How Stress Affects your Health

Good and bad stress can largely affect your physical, emotional, and
mental health, but maybe not in the way you think.

© Mya Keim

By Mya Keim

March 31, 2022

Stress is inevitable and everyone experiences it at some point in life. Students, especially those
in college, are known for dealing with great amounts of stress when it comes to their course
load, personal life, their family, and home life. Stress in small doses is good for your body, but if
your stress levels are elevated all the time, it can be bad for your body. According to the Mayo
Clinic, when you are stressed, a region in your brain known as the hypothalamus alerts the rest
of your body and your body releases hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. Your heart rate
quickens, you breathe more rapidly, and your muscles tense up, but all of this is healthy, and
your body does this to allow you to react quickly if an emergency situation were to occur. After
the situation or perceived threat has passed, your body should return to normal. However, if
you are constantly stressed and your body is continually sending out these hormones, this will
cause you to experience physical, emotional, and/or mental health problems. It is important
that college students know that there are advantages and disadvantages to stress, and they
understand that if stress is not well managed, it can be harmful.
Good Stress
People often do not recognize that stress, in small doses, is actually good for you and your
body. This can include a number of things like the stress that may result from a big test coming
up or feeling stressed because of a bad grade, but as long as this stress is not ongoing it is
actually beneficial. In fact, according to Healthline, moderate and controlled amounts of stress
can improve cognitive function, boost your immune system, and help to build resiliency in
tough situations

Moderate stress can improve cognitive function, which means a boost in your brain’s
performance. Controlled nervousness and anxiety can help improve memory, elongate your
attention span, and help you to become more productive. This also explains why some people
work better when they are stressed. We all know that one person who waits till the last minute
to do an assignment for school or to complete a project. Because stress can help improve brain
performance, waiting till the last minute and being a little anxious while trying to complete a
project may actually help.

Low doses of the stress hormone are also known to protect the body from infections. A
controlled amount of a chemical called interleukins, which is produced when you are stressed,
can boost your immune system which, in turn, helps to protect your body against harmful
bacteria and infections.

Another good thing about stress is that it truly toughens you up. When dealing with difficult
situations, it can be hard to deal with the immense amount of stress that they cause. However,
you cannot succumb to the stress and let it tear you down. Overcoming these difficult situations
and learning to deal with stress can help build resiliency. As well as, once you overcome a
difficult situation once, this experience and the knowledge you gained from it can help you
overcome more difficult situations in the future.

Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is when a person experiences elevated levels of stress over a period of time.
Chronic stress physically affects all of your body including your reproductive system, immune
system, muscular system, digestive system, and cardiovascular system.

In females, chronic stress may cause heavier or more painful periods. In males, moderate stress
can raise levels of testosterone, but chronic stress can also cause a large drop-in testosterone
levels depending on the person. Testosterone affects sperm production which means that
sperm production levels can also decrease under chronic stress. This can cause issues for men
which include erectile disfunctions, loss of sex drive, and reduced bone mass. Chronic stress can
also increase the risk for infections within a male’s testes and prostate.

Chronic stress can also weaken a person’s immune system making it more susceptible to viral
illnesses, such as the flu or the common cold. As well as it causes your body to take longer to
recover from an injury or illness.
Stress initiates your fight or flight response. This means that your muscles tense up when your
stressed in order to be ready to react, but chronic stress can cause prolonged muscle tension
which can lead to things like headaches, back or shoulder aches, and just body aches in general.
In extreme cases, aches and pains become so unbearable that people begin to seek pain killers
for relief.

Symptoms of stress, such as, increased hormone levels, rapid breathing, and increased heart
rate can cause issues in your digestive system. Your liver produces blood sugar, which is called
glucose, to increase your energy levels. However, your body may not be able to produce
enough glucose when you are experiencing chronic stress which can increase likelihood that
you will develop Type 2 diabetes. You are also more likely to experience acid reflux and
heartburn because of increased levels of stomach acid.

When you are stressed your heart pumps faster and your blood vessels distribute oxygen to
your muscles so that you are ready to act, but this means a raise in your blood pressure.
Chronic stress can work your heart for too long and high blood pressure increases your risk of a
heart attack or stroke.

Mental and Emotional

Stress causes physical reactions by your body, but it also causes emotional reactions that can be
harmful to your health. These reactions can not only affect you, but the worse they are the
more they can affect other people as well.

Once a stressful situation subsides byproducts of the stress hormone are released and they
make you feel calm and tired, but in large amounts, these chemicals can cause continuous
levels of low energy and depression. Depression is one of the mental symptoms of chronic
stress and it can affect the daily lives of those who have it drastically. It can cause problems
falling asleep, tiredness, weight gain, self-hate, feelings of uselessness, and much more.

The consistent releasement of the stress hormone can also cause anxiety. Anxiety is when
people worry extensively about upcoming situations to the point where they experience
physical ramifications. It causes nausea, sweaty hands, nervousness, racing heartbeat, panic
attacks, heart palpitations, fatigue, and much more.

Stress is also known to affect a person’s personality. Often times these changes include
increased feelings of anger, irritability, aggressive feelings and behavior, decreased interest in
appearance, social withdrawal, reduced work efficiency, and much more.

Anxiety, depression, and personality changes can all occur with consistent high levels of stress
and can be detrimental to a person’s life. All these things often make it hard to complete
everyday activities and can result in failing out of school, the inability to hold meaningful
personal relationships, and addiction to harmful substances.
Stress Management
The way you react to stress and how you cope with life changes can largely affect your health.
Stress is inevitable and the stresses of school and life can easily get overwhelming. It is
important to learn stress management tactics and implement them when you are feeling
overwhelmed.

There are hundreds of stress management strategies that exist today, and different techniques
work for different people. Some stress management strategies include, relaxation techniques
such as deep breathing, meditation, or massages, developing healthy eating habits, regular
exercise, creating a consistent and sufficient sleep schedule, having healthy friendships and
relationships, taking time for your hobbies, and if you continue to struggle to cope with stress
then seek the advice of a professional counselor.
 Works Cited

“4 Surprising Health Benefits of Stress.” Healthline, 2019, [Link]/health/benefits-

of-stress-you-didnt-know-about#3.

Mayo Clinic Staff. “Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation

for Medical Education and Research, 19 Mar. 2019, [Link]/healthy-

lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037.

“Mental and Emotional Impact of Stress.” Mental Help Mental and Emotional Impact of Stress

Comments, [Link]/stress/emotional-impact/.

Watson, Ann Pietrangelo and Stephanie. “The Effects of Stress on Your Body.” Healthline,

Healthline Media, 29 Mar. 2020, [Link]/health/stress/effects-on-body#1.