Can Stress Make You Sick? The Truth Behind Chronic Stress

Stress is an almost continual challenge for any human being, and yet many of us don't take it as seriously as we should. "I'm so stressed out" you may tell a friend cheerfully, without taking into consideration the negative impact that chronic stress can have on both our bodies and minds.

What is chronic stress? Can stress make you sick? And is there anything we can do to manage stress in a more effective way to protect our health?

What is Chronic Stress?

Chronic stress is a process that strains an organism’s adaptive capacity, leading to both psychological and biological changes that can increase the risk of illness. Our body's response to fear is for the sympathetic nervous system to come online. This is what is commonly known as the "fight or flight response", and it causes our heart rate and breathing rate to increase, causes muscle tension, and in general prepared our body to escape danger.

While this system evolved to deal with short term stress like an attack, in today's world, fear and stress can come from all around: too much work, a fight with a friend, worry over societal issues. This type of constant stress can trigger your sympathetic nervous system to remain online for long periods of time. This is chronic stress. It can have a negative impact on physical health, leading to symptoms like chest pain, headaches, and high blood pressure.

Common Causes of Chronic Stress

Chronic stress can be triggered by a wide variety of factors. While not all stress is bad, chronic stress can may lead to a number of negative outcomes. Some causes of stress include:

• Stressful life events, such as the loss of a loved one or a job change
• Emotional stress caused by mental health disorders like anxiety or depression
• Physical stress, such chronic pain or illness
• Socioeconomic instability
• Isolation, lack of social connections

How Chronic Stress Affects the Body

Stress symptoms can come in the form of both mental and physical symptoms. Some of these include:

• Muscle tension
• High blood pressure
• Gastrointestinal issues like upset stomach
• Sleep problems
• Difficulty concentrating
• Shortness of breath
• Increased heart rate

Symptoms aside, can stress make you sick? Research shows that there are connections between chronic stress and illness, but what are the particular ways that emotional stress can impact bodily systems?

Stress affects the immune system.

Chronic stress can weaken the immune system, making you more susceptible to infectious diseases like the common cold. A long term impact on the immune system can also increase the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

Weakened immune system and illness can be issues in many ways that we don't typically think about. Chronic stress can contribute to and inflammatory response that can lead to the development of many illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental health disorders.

Stress can also exacerbate existing conditions, such as asthma, and increase the risk of disease progression.

The Consequences of Chronic Stress

Chronic stress can contribute to making you sick in the following ways.

Cardiovascular Disease and Other Chronic Diseases

When we ask the question, “Can stress make you sick?”, many of us are thinking about cardiovascular disease. Stress symptoms include increased blood pressure and heart rate, but what does this do to your body in the long term?

Research shows that chronic stress can contribute to heart disease by damaging the heart and cardiovascular system over time.

Stress hormones like adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol can cause a faster heart rate and blood vessel constriction; these stress symptoms can put wear and tear on the heart, and increase the risk for cardiovascular disease progression and heart attack.

Too much stress can also affect the digestive system, increasing the risk of ulcers, ulcerative colitis, and exacerbating conditions like Crohn's disease or irritable bowel syndrome.

Mental Health and Psychiatric Illnesses

Not only can stress make you sick, but stress can contribute to the development of many psychiatric illnesses, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Stress affects existing mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and can increase severity of symptoms.

The Link Between Chronic Stress and Cancer

Chronic stress has been linked to an increased risk of developing cancer, particularly breast cancer, although further research is needed to determine if psychological stress can trigger the transformation of normal cells into cancerous cells.

How Stress Affects Cancer Treatment

Stress can affect the body’s response to cancer treatment, making it less effective, and managing stress has been shown to help improve cancer treatment outcomes.

Chronic Stress Management for Better Health

Stress management can help support the body in fighting stress related disorders and health problems. The following are evidence-based techniques to manage stress.

Exercise Regularly to Manage Stress

Regular exercise can help reduce stress and depression, as well as improve cognitive function. It produces endorphins, which can help reduce stress and improve mood.

Getting Outside to Manage Stress

A systematic review found that being outside in nature is a powerful tool for stress management. It improved physical symptoms like muscle tension, improved overall physical health markers like blood pressure, and reduced cortisol levels in the body.

Creating Social Bonds to Manage Stress

Studies have shown that having strong social connections to friends or family can be a protective factor for stressful life events and stress related illness. Isolation or lack of relationships is one of the psychosocial risk factors for many mental health problems. Support and connection can offer outlets for individuals trying to manage stress symptoms.

Mindfulness Practices to Manage Stress

Experts agree that mindfulness practices can be extremely helpful stress management tools. This can include thing like meditation, journaling, and breathing exercises.

Help For Stress Management in Austin, TX

Not only can stress make you sick, it can also have a negative impact on your daily life and relationships. If you have had difficulty with stress symptoms and have been unsuccessful with stress management on your own, therapy can help.

At Williamsburg Therapy Group, our team of doctoral-level psychotherapists offers both online and in-person sessions to accommodate a busy life, and allow you to work with a provider that can meet your individual therapy needs.

Not all stress can be faced alone, but that doesn't mean that you have to accept health problems like high blood pressure and other health issues brought on by psychological stress. If you are experiencing a particularly stressful situation, or have always had an overly reactive stress response, give us a call today, and our patient coordinator will help you find the right Austin stress therapist to help you process your feelings, and learn to how to manage stress more effectively.