How Stress Effects the Body

School is stressful. Work is stressful. When you are younger you always feel like when you are older things will suddenly fall in place and you will have it figured out. What seems to actually happen is: although you are becoming more solid in who you are and what you want, the stress does not lessen as you gain more and more responsibilities. For a lot of us that is realizing how much harder Grad School is versus Undergrad. And subsequently feeling the impending doom of Comps and job applications. For some it is getting engaged/married/having children (personally after watching one of my best friends plan her wedding I'd rather be dealing with the job hunt).

I thought it would be beneficial to talk about the effects of stress on the body/mind  and the importance of making time for self-care! Whether that is going to the gym for an hour before beginning your reading, having a bottle of wine (or two) with your roommates and commiserating about your workloads, or giving yourself permission to nap all Saturday afternoon (and maybe Sunday too), it is imperative to make time to be nice to yourself and take care of your body.

This information I found from the American Psychological Association website.

Stress on the Body

Muskuloskeletal: When the body is stressed, muscles tense up.
With sudden onset stress, the muscles tense up all at once, and then release their tension when the stress passes. When muscles are taut and tense for long periods of time, this may trigger other reactions of the body and even promote stress-related disorders.
This tension can lead to chronic pain conditions: headaches, back pain, etc

Respiratory:
Stress can trigger asthma attacks and panic attacks.

Cardiovascular:
Elevated levels of stress hormones and of blood pressure, can take a toll on the body. This long-term ongoing stress can increase the risk for hypertension, heart attack or stroke.
Repeated acute stress and persistent chronic stress may also contribute to inflammation in the circulatory system, particularly in the coronary arteries, and this is one pathway that is thought to tie stress to heart attack. It also appears that how a person responds to stress can affect cholesterol levels.

Gastrointestinal: 
If you eat more or different foods, or increase your use of alcohol or tobacco, you can experience heartburn or acid reflux. Stress or exhaustion can also increase the severity of heartburn pain.You may vomit if the stress is severe enough. If the stress becomes chronic, you may develop ulcers or severe stomach pain even without ulcers. Stress can affect digestion, and what nutrients your intestines absorb. It can also affect how fast food moves through your body.

Stress can be a real killer. Please take time to be kind to yourself and do activities that make you happy!

Sources:
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-body.aspx
http://digitalbloggers.com/gregfionascott/files/2013/01/reducing-stress-2.jpg