Stress is a natural reaction to life’s daily pressures. Some levels of stress can be beneficial and help your body adjust to certain situations. However, ongoing, chronic stress can have negative impacts on your mental health. It can ultimately lead to everything from depression and sleep disturbances to substance abuse.
This article examines the link between stress and mental health. It discusses the different types of stress and how they can affect the brain, body and mental health.
Understanding Stress: Definitions and Types
Stress can be defined as the state of emotional strain and worry resulting from both short-term and long-term adverse situations. There are two major types of stress: acute and chronic.
Acute Stress
Everyone experiences acute stress at various points in their lives. While this type of stress can be severe, it’s typically very short-lived. For instance, if you’re in a car accident, facing a tight deadline or stuck in a traffic jam, you might experience acute anxiety.
At the onset, you might experience symptoms such as a rapid heart rate, confusion and panic. Other symptoms of acute stress include:
- Irritability
- Nail-biting
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pains
- Nausea
- Mood disruptions
Once the event or circumstance is over, this tension will start to diminish and eventually go away.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress, on the other hand, can last weeks, months or even years. It’s often caused by ongoing pressure and long-lasting circumstances, such as a difficult marriage, financial issues, toxic workplace conditions or chronic illness. If not managed properly, this stress can lead to physical, mental and emotional issues over time. For instance, a recent study shows that more than half of workplace-related injuries are related to mental health issues.
Symptoms of chronic stress include:
- Headaches
- Trouble sleeping
- Loss of energy
- Sudden change in weight
- Panic attacks
- Ongoing feelings of fear and dread
- Inability to focus
How Stress Can Have Negative Impacts on Your Mental Health
Once you start to exhibit signs of stress, your body reacts by releasing hormones and adrenaline into your system. When dealing with acute stress, this reaction can be extremely helpful. It enables your body to start preparing for extra tension or pressure. For instance, the additional adrenaline can help push you through to meet a deadline.
However, these hormones and extra adrenaline are only meant to provide short-term benefits. When they remain elevated for a long period, they can impact your physical, mental and emotional health. For example, one of the hormones released due to stress is cortisol. High levels of this hormone over an extended period can damage brain cells, cause cognitive issues and lead to an array of mental health issues.
Common Mental Health Issues Linked to Stress
Numerous studies have linked stress and mental health issues, including:
- Depression
- Anxiety disorder
- Bipolar
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Postpartum depression
- Substance abuse issues
- Eating disorders
- Self-harm
For those already struggling with one of these mental health issues, unmanaged stress can worsen these conditions and hinder your recovery process. Stress has also been known to cause other physical health conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease and cognitive decline.
Coping Strategies for Managing Stress
The most important thing is to not ignore your stress. It won’t simply go away because you don’t think about it. Instead, it will continue to impact both your physical and mental health.
Fortunately, there are many effective strategies for managing chronic stress, such as:
- Maintain a healthy diet. Avoid lots of processed, sugary foods and replace them with more fruits, vegetables and healthy proteins.
- Create a nighttime routine. Insomnia is a common side effect associated with stress. Improve your sleep habits by creating a regular bedtime routine that includes putting your mobile devices away at least 30 minutes before you go to sleep.
- Start a daily exercise program. Exercise is a great way to tackle pressure and tension. Consider joining a gym or walking club or taking up a new hobby, such as karate.
- Build a support system. Having a support team to help you through difficult times is crucial when facing any type of mental illness. Join a local support group, attend group therapy or ask several friends or family members to be available if you need them.
- Use relaxation techniques. Relaxation techniques, such as breathing exercises, guided meditation, and mindfulness, can help reduce stress.
- Eliminate stressors. If possible, try to remove unnecessary stressors from your life. For instance, if you have a toxic workplace environment, consider getting a new job.
Seeking Professional Help for Stress Management
If you’re dealing with stress that goes well beyond the short-term, acute type, it’s important to seek out professional help as soon as possible. Living with this tension on a long-term basis can lead to both physical and mental health issues and directly impact your quality of life.
While a professional counselor may not be able to remove stress from your life, they can help you learn ways to deal with it more effectively.
First, talking to a professional gives you the opportunity to discuss pressures in your life that you may be unable to share with anyone else. Secondly, a trained counselor can teach you valuable stress-managing techniques, such as mindfulness, music and talk therapy and other psychotherapy techniques. Finally, a qualified health care provider may be able to prescribe medication to help you better manage tension.
Most importantly, a professional can continue working with you until you’ve learned to effectively deal with the mental effects of stress.
Speak to a Mental Health Counselor Today
Now that you understand how stress can have negative impacts on your mental health, it’s crucial that you take steps to manage it more appropriately. Don’t wait until this tension impacts your entire life. Contact the Mental Health Hotline and speak with a professional mental health worker today.