Chronic Stress: Symptoms and Treatments

Overview

According to WHO, stress is worry or mental tension in difficult situations. Stress is a natural human reaction to address threats or challenges in their lives. The degree of challenges or difficult situations varies from person to person hence, the degree of stress varies from person to person.

Chronic diseases are those that last longer so when stress lasts longer it is called Chronic Stress. Chronic Stress affects moods, sexual desire, and sleep cycle. It also increases the risk of high blood pressure, insomnia and heart disease.

In this article, you will learn about the symptoms of chronic stress, its causes, types, diagnosis and treatment.

What are the signs and symptoms of Chronic Stress?

Both body and mind are affected by stress. It affects a person’s day-to-day ability to do anything efficiently

Symptoms can vary from person to person. Some of the main signs which can help you to find whether you are in stress or not are:-

1. Bodyache or Bodypain
2. Feeling less energised
3. Sleeplessness
4. Tiredness
5. Less focused
6. Feeling less happiness
7. Gastro complaints
8. Irritability
9. Anxiety
10. Nervousness
11. less concentration
12. Lack of focused thoughts

Causes

One of the main causes is the modern lifestyle. Everyone is so busy in their life that they forget to take care of themselves, They forget that this hustle and bustle in their life making them slowly physically mentally and emotionally unfit.

People are waiting in long traffic jams with so much noise and pollution and neglecting the fact that this pollution will make their bodies unfit. People taking so much workload stress and eating junk foods and not having proper healthy meals.

Hence it is very important to eat healthy, do physical activities, do meditation, and try to take less stress in life, Inshorts you need to follow a healthy lifestyle.

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Chronic Stress vs Acute Stress

Acute means short-term term so acute stress is short-term stress due to some random stressor it stays mainly for a few hours to 1 or 2 days. Some of the common examples of acute stressors are traffic jams, arguments etc.

Whereas when stress stays for a few weeks to months or years it is known as chronic stress. A major example is trauma accidents or strained relationships.

Types of Chronic Stress

Majorly chronic stress lies in four quadrants:

Emotional Stress: When you are facing anxiety and depression for a long time

Environmental Stress:  If you are living or working in a hectic place

Relationship Stress: It is related to your family, your partner or your friends

Work Stress: If the workload is so much more than you can handle

In all these four types each of them affects the other three cases also, so it is better to say no to stress.

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How does it affect health?

People who are suffering from chronic stress may face the following complications:

1. Anxiety
2. Depression
3. High blood pressure
4. Type 2 diabetes
5. Stomach ulcers
6. Erectile dysfunction
7. Obesity

How to diagnose Chronic Stress?

To diagnose you can consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, who can perform psychological evaluation to find out whether you are suffering from chronic stress or not. They may ask questions related to your daily routine, work-life balance, your personal life and your colleague’s behaviour.

This is a comprehensive diagnosis so it may take a few appointments to diagnose it.

Treatment

• Medication: Your healthcare doctor may prescribe you some antidepressants or antianxiety medication. If you have digestive issues related to stress, your doctor also provides some medications to treat your digestive issues.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy(CBT): It helps to figure out your thought patterns and how they affect stress or how they trigger stress.
• Mindfulness Therapy: It helps to directional meditation with focus. It helps to learn how to stay in the moment rather than focusing on those thoughts which may trigger stress. It helps to change the direction of your thoughts from negativity to positivity.

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How to prevent Chronic Stress?

Prevention of chronic stress is one of the difficult tasks, still given below are some ways that can help you to prevent it:

• Find the pattern: Recognise the red flag thoughts until it worsen your condition.
• Journals & Articles: Read articles or journals to get more information about it.
• Sleep: Take good sleep minimum 7 to 8 hrs daily.
• Physical Activity and Meditation: Do yoga or gym or play outdoor games every day and don’t forget to calm yourself by doing meditation
• Diet: Eat a healthy and nutritious diet instead of junk foods, don’t make your body weak due to lack of nutrition and minerals. It helps to calm your body and mind.
• Company: Find a good company of friends or peers with whom you can share your pain, thoughts goals it helps to relieve you from your stress, pain and sorrow.