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The Effects of Stress on Your Body, Mood & Behaviour!

The last few decades have seen a sharp increase in the level of stresses that we are facing on a day to day basis, with job demands increasing; work/life balance challenging to manage and; an overall decline in health and wellness impacting our everyday levels of productivity!

It’s not hard to see why so many more people are suffering from the effects of stress.

The impact of this on your body, mood and behaviour can be overwhelming

Effects on your body/health:

  • Headaches
  • Muscle tension or pain
  • Chest pain
  • Fatigue
  • Reduced sex drive
  • Upset stomach
  • Sleeplessness / insomnia
  • Heart attack
  • Stroke

Effects on your mood:

  • Being over anxious
  • Restlessness
  • Lack of motivation or focus
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Irritability or anger
  • Sadness or depression

Effects on your behaviour:

  • Overeating or undereating
  • Anger or disruptive behaviour
  • Drug or alcohol abuse
  • Smoking excessively
  • Withdrawing from social activities
  • Reduction in exercise

Understanding the signs of stress and anxiety and taking steps to manage how you feel will benefit your health hugely. Techniques such as:

  • Undertaking regular physical activity helps to increase your ‘happy hormones’ – endorphins, dopamine and serotonin, making you less stressed and improving your fitness, health and lifestyle.
  • Regularly focusing on relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, tai chi or getting a massage will help to re-align your mood and your behaviour and focus more positively.
  • Maintaining your sense of humour, socialising with family and friends and setting aside time for your hobbies, including reading books and listening to music, helps you to focus on having fun and making time for yourself so that you don’t get overwhelmed with work or other stresses that may occur.

Finding ways to manage your stress on a regular basis and taking time out to look after yourself are crucial to ensuring that stress doesn’t get out of control and cause an ongoing negative effect on your body or your health.

The old remedies are always the best. So, getting plenty of sleep, eating a healthy balanced diet, a good deal of exercise, massage and avoiding those vices that you know are not good for you such as smoking, drinking too much caffeine or alcohol and using illegal substances, will help to reduce your stress levels and the potential of any worse effects!

Tom’s 5 Tips for Coping with Back Pain part 1

 

Pain in the lower back is a very common condition that the NHS has to deal with but what if I told you there are many ways to cope with back pain and without consulting with your GP or stepping into a hospital.

According to Arthritis research UK, 4 out of 5 people are affected by back pain at some point in time. Undeniably, back pain is the second most common cause of absence from work in Britain, says the Charity “BackCare”, with four million working days lost to back pain each year, this is often cause by a simple strain or sprain from a muscle, tendon or ligament.

For more ways to cope with lower back pain come back next week to read about some more I have tips for you.