Why Stress Can Make You Sick

Stress is an inevitable part of daily life. Sometimes, a little stress is necessary to challenge and stimulate you to achieve your goals and avoid procrastination. According to a famous scientist Hans Selye, "Stress is the body's response to any demand put on it, real or imagined." The problem starts if there's too much stress and the stress becomes chronic, then it becomes a destructive force in your life.

A study from the Cornell University Medical College showed that "those who experience a great deal of stress are more likely to go through a major depression." This happens because stress lowers the levels of brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, which are responsible for mood.

Author Barbara Brehm, writing in her book "Stress Management : Increasing Your Stress Resistance," says that chronic stress can interfere with short-term memory and may even damage certain areas of the brain. Stress lowers your natural resistance and makes you more susceptible to all kinds of infections like skin problems, colds and flu. Brehm explains that stress can worsen or even trigger autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Stress has also been discovered to be the cause of most ulcers. Although the bacterium Helicobacter pylori has been found to be one of the causes of most ulcers, stress still plays a major role because it lessens the protective mucus of the stomach. This gives the bacterium a chance of attacking the stomach and causing ulcer. Other digestive disorders that are said to be stress-related are constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome and nausea.

Stress can also be a factor to an increased risk of heart attack . Several studies have shown that when your body and mind is stressed, your body will prepare you for a "flight or flee" response mechanism by releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.Your body sends large amounts of nutrients and oxygen to your muscles and brain by increasing heart rate and blood pressure. Constantly having increased blood pressure can lead to hypertension and worn-out blood vessels. Sometimes, it can be somethingas severe as heart attack or stroke.