Stress is normal in small doses, everyone will feel stressed at some point in their life. It can be handled well in small doses but once it is out of control it can becomes chronic stress. This can affect all parts of an individual including their behaviour, physical and mental state.
Different life events with positive and negative outcomes can cause stress but keeping it to a minimum can prevent mental and physical health issues.
The effects of chronic stress
Prolonged stress can impact your health with some effects being long lasting. Ways stress can affect your physical health include.
- Cardiovascular system. Chronic stress can put pressure on your heart, your heart beats irregularly and at a faster pace increasing your risk of heart attack.
- Respiratory system. When you feel stressed you breath faster. Prolonged episodes of stress cause you to breath faster for longer. If you suffer from respiratory illness like asthma stress can make it harder to breath.
- Immune system. The cells that protect your body from bacteria can become inflamed when you suffer from chronic stress, while these cells are inflamed they can struggle to protect you from bacteria that will make you fall ill.
- Reproductive system. The hormone released when stress prevents your body from releasing the hormones that work with your reproductive system to create the ideal home for creating a baby. In men chronic stress can lower their sperm count.
- Digestive system. When stressed your body goes into fight or flight mode. Your central nervous system is what reacts to fight or flight. This affects your digestive system by increasing the amount of stomach acid which results in indigestion, you can also suffer from constipation or diarrhoea.
Coping with stress
Stress can happen with any situation but ways to help lower your stress levels can be simple. Spending time with family and friends can lower your stress levels. Getting enough sleep, practicing calming techniques like yoga or deep breathing can also relieve your stress levels. Exercise and taking time out to enjoy the things you like to do will also lower your stress levels.
With specific events in life doing these tips can help but you may need to do more. Events like getting married, having a baby, moving house, divorce and a job loss will need extra care as these events can cause chronic stress.
Getting married
Marrying the one you love is meant to be a beautiful time for you and your loved ones around you. On the day everything is perfect but the months leading up to it can be horribly stressful.
Ways to keeping stress levels low when planning a wedding can include
- Remember to love yourself and your partner. Everyone wants their wedding to be perfect and in the run up to the special day you can forget to love yourself and your partner. Take time out for yourself and your partner. Spending time looking yours and your partners needs will relieve you both of the stresses you are feeling.
- Eat and sleep well. Picking dresses, suits and all of the other bits needed for your special day can take over your days. Grabbing a bite to eat when shopping and getting enough sleep can lower stress levels as you look after your needs.
- Don’t overthink the small stuff. The small stuff can be an extra stress and no one will remember your special day for the small stuff alone but the memories.
- Set a budget. Having a rough budget will help you prepare for you special day and saves the stresses of overspending.
- Avoid family conflict. Families will attempt to give their input on what your day should be like. Unwanted opinions can cause conflicts. Telling family members that you want it to be yours and your partners ideas only can save conflict.
- Having a trustworthy wedding party to help with planning for the wedding events. A maid of honour or best man that you can trust with smaller tasks of the wedding planning can reduce your stress levels as the weight of a wedding isn’t all on you.
Having a baby
- Unwind. Pregnancy is challenging on the body, learning to unwind and relax while pregnant can lower your stress levels
- Make time for you and your partner. Life will change for you and your partner drastically when you have a baby. Making time for each other can also lower stress levels and bring comfort.
- Express your feelings. You can feel worried and stressed when having a baby. Expressing how you feel to loved ones can lower your feelings of worry and stress
- Accept help from others. As your body is growing and preparing to give birth you can struggle to do the things you would have been able to do before pregnancy. Accepting help can lower your stress levels as you worry about getting things done for your new baby’s arrival.
Moving house
- Plan ahead. Having a plan in action can help to keep stress levels low. You know what your plan is and sticking to your plan will let you worry less
- Start packing early. Packing away the things you will not need early will help lower your workload on moving or packing day.
- Focus on the positives. Moving house can bring a mix of different emotions. Focusing on the positive emotions can bring excitement for your new adventure and leave stress behind
- Get help. Packing away and unpacking for your new house can have a physical and emotional strain. Getting help of friends and family can lower the strain it has on you.
- Get enough rest. Making sure you get enough rest is important when moving home. The strain it has on you physically and mentally can effect you enough without being sleep deprived.
- Pack a bag off essentials. Having a small bag off essentials can help you on moving day. This bag can help lower stress of looking for items needed that are packed away.
Divorce
- Avoid drugs or alcohol. Divorce can be a very stressful time. Consuming alcohol or other substances wont take the stress away but eventually make you feel worse.
- Don’t use food for comfort. Many people find themselves comfort eating in stressful time but this won’t help you in the long run. Gaining weight and being unhealthy will have longer lasting impacts on your health.
- Having different feeling is normal. Mixed emotions are normal when going through a divorce. Embrace your feelings and ride through them will help keep stress levels to a minimum.
- Give yourself a break. Giving yourself time to practice self-care or time away to get your mental state together can improve your mental health in emotionally challenging times.
- Have a good support unit.
A job loss
- Build a new friendship. Gaining a new friendship can give you new opportunities and a fresh outlook on life.
- Set a clock. Setting a clock can keep you in a routine and feeling as though your days are planned can help you to worry less
- Volunteer. Although out of work volunteering can help you to keep structure in your day and can possibly create new opportunities for work.
- Set smaller goals. Having small realistic goals to getting back into work can relieve the pressure of being jobless.
- Asses your finances. Financial worries can create a lot of stress reviewing your finances can help to see how you will be living while out of work and your budget.