Stress and Our Health

There is likely not very many things more damaging to our health than stress, and yet it is something we can control to a certain degree if we wish to. Sometimes life throws things at us we can't avoid, but even when we can't eliminate stress factors, we can choose how we are going to react to stressful situations to some degree.

Healthy Stress versus Unhealthy Stress

Yes, there is such as thing as healthy stress. It's short term stress that helps us react correctly to short term problems or challenges in life. Buying a car, or even choosing what color of shirt to buy can cause some stress, but it's only temporary and our bodies can usually recover from it. It's long term stress that really causes us the most harm such as a death in the family, or some other tragedy like a flood, fire, or famine. Being without employment, for instance, can cause stress on our bodies that can have lasting effects if we don't handle it properly. Being employed, for that matter, can take a toll on your body if the job you have puts more stress on you than you can handle.

Good stress occurs when we work out at the gym, or get involved with a game like basketball, or even a video game that might challenge our motor skills or mental abilities.  Without stress from exercise and mental challenges from learning new things, we become stagnant and our bodies and minds actually deterioate faster than doing nothing but relaxing all the time. In a perfect world we would exercise intensely for 30 minutes to an hour or so a day, and then spend the rest of the time relaxing to recuperate our mind and muscles. That's just a generalization, of course, for some folks would need more time moving to keep the weight off, and that doesn't include time for mental stimulation. The point being that relaxation is necessary for our bodies to recuperate after a hard work out. Over training, that is continuous exercise more than our body can recuperate from, only results in making us sick and weaker instead of stronger and healthier.

How Stress Hurts the Body

Stress can aggravate illness. It can also suppress the immune system. The immune system fights disease by the production of white blood cells that engulf and kill pathogens like bacteria, fungi, viruses, and cancerous cells. The body generates special proteins called anti-bodies that attach themselves to antigens deactivating them and marking them for destruction. The immune system keeps these antibodies for years. When you injure yourself, blood rushes to that area of the body causing swelling to get white blood cells there to battle bacteria.

Now keeping that in mind this is what happens with stress and our immune system. Stress wears our bodies out by stimulating steroids.  Yep, steroids like the kind that make body builders huge. Steroids have a side effect of suppressing the immune system. Occasional creation of steroids doesn't have any huge consequential effects, but continuous production like what happens with unending stress can hurt you by decreasing inflammation processes and the formation of anti-bodies. Now you might have heard already that normally inflammation is considered a bad thing, but that would be with the unneccessary creation of inflammation due to overuse of sugar and fructose in your blood. In other words, fructose in sugar causes inflammation, just as if you were being attacked by a virus, or had just injured yourself. So in that case, inflammation is a bad thing.

Stress eventually also leads to fatigue, as it will, not only in extended stressful situations, but overtraining at the gym.  Stress has been linked to heart attacks, high blood pressure, cancer, and increasing the aging process.

Here's something to think about according to psychology textbook Psych by Spencer A. Rathus, people who are highly prone to anger are about three times as likely as other people to have heart attacks. Stress hormones connected to anger can constrict blood vessels to the heart, leading to a heart attack. High hostility levels in even men that are only 18 to 30 years of age were at a greater risk of hardening of the arteries. So the next time that guy cuts you off in traffic, is killing yourself by cussing and fussing really going to teach him a lesson? Don't let anger put you in a early grave.

What Can Be Done About Stress

Exercise is vital to dealing with stress. God made us to be active. Lying around all evening after work or all weekend may seem relaxing, but it's killing you in the long run. Get out even if it's just to walk in the park. There is nothing more relaxing than walking around the park with a friend or your spouse. I often walk with my wife just to discuss things and enjoy nature. It's very easy to think while you are moving and enjoying the outdoors. Of course, I wouldn't stop there. I personally believe in lifting weights at least three times a week. There are a number of reasons to do so beyond just dealing with stress as weight lifting is key to keeping excess fat off of your body, and fat is a big stressor on your body all by itself. Eating a good diet goes without saying.  Being a healthy person just gives you one less thing to stress about.

Have a good circle of friends or a good support system. People that are loners have been found to be more susceptible to diseases. Social contact can be very beneficial in lowering stress and benefiting your overall health. I'm sure you've all read the many studies that show that happily married couples are usually healthier than singles.

 Research has shown that religious people are happier than those that are not. It could be argued it's the feeling of belonging that helps, but personally I believe that the social support is only part of the picture. I believe we are spiritual beings as well as physical. Even the great 1950s TV health guru Jack LaLanne used to put spiritual matters high on his scale of things to do to become a well rounded healthy individual. I think it's something God created in everyone of us to make us seek outside of ourselves. A good prayer life is definitely a great way to deal with stress.

Don't be angry. Anger does nothing to solve problems most of the time, it only adds to them. If something makes you angry, stop dealing with it for an hour or more, and then come back to the problem when you have a clear head.

Laugh a little bit every day. Humor and laughter stimulate the output of endorphins which may enhance the functioning of the immune system.  In the Bible in Proverbs 17:22 it says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones". Research has shown that those that have a sense of humor are also better equipped to deal with a stressful situation. One study showed that immunogoblin A, which is a measure of the functioning of the immune system, was raised in people after watching humourous videos.

Be happy and optimistic. Think of the glass has half full not half empty. People of any income level are miserable if they compare their income or savings to someone who has more. No wonder the Bible says, "Be content". There's actually a lot of things we can learn from the Bible that can lead to a longer healthier life, by the way. 

Did you know that in some studies having someone smile led them to report more positive feelings as opposed to when the subjects were asked to frown. So smile, it might just make you feel better.