Paras Hemrajani
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Every person lives with some level of stress, but when this stress becomes too much to handle, our body starts to react. These reactions show up as physical symptoms. Stress refers to mental and physical tension that can be triggered by circumstances and environment around a person. Stress puts the body in emergency mode in which both the mind and body suffers. Mostly, stress causes mental symptoms, but if the level increase to extremes then it can show up in a physical form. Here are some ways in which stress can manifest in the body.
Headaches refers to pain in the head and neck area. While headaches are mostly associated with lack of sleep, alcohol consumption and dehydration, various studies conducted by National Institute of Health (NIH), USA, have shown that stress can also cause them. According to NIH, frequency of headaches depends on the intensity of stress. It also states that 45 per cent of chronic headache cases are registered after the patient has been through a stressful event in his/her life.
There is a strange connection between the human stomach and brain. It is well known that troubled stomach sends messages to the brain for help. But it's less known that even troubled brain sends messages to the stomach. Your stomach is probably the first organ that gets affected with stress. Diarrhoea, stomach pain, bloating and constipation are caused by extreme stress. These digestive issues are mostly dismissed as signs of an improper diet, dehydration or infection.
According to Peidmont Health, when the body is reacting to extreme anxiety or stress, the apocrine glands releases excess amount of sweat. Apocrine glands are situated in the hands, armpit, groin, and scalp. To manage your stress sweat, the best way is to deal with the situation that is causing the sweat. For this, you can try meditation, exercise and therapy too.
According to various studies published in NIH, chronic stress can lead to depression. According to the study, chronic stress leads to release of stress hormones in the body, which causes the person to dislike activities and things that he/she previously liked doing. Depression is a mental symptom of stress. But depression itself can manifest in a physical form in many people.
You are not losing your hair because you are getting old. You are going bald because you are getting stressed about old age. According to Mayo Clinic, there are three ways in which stress could lead to hair loss. Telogen effluvium being the first. Telogen effluvium is caused when stress pushes the hair follicles into hibernation or to the 'resting place'. With hair follicles resting, the growth of hair become weak and they start to fall. Second is called alopecia areata. This is an auto-immune condition that is triggered by stress. This makes the body attack its own hair follicles. The last is Trichotillomania, which is a mental disorder triggered by stress. In this condition, the person has an irresistible desire to pull his/her hair out.