How Stress Destroys Health: Conditions Stress Causes & How to Overcome Them

It’s normal to feel some stress i your life. It’s even healthy to experience small amounts of stress every once in a while. But chronic stress in your life can have a lot of detrimental effects.

Chronic stress can impact your health in some unexpected ways. This is why it’s important to make sure that you find useful ways to reduce the amount of stress that you may be feeling. 

When you incorporate stress-relieving activities into your life, you should find that you're much better able to focus, feel healthier, and prevent some common conditions caused by stress.

Conditions Caused by Stress and How to Help

Here are a few conditions that result from excessive stress and what you can do to help:.

1. Headaches and Migraines

One of the most common side effects you’ll hear about stress is headaches. Headaches can be caused by a variety of different things, including medical issues. But headaches can also be a result of stress. 

If you experience a lot of stress in your daily life, you could be more prone to headaches. You might also be prone to migraines. These are more than just a little pain in your head. 

Migraines can be debilitating and extremely painful. If you experience either of these symptoms, then try to find ways to reduce stress. You can meditate, enroll in yoga classes, or take over-the-counter pain killer medications until you can reduce your stress enough.

2. Depression 

Another very common condition associated with too much stress is depression. There are times in everyone's lives when we feel sad. But depression is more than that. It is a mental illness that causes feelings of sadness, blueness, hopelessness, or helplessness. 

When left untreated, depression can become extremely serious. And too much stress can trigger feelings of depression. 

There are several ways you can try to reduce stress and manage depression, including practicing mindfulness and doing meditation. You can also try to get in enough exercise throughout the day.

3. Anxiety

Like depression, anxiety can be a severe mental illness if you don’t manage and treat it. If you deal with a lot of stress throughout your life, this can trigger feelings of anxiety.

There are lots of ways that you can manage anxiety. Similar to managing depression, getting enough physical exercise can help reduce the stress that’s triggering these feelings. 

You might also want to consider looking into anxiety supplements. There are many options in the supplement industry, so make sure you speak to your doctor about what might work best for you.

4. Obesity 

To keep your body working the way it should, it’s important to maintain a healthy weight because being overweight can cause a lot of health issues. Being underweight can also be very unhealthy. 

Sadly, too much stress in your life can lead to obesity. And if you are obese, you’re likely to be at risk for other medical conditions, like joint problems and diabetes.

Exercising regularly and eating healthy can help you lose excess weight and keep you overall healthier.

5. Heart Disease 

Your heart is one of your most important organs. After all, the heart pumps blood to all of your other vital organs. So, it’s important to keep your heart in good shape. 

People with chronic stress tend to be more prone to heart disease. If you are dealing with a lot of stress in your life, then you should find stress-relieving activities to help protect your heart. 

Mindfulness, healthy exercise, and eating right can all do a lot to keep your heart strong.

6. Diabetes 

Diabetes can be a difficult illness to deal with. It requires that you are ever-watchful of your health. You may be required to modify your lifestyle and follow healthy diet plans.

Unfortunately, too much stress in your life can make you more susceptible to diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes. That’s because stress raises the glucose levels in your blood. Being too stressed can also make you form unhealthy habits that lead to diabetes, like eating poorly.

If you are at risk for type 2 diabetes, talk to your doctor about some lifestyle changes you can implement to remain healthy. Do your best to eat right and get in enough exercise. Practicing mindfulness and meditation can also do a lot to reduce feelings of stress.

7. Insomnia 

Stress can make it hard to sleep. Unfortunately, getting too little sleep can also increase feelings of stress. This can end up like you’re stuck in an endless loop.

If you are struggling to sleep because of your stress, you might want to check out anxiety supplements to help you calm down enough to go to bed. These products combine ingredients that help boost melatonin, so you can dive into a restful sleep.

If you’re having trouble with insomnia, then speaking to your doctor will help you come up with an effective treatment or management plan.

8. Colds 

Chronic stress can lower your immune system. This can make you much more susceptible to diseases opportunistic diseases like colds and viruses.

If you tend to get sick often from colds, consider how much stress you are experiencing. If you are a highly stressed person, this could be a reason why.

To boost your immune system and relieve stress, make sure you eat foods that contain high amounts of antioxidants and vitamin C. Remember to speak to your doctor about it as well.

Conclusion

While it’s normal and healthy to feel stress once in a while, chronic stress can severely impact your health. If you’re chronically stressed, then make sure that you find healthy and effective ways to reduce this stress so you can avoid and manage the conditions stress can bring.