The Brain Sends Messages to Your Muscles, Immune System and Nervous System
Stress signals your body to respond to an event. This event can be avoiding a car crash, dealing with bad news, having an argument, financial issues, changes in work or home environment or any event in your life that makes you feel worried or anxious. When your brain perceives that you are worried or anxious, signals are sent throughout the body to make you think and react fast to help resolve the situation. Once the situation is resolved (you avoid the car crash) then the brain signals the body to return to a resting state. However, if you are constantly feeling even low levels of stress (being stuck in traffic or constantly worrying about your health or financial situation), then your body is constantly in a state of activation.
Stress Activates the Fight or Flight Response
Your body is activated through hormones that are released in the body to help you cope with the stress or event. According to the Yale School of Medicine "Within a split second, the sympathetic nervous system "turns on" and the pituitary gland releases certain hormones that result in the pouring out of adrenaline-like substances and cortisol, which gird {prepare} the body and the brain for action." As this occurs your heart rate to speeds up, your blood pressure rises and blood is redirected to your brain and large muscles to help you respond.
Your Heart Muscle Works Harder
When stress occurs on a daily basis and you do not take steps to manage it, then your heart rate and blood pressure stay constantly elevated. This means your heart muscle is working harder then it needs to. Low levels of hormones associated with the fight or flight response continually circulate throughout your system. These stress hormones can damage the linings of your arteries. This can lead to a thickening of the artery walls and atherosclerosis. All of the above puts a strain on your heart and circulatory system. Your heart muscle may become overworked and starved for oxygen, which can lead to heart disease, heart attack or stroke.
Chronic Stress Increases the Chances of Heart Disease
Low levels of chronic stress is more of an issue then higher levels of short term stress. According to the American Institute of Stress "Coronary heart disease is also much more common in individuals subjected to chronic stress and recent research has focused on how to identify and prevent this growing problem, particularly with respect to job stress."
Stress Leads to Unhealthy Behaviors
When you are under stress, you may be more likely to smoke, drink, skip exercise, experience sleep disturbances, overeat or eat unhealthy foods, all of which increase your chances of heart disease. Learning healthier ways to manage stress will help you to curb these behaviors. According to the American Heart Association "You can have a healthier heart when you make changes in your lifestyle... Finding more satisfactory ways to respond to pressure will help protect your health."
