It can now almost be called a commonplace: Too much stress can make you sick. Not every physical phenomenon, which has historically been attributed to the great root of stress, is still relevant today; Stomach ulcers, for example, which was considered one of the effects of stress just a few years ago, are now only attributed to this phenomenon in rare special cases.
The strong presence of stress in our modern society has led to a particular boom in stress research, and it is therefore not exactly a miracle, that there is some new evidence regarding the negative effects of stress on our health.
It's clear: Stress is unhealthy and makes you sick in the long run. But what diseases do you really have to fear?, when you can't manage the stress in your life? With the answer to this question, you ultimately also answer the question at the same time, how harmful stress really is.
Basically: the old rule of positive and negative stress still applies, even if the formula for distinguishing these two species has now been adapted to the new findings. Positive stress always arises then, when we perceive a burden as a challenge, when we feel the power reserves in ourselves, who can help us to cope with the critical situation. In this case, the stress will not burden our organism as much as stimulate it - stress is a special possibility for us under these conditions, to release powers, that might not be available to us under other circumstances.
Negative stress, in turn, is a burden, which we no longer see as a challenge. We hardly feel any strength left in us, which seems sufficient, to meet the corresponding requirement, and the result of the stress response is less of a mobilization of forces (although this of course also appears), but rather a psychological overload, which makes us unstable and possibly even paralyzes us.
Maybe you know the feeling: some things don't go according to plan, they face certain problems, for which they do not yet know a solution, and contrary to her usual nature, this situation discourages her, maybe even so far, that they feel almost unable to act. This is a classic description of negative stress.
In principle, the physical reaction of both species is very similar; adrenaline and noradrenaline are released, the body is made mobile in this way, and together with the effects of cortisol from the adrenal medulla and other hormones from the pituitary gland, you are physically preparing for an extreme situation. In such a situation, we are physically very capable, even if our actual stamina may have passed its peak some time ago; the stress may even evoke positive feelings, that we can be comfortable with.
What is different between the two types of stress is the psychological reaction. When there is too much negative stress, our psyche can no longer keep up with the state of emergency, and we feel this condition as a burden.
However, the physical effects of stress go beyond these special hormonal states. Our bronchi expand due to stress, the heart beats faster, and blood pressure rises. We are prepared, our body with more energy, with more oxygen and thus ultimately with additional strength.
However, this response is only really useful for short periods – stops the stress response, this is how our body levels off at a higher stress level, which leads to a certain permanent increase in performance, but at the same time can also have negative effects.
Let's imagine the bodily functions, related to the stress response, like the muscles of an athlete: Regular and targeted training increases his strength and endurance to a level, that he may not have known before, but the necessary breaks between the training periods are missing, this ultimately stunts muscle growth, and it not only occurs no success, but possibly even a decline in performance with simultaneous negative physical effects. Stress has a training effect, but this can only be used positively, though there are phases, where you can relax and rest.
In extreme cases, our body can no longer cope with the constant onslaught of stress hormones, and there are disturbances of well-being, dysfunctions and psychosomatic illnesses, which put a strain on the organism and ultimately damage it. back pain, Diseases of the musculoskeletal system, Bronchialasthma, Chronic high blood pressure or intestinal diseases can be the result.
Since the stress hormones also impair the activity of the immune system, increases susceptibility to infection, and possibly even autoimmune diseases such as rheumatism or hyperthyroidism can be the result.
All these processes have one thing in common, that they have a significant negative effect on the organs of the body, that they also negatively affect the tissues of the body and that they are strongly influenced by psychological processes.
Overall, psychosomatic illnesses are among the most common illnesses of all (one third of all illnesses are now assumed to be caused by it), and the diverse influences of stress lead to particularly diverse diseases of this type.
This brings illnesses, caused or aggravated by stress, a particularly unpleasant circumstance - they may be able to use medicines in the short term, that fight the symptoms, alleviated or even partially cured, The real problem, however, remains unsolved – stress as a breeding ground for diseases cannot be treated with psychotropic drugs, fix digestion-enhancing agents or circulatory agents.
The most unpleasant physical effect of stress is therefore, that he is not only unpleasant, but sometimes even causes incurable diseases, which can only then be combated effectively, when you make stress itself the target of therapy.