By Nadine Vattappara
My young cousin, studying in Kindergarten came up and told me, “I am so stressed”. Wondering what could possibly go wrong in a 4-year-old’s life. I inquired further to get the details and she tells me, “I have to learn all the 26 letters, that too in the correct order.”
Recently, a mother tweeted about how her child who is studying in a junior school, constantly complains about chest pain and develops a skin rash every alternate month due to the excessive workload and the competition that the students face every day.
The above anecdotes, warns us about a very common factor called stress, which is affecting people across age groups.
These days, the number of cases of medical conditions caused by stress is increasing at an alarming rate.
‘Pressure or strain’, defined as stress can be caused by everyday factors that can put a strain on the body. Stress can be mental, emotional or psychological. When we are stressed the body deals with it as if we are in danger, it starts releasing hormones like Cortisol and Epinephrine into the bloodstream. This optimizes our concentration by increasing the heart rate and blood pressure which in-turn gives us the strength and memory to deal with the supposed ‘danger’. As the danger passes, the body takes time to come back to its normal state.
Different people deal with stress differently. It all depends on how well a person can handle a certain situation.
How stress affects different organs?
Heart: One of the very important organs that always get affected while we get stressed is the heart. One first thing that happens when we get stressed is an increased heart rate. And all these false alarms cause wear and tear to the heart which increases the possibilities of getting heart problems like arrhythmias or eventually cause heart attack.
Body: Many people who are stressed tend to eat more; it’s a psychological way of dealing with stress for some people. But all these calories don’t get used up as they are not needed therefore, body converts these excess calories into fat and stores them causing obesity. Obesity is known to cause increased blood pressure and diabetes.
Pancreas: People who are stressed are likely to lead an unhealthy lifestyle. An imbalanced diet and consumption of alcohol can increase the risk of getting diabetics. Stress directly increases glucose levels in people who already have diabetics.
Stomach and intestines: When people get stressed, the central nervous system shuts down the blood flow that is needed for digestion. This causes an increase in stomach acids which might lead to ulcers and makes one, more susceptible to stomach infections.
Brain: Stress causes increased blood pressure to the brain and that might cause migraines. Over time, the stress hormones can wear down the proper functioning of the brain by killing brain cells and reducing the brain size. And this can lead to Alzheimer’s (It is a neurodegenerative disease).
What are the things we can do to relieve stress?
Yoga: Researchers have proved that meditation can bring down the stress levels in a person. Deep breathing techniques and positive imagery can help reduce stress substantially.
Exercise: Physical activity increases blood circulation in the body and mind and helps burn out the excess fat accumulated in the body due to stress.
Sleep: Sleep helps clear out the toxins in the body and that in turn will help the body to come back to its normalcy faster. While we sleep brain gets sufficient time to rest, and the body gets time to repair itself.
Eat healthy: One has to eat healthy to help the body detoxify faster. Detoxification will help the body absorb the nutrients and minerals in an efficient manner. This way, the body will be able to cope with our day-to-day activities without being drained by the after effects of stress. Some comfort foods also help one to keep anxiety and stress at bay.
Music: Listening to therapeutic music helps reduce stress by decreasing brain activity and it also brings down heart rate to a normal pace.
Write it down: Writing down instances that upset a person or make one stressed, will help one avoid such circumstances in the future.
Laugh: There are support groups like Laughter Clubs which practice prolonged voluntary laughter. This releases the so-called happiness hormones, Endorphins, Dopamine and, Serotonin. There is also reduction in Cortisol and Epinephrine.
Reduce Caffeine: Caffeine increases brain activity and heart rate and makes us hyperactive. Avoiding caffeine substituting it with less intense beverages will help us curb stress.
Massage: Get a massage once in a while. That will relieve the body and mind from stress and help provide full relaxation.
In the present scenario, stress-related conditions are on the rise at an alarming rate. But carefully planned life changes a well-furnished daily timetable without the need to meet a deadline, engaging in activities that calm the mind and body. All these contributing factors will provide us an ideal workstation free of anxiety and stress for a productive future.
