At some points in life, all individuals are likely to suffer periods of stress or anxiety, but at what stage does it become a danger to your health?
Psychotherapists from the University of Bologna have developed the theory of allostatic load, which is a reflector of the cumulative effects of stressful experiences in daily life. They believe that when an individual experiences chronic exposure to stress over a prolonged period, resources for coping are exceeded, and an allostatic overload ensues. A small amount of stress can be good for us, but the accumulation of various stresses can seriously affect our health.
It has been proven that when faced with chronic stress and an over active nervous system, people begin to experience physical symptoms. The first symptoms appear to be relatively mild, with disturbances such as chronic headaches and an increased susceptibility to colds and viruses. As exposure to stress increases however, more serious health problems may develop.
Individuals can develop a conditions ranging from hair loss, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and possibly cancer due to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the small chemical messengers that are produced to cause certain changes in cells and blood vessels.
Psychological reactions to stress are less frequent, though still pose a significant risk to health, with problems including anxiety disorders, depression, and in serious cases nervous breakdown. Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is one of the more common reactions to stress, with thousands of people diagnosed and signed off work each year. Though the sufferers fear is completely unrealistic and blown out of proportion, GAD can leave people suffering long bouts of anxiety and worry about everyday situations. It is only in rare cases that sufferers of stress will suffer a serious mental breakdown.
9 in 10 visits to the doctors are thought to concern stress-related symptoms.
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