Stress – Nirvana Psychiatric Clinic

What is Stress?

Stress is a normal Physical Response to events that make one feel threatened or that upset one’s balance in some way which can take a toll on your Physical & Mental well-being.

Stress is not necessarily always negative. When the body senses Danger—real or imagined—the body’s defences kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction, or the stress response. The Nervous System responds by releasing a flood of Stress Hormones, including Adrenaline and Cortisol, that rouse the body for Emergency Action.

Is Stress Always Bad for My Mental Health?

In some situations, these Physiological changes can give people an advantage that puts pressure on us to grow and improve our performance and capabilities. Stress occurs due to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, leading us to the 'fight-or-flight' response. The sympathetic nervous system helps people respond to things that scare them by:

Sending Blood to the Muscles.
Increasing Breathing Rate and Heart Rate.
Releasing Glucose into the Bloodstream, which provides Energy.

Impacts of Long-term(Chronic) Stress

However, any type of stress can become harmful when it lasts for a longer period of time or which exceeds an individual's capacity to cope with that. Then it becomes “Distress” commonly referred as ‘Stress’, and has long lasting negative effects on our physical and mental health.

Physical effects of chronic stress:

Higher chance of experiencing a heart attack, stroke, or high blood pressure.
Excessive release of cortisol due to chronic stress can cause fatigue, weakness, obesity
Continuous exposure to cortisol, suppresses immune function resulting in increased chances of infections and disease
Under chronic stress, your muscles may be in a constant state of tension, which can cause problems like chronic neck or jaw pain.
Stress can exacerbate pre-existing respiratory issues like Asthma.
Chronic stress also affects the reproductive system leading to reduced libido, Erectile dysfunction or impotency. Chronic stress can reduce chances of fertility in both men and women.

Mental Health effects of Chronic Stress:
- Mood changes
- Irritability
- Trouble sleeping
- Ideas of helplessness
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Difficulty in concentrating
- Disorganised thoughts
- Feeling out of control
- Dissociative episodes
- Post traumatic disorder
- Low self esteem
- Personality disorders

Symptoms of Stress in Children & Teens

For children, Stress can manifest itself through changes in behaviour:

Common changes can include irritability
Withdrawal from formerly pleasurable activities
Routine expression of worries
Excessive complaints about school
Frequent crying
Display of surprising fearful reactions
Separation anxiety
Sleeping too much or too little
Eating too much or too little

With teens while spending more time with and confiding in peers is a normal part of growing up:

Significantly avoiding parents
Abandoning long-time friendships for a new set of peers
Expressing excessive hostility toward family members

How to Reduce Stress During Daily life?

Minimising the chronic stress of daily life as much as possible is important for overall health.

Here are some evidence-based ways to relieve stress.
Get more physical activity
Follow a healthy diet
Practice relaxation techniques like yoga, pranayama, meditation
Practice self-care habits
Take adequate sleep
Reduce intake of harmful substances like nicotine, alcohol etc
Take part in social gathering, community activities. Spend time with friends and family
Nurture hobbies which keeps you relaxed
Create healthy boundaries and learn to say no whenever necessary
Practise healthy coping skills like problem solving, assertion, humour
Minimise screen time and social media usage. Regulate the content you consume.
Practice mindfulness in everyday life