress has a negative impact on health. This leads to problems in the functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous, immune systems, and gastrointestinal tract organs. A person has no desire to do anything, and loses interest in life. Sudden attacks of rage, irritability, and aggression may periodically occur.

General concept

There is one fundamentally important point, which you need to pay attention to before talking about the effects of stress on your health. This is a reaction to external circumstances that everyone perceives differently. This means that the degree to which the same situations influence different people will be different. The impact of stress depends on how a person perceives the current state of affairs.

Stress has a different nature of origin depending on the factors that provoked it. Conventionally, they can be divided into two categories: physical (appearing against the background of sensations of thirst, hunger, heat, cold, infections) and psychological, which arise as a result of severe nervous strain.

Stress affects health both positively and negatively. It all depends on its intensity and duration. Short-term and not very strong stress can be regarded as positive. If the exposure is prolonged and intense, then it is dangerous for health and well-being. In order to get rid of internal tension, addiction to alcohol, nicotine, drug addiction, passion for gambling appears, changes in sexual preferences occur, and rash acts are committed. Such behavior does not solve the accumulated problems, but only contributes to their aggravation. Stress negatively affects not only the physical, but also the psychological health, communication with loved ones and the opposite sex, implementation of professional plans.

How does overexertion affect your health?

Intense stress that continues for a long time, significantly impairs the performance of almost everyone internal organs and human systems.

Its insidiousness lies in the fact that it leads to a deterioration in health not immediately, but after a certain time. Stress has many for human physiological health:

• Angina develops.
• The risk of myocardial infarction increases.
• Significantly increases arterial pressure.
• Blood sugar levels increase.
• The level of fatty acids increases.
• Gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, chronic colitis, and cholelithiasis develop.
• The body's defenses decrease, and a person often suffers from acute respiratory infections.
• There is a loss of appetite or addiction to a certain type of food, weight loss.
• The skin turns red, peels, and various rashes appear.
• Insomnia, depression, feelings of depression, neuroses, anxiety, sudden mood swings appear, attention and memory deteriorate. A person gets tired quickly and cannot perform his duties at work efficiently.
• A person suffers from severe headaches.
• The consumption of large quantities of alcoholic beverages begins, and alcoholism develops.
• Excess hormones that are produced during stress lead to thinning of the skin, osteoporosis, and muscle tissue dystrophy.
• Stress contributes to the development of cancer.
• In rare cases, irreversible processes are possible in the form of degeneration of cells in the spinal cord and brain.

If an unexpected severe stress(emotional shock), this can lead to the following consequences:

• Spasm of muscles, tissues, blood vessels.
• Damage to motor function.
• Miscarriages in pregnant women.
• Decreased libido, testosterone levels, development of impotence.
• Panic attacks, heart attack.
• Nausea, indigestion.
• A sharp increase in blood pressure.

Impact of stress on the psyche

Negative effects on mental health are manifested by the following signs:

• You feel chronic fatigue, apathy, and loss of strength.
• A person loses interest not only in work, but also in life in general.
• Periodically, intolerance, increased conflict, unexpected outbursts of anger, aggression, and irritability arise.
• Mood lability and emotional instability are noted.
• Inferiority complexes appear, self-confidence and one’s abilities are lost.
• Hypochondria and sleep disorders develop.
• The functioning of the hormonal sphere is disrupted.
• It is difficult for a person to properly plan his time, he cannot relax and fully rest, his circle of contacts narrows, disagreements and quarrels appear in the family, he does not want to fulfill his marital duty.

“All illnesses come from nerves!” - this expression is often heard. Is this reality or exaggeration? And what diseases are caused by nerves? The impact of stress on the human body and health is very great. Due to problems in the family or at work, a stomach ulcer may open, the heart may begin to ache, blood pressure may increase, and a rash may appear on the skin. All these diseases can be treated separately by a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist, or a dermatologist. But when I remember the problem, everything repeats itself again. Why is this happening?

The fact is that the human brain is designed like a perfect computer, and it receives information through the eyes, ears, skin, etc. The brain reacts very sensitively to any word, but a rude word causes a whole storm in the body. On psychological stress central nervous system releases biologically as a defense active substances, for example, histamine, which causes stomach ulcers. If a person is constantly nervous, then the nervous system wears out and gives incorrect signals to other systems and organs.

Let's look at how stress affects metabolic processes and excess weight. The cause of stress can be any situation that causes strong negative emotions. Stress can be short-term or long-term (chronic). Under short-term stress, the central nervous system sends signals, as a result, the defense mechanisms, helping the body cope with a critical situation. The heart rate increases, blood flow to the muscles increases and blood flow decreases to the digestive tract. At the same time, adrenaline is produced, stimulating the flow of glucose into the blood, and a large number of energy. The muscles tense strongly for active actions: for defense, attack or flight.

After a stressful situation, the body’s energy reserves are depleted, the blood glucose level decreases, a feeling of hunger appears, and the body recovers. This mechanism is triggered by short-term stress, and if a person copes with it, then it has no further impact on health.

And if the stress is less intense, but persists more long time(chronic stress), what effect does it have on the human body? When a dangerous situation arises that requires constant tension, the central nervous system also triggers a defense mechanism. The adrenal glands produce large quantities of the hormone cortisol (stress hormone), which increases the level of glucose in the blood, which in turn produces a large amount of energy. But a person, as a rule, does not take active actions under chronic stress and does not spend a lot of energy. As a result, excess glucose with increased cortisol content is synthesized into fat molecules. During chronic stress, carbohydrates are consumed faster, and a person feels hungry more often. The need for food gradually increases, and body weight begins to increase every day. Therefore, during times of stress, the body can accumulate fat and excess weight appears. If chronic stress is not eliminated, then chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, insomnia, and headaches develop in the future.

How to reduce stress? What needs to be done to promptly eliminate, prevent or reduce the impact of stress on health? Scientists have found that regular exercise helps the brain rewire itself to respond more easily to stress. During or after intense physical exercise, a person exercising may experience a feeling of euphoria, which helps prevent stress. High physical activity and physical work reduce the negative effects of stress on cardiovascular health. vascular system. People who lead a sedentary lifestyle and engage in intense mental work experience intellectual signs of stress: increased heart rate (up to 150 beats/min), increased blood pressure.

How to recover from stress?

1.Regular physical exercise, including strength training on simulators, restore functional systems body after stress.

2.Healthy, restful sleep allows the brain to rest and recover. Many hormones are produced during sleep.

4.Joint holiday with loved ones and friends – trips to nature, to the cinema, etc.