Many of us when trying to make our way to work every single morning are forever caught up in traffic jams where we just waste minutes of our lives and even hours just sitting there and doing nothing. We see motorcycles passing through the many lines of traffic and so we start to get frustrated that our line is not moving and that we are going to be late for work once again. These negative thoughts trigger your stress hormones and all of a sudden your heart starts beating faster, you breathe more quickly and your muscles start getting ready for what is known as the fight or flight response. You are just sitting there in the seat of your car and your stress levels are sky high.
This is not a situation that we want to find ourselves in because stress plays a very negative effect on our overall health and it damages us physically and mentally. We have often thought about getting one of those quality massage chairs for sale online and we keep putting off this important purchase until the next time. If you find yourself getting irritable more times than you care to remember and you are experiencing anxiety and depression, then it’s highly likely that you are suffering from chronic stress. Stress affects our body in a number of ways and we will look at some of them now.
- In our central nervous system – Your central nervous system controls the fight or flight response that we looked at briefly before that your brain tells your adrenal glands to start releasing essential stress hormones. These hormones speed up your heartbeat and then they send blood quickly to the areas that need it in an emergency such as your muscles, your heart and other organs. When the fear is gone, your systems are supposed to go back to normal but for many people the response continues on and so this is what is referred to as chronic stress which leads you to overeat and to drink too much alcohol.
- In our respiratory & cardiovascular systems – When you are stressed, you breathe much more quickly because your body is trying to send more oxygenated blood around your body. We all know that our heart beats faster when we are under stress but it also helps to raise our blood pressure as well. If you are stressed out in work due to your heavy workload then your heart is working too hard throughout the day and for too long. This increases your likelihood of having a stroke or some kind of heart event.
Then there is your digestive system to think about because when you are under stress, your liver produces extra blood sugar to give you the energy that you need. Putting yourself under constant stress all the time may lead to a higher risk of developing type II diabetes. This is not something that you want at all and if it moves to type one then you are in trouble.
