2024-01-31 15:03:00
Stress, if controlled and does not occur frequently, can be good stress. But it’s not always the case. If it becomes chronicit can have serious effects on physical and mental health, such as high blood pressure, intense fatigue, depression, etc. Learn how to detect each sign of discomfort, and recognize the unexpected signals that the body can send us when it detects a potentially dangerous level of stress.
Stress can cause headaches and migraines
Do you feel shooting pain in your head all day long? Stress can be a factor headache triggerin particular tension headaches and migraines :
Although it is “unclear how stress is involved in tension headaches,” and stress “cannot explain all the symptoms alone,” it may be involved in triggering headaches, explains an article published in the MSD Manual (source 1); Migraine “is due to abnormal neuronal excitability, as is the case for epilepsy or certain movement disorders,” explains an Inserm article (source 2). “This phenomenon is itself linked to a genetic predisposition, modulated by environmental factors (hormones, stress,foods…) »
If the pain is sudden, intense, accompanied by a fever or a vision doubleor if it occurs following a head injury, go immediately to thehospital.
Chronic stress leads to hair loss
If you find whole strands of hair in your brush, you may be suffering from stress. This link between hair loss and chronic stress has just been clarified in a study published in March 2021 in the journal Nature (source 3). The researchers claim to have identified the biological mechanism by which chronic stress impairs stem cells from hair follicles.
Specifically, they discovered that a major stress hormone places stem cells hair follicle in a prolonged resting phase, without regenerating the follicle or the hair. It remains to confirm this mechanism in humans, these discoveries having been made in mice.
The hair follicle is one of the few tissues that can undergo regeneration cycles throughout life. This invisible part of the hair, buried 4 mm below the scalp, and which encloses the hair bulb, naturally passes between growth and rest phases, a process powered by stem cells. During the growth phase, these are activated to regenerate the follicle but during the resting phase, they are inactive: the hairs fall out more easily. So, hair loss can occur if hair falls out and stem cells remain quiescent without regenerating new tissue.
Digestive problems, because the intestine is connected to the brain
Our stomach can be one of the first places to feel the symptoms of stress and anxiety. The brain has a direct effect on the gut. This connection is a two-way street that can cause many symptoms.
Pain, bloating, nausea, diarrhea… are some of the symptoms
Stress can cause increased stomach acidsthus causing digestive problems such as:
Stress can also cause nervous diarrheaWho occur in acute attacks, when one is tense, but also from constipation.
Sleep problems can be a sign of stress
Stress can disrupt your sleep pattern. Hormones like cortisol can cause the body to stay awake because it remains in a state of alert. This state can lead to lack of sleep, poor quality sleep or even insomnia.
“Stress can become too great, arrive at the wrong time or be too prolonged and have negative consequences,” notes the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance (INSV) (source 4). ” Among those, insomnia is one of the first mentioned. That is why, taking stress into account is at the heart of good sleep management ».
Weird dreams
The stress and frustration of the day can also be the cause of weird dreams. Among the most common: falling, being attacked by someone, being locked in, or trying to do something several times without succeeding.
Sweating can be a consequence of stress
Sweaty hands, facial sweating, armpit marks… when the body reacts to an emotion, such as anxiety, stress or excitement, sweat is released by “apocrine” sweat glands.
These glands are located in the armpit, groin and scalp, and produce milky sweat, composed of fatty acids and proteinsbut often scentless. We often use the expression “cold sweats” to refer to this stress-related sweating.
Unfortunately, a vicious circle can set in, because stress promotes sweating and, vice versa, sweating is a source of stress. Fortunately, there are solutions to combat excessive sweating.
No longer having pleasure in all daily activities
One of the many emotional symptoms of stress is general feeling of unease. Do you no longer like spending time with your loved ones or investing in your hobbies? If you no longer enjoy doing things you used to enjoy, you may not only be stressed, but also suffer from depression.
Indeed, depression can be accelerated by chronic and long-term exposure to stress.
“At the biological level, prolonged stress can induce disruption of the serotonin system and neuroinflammation, with in particular an activation of immune cells present in the brain (microglia). At the clinical level, prolonged chronic stress can also promote the emergence of depressive and suicidal disorders in vulnerable people », Indicates an article from the Federation for Brain Research (FRC) (source 5).
If you notice this type of symptom, it’s time totalk to a healthcare professional.
Stress: what else does it cause? What effects on the body?
From the most common signs of stress, indicate the French Federation of Cardiology (source 6) and the National Institute for Research and Safety (INRS) (source 7), we find:
THE symptoms can also be emotional, intellectual et behavioral:
Emotional symptoms : increased sensitivity and nervousness, irritability, crying attacks, anxiety, excitement, sadness, feeling of unease, etc.;Intellectual symptoms : disturbance of concentration leading to errors and forgetfulness, difficulty in taking initiatives or decisions, etc.;Behavioral symptoms : change in eating habits, withdrawal, violent and aggressive behavior, social isolation, consumption of calming or exciting products, tendency towards addiction, etc.
L‘physical exercisethe meditation and the psychotherapy are some of the interesting options for minimizing stress.
How do you know if you have anxiety or stress?
We sometimes confuse stress, anxiety and anxiety. You should know that stress is not always negative: it is a normal physiological reaction which occurs in the event of pressure or aggression from our environment. But anxiety “is an emotion while stress refers to a situation that forces us to adapt,” replies the INVS. “When the cause of stress ceases, the stress response disappears. In contrast, an anxious person continues to experience manifestations of worry and tension following the stressful situation has ceased.
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