http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress/index.shtml
This article up above had a really good summary about what stress symptoms can do to your body, mind, and behavior. I know in class we talked most about the psychological effects of stress, but I thought it was interesting that this article discussed physical problems that might occur with stress.
The next page also has good ways to counteract this stress. It includes things like yoga or tai chi, things that are supposed to be relaxing on the body.
One thing I found interesting about the article that they said stress can cause muscle tension or pain. This seems really unrelated and thought it was interesting that the article though there was a correlation between the two. Stress can also cause over eating or under eating some of the effects that were not gone over in the articles read in class.
Stress is definitely something that you can get help with, but it has to be handled in the proper way.
Thanks for the enlightening post, Ankith. I did some further research on ways to lower stress, and found some bizarre, but proven ways to lower stress.
ReplyDelete- Drink orange juice
-Chew gum
-draw a painting
-inflate a balloon
-eat oatmeal
-spend some time with your dog
-laugh
http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/1025541/10-weird-ways-to-reduce-stress
These ways to reduce stress seemed really random to me, so I looked into why they work in lowering stress.
DeleteOrange juice help people manage stress better because the vitamin C lowers the levels of stress hormones.
Inflating a balloon can help with stress because it forces you to breathe deeply.
Eating oatmeal is good at reducing stress because it increases the level of serotonin, the calm-inducing hormone.
I hadn't realized that there were all these interesting things we could do to reduce our levels of stress, so thanks for the great comment!
I saw that you mentioned stress hormones, and I was really interested as to what these types of hormones were and how they work. The two best known stress hormones are cortisol and epinephrine, the same hormone released during the fight-or-flight response in almost all organisms. Epinephrine plays a role in ADHD, as well as depression and hypertension. Cortisol is believed to affect the metabolic system, which could explain a loss or increase in appetite. Stress hormones act by mobilizing energy from storage to muscles, increasing heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate and shutting down metabolic processes such as digestion, reproduction, growth and immunity.
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_hormone
I agree that stress should be managed. It's so simple for students like us to become overwhelmed with our workload and exercise it in unhealthy ways. I like that your post stresses the importance in releasing tension, and warns of the consequences that stress can have when poorly managed. Great reminder and tips for keeping it calm and collected, Ankith!
ReplyDeleteSomething that I found is that not all stress is bad. All animals have a stress response, which can be life-saving in some situations. The nerve chemicals and hormones released during such stressful times, prepares the animal to face a threat or flee to safety. When you face a dangerous situation, your pulse quickens, you breathe faster, your muscles tense, your brain uses more oxygen and increases activity—all functions aimed at survival. In some cases it can even boost your immune system.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to take into account the physical well being of stress reduction. We've all definitely felt the crippling effects of pressure and stress, and there are several health values to limiting this. Sometimes this is just as easy as taking a break and stretching for a bit. My favorite though is making food and taking time to do it. Like instead of just making a Pb and J ill toast the bread butter each side evenly then apply the jam and peanut butter smoothly. Its just a small thing I do that keeps the tension down.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it's important to note that stress often leads to a loss of sleep, which comes with a host of other serious physical problems, ranging from fatigue to migraines to nausea to a significantly impeded immune system. No matter how stressed I am and how much I have to do, I try to remember how important it is to get sleep!! :)
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how much of a negative effect stress can have on the body. With all of the constant stresses that loom over students, especially us juniors, I think it would be interesting to implement some of your examples into school in order to reduce stress. I definitely feel some of the effects of stress on me when I take tests or other nerve-racking tasks, so maybe if we were given time to relax and relieve stress during school hours it might have a positive outcome on students.
ReplyDelete