The harm of long-term mental stress

In today's society, people have to face pressure from life, work, family and other aspects every day. If the pressure is moderate, it will be helpful to a person, but when the pressure exceeds people's psychological endurance, it will be counterproductive. Especially when a person is under relatively high pressure for a long time, he must find ways to relieve the pressure in time. If the pressure is not relieved, it will cause a lot of harm to physical health.

Stress and the human body

Excessive stress can cause muscle tension, indigestion, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, constant sweating, cooling of the body, increased blood clots, and the dissolution of sugar and fat into the blood. When stressed, muscles suddenly shift their energy source to “fight off” the perceived threat. The sympathetic nervous system signals the adrenal glands to release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones increase your heart rate, raise your blood pressure, change the activity of your digestive system, and raise your blood sugar.

Stress and bad behavior

Excessive stress can increase the body's dependence on tobacco, alcohol, tea and coffee, and lead to compulsive behavior.

When facing stress, many people resort to smoking, drinking alcohol, drinking coffee and other methods to relieve their emotions, relieve stress and relieve fatigue. Due to both physiological and psychological effects, substances such as nicotine and caffeine can make people feel relaxed and happy. On the other hand, repetitive behaviors can also reduce anxiety, such as snacking and shopping. Such effects will stimulate users to continue to relieve stress by smoking, drinking alcohol, and drinking coffee. However, since nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, etc. are addictive substances, the body develops tolerance to these substances through gradual repeated use, that is, more must be inhaled to achieve the same sense of comfort as before, thus leading to addiction.

Stress and emotional cognition

Excessive stress can cause inattention, memory loss, decreased comprehension and creativity; frequent worry, irritability and anxiety.

First of all, excessive stress makes people feel unhappy, depressed, anxious, painful, dissatisfied, pessimistic and stuffy. They feel that life is boring, their self-control decreases, they suddenly get angry, cry or laugh, their ability to work independently decreases, usually active people become lazy, usually quiet people become emotional, their originally easy-going personality suddenly becomes irritable and they become intolerant and avoid sensory stimulation, and they suddenly become intolerant of music, electric lights, and the conversations of family members or subordinates. Secondly, high stress can easily increase conflicts between people and others, affect work performance, and make people forgetful, fatigued, and less efficient. Furthermore, people with excessive psychological stress may become apathetic and reckless. They may still be able to handle small problems and daily activities, but they cannot face the major issues they are worried about, cannot make normal decisions, and are prone to irresponsible and hasty behavior.

Stress and disease

According to medical experts, excessive stress can harm the health of seven systems of the human body, including the nervous system, skeletal muscle system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, gastrointestinal system, and reproductive system. Excessive stress can also cause allergies, asthma, migraines, irritant enteritis, eczema, psittacosis, urticaria, high blood pressure, heart disease and other diseases.

Stress and the human heart

Failure to release stress can lead to various heart diseases: increased blood lipids, increased blood clots, heart disease, and stroke. Although the stress response is short-lived, it is an acute stress response. Just like when a person is in a crowded traffic, it causes the heart rate to increase and the myocardial contraction to increase. But repeated episodes of acute stress can cause inflammation of the coronary arteries and even lead to a heart attack.

Stress and human immunity

Studies have found that both long-term and short-term psychological stress can affect the vitality of the immune system. The greater the stress, the fewer antibodies the body produces, and the greater the chance of being infected by the virus. Viruses can cause malignant diseases such as lung cancer, blood cancer, and skin cancer.