What to Do When Stress Makes You Sick?

Stress and your health

It is well known that stress can have an impact on your physical health. Robert Sapolsky’s book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers goes into detail about how excessive stress is linked to a wide range of health issues, from cardiovascular problems to gastrointestinal issues to some types of cancer. Also, a busy lifestyle can contribute to poor eating habits (such as stopping by a fast-food drive-thru rather than cooking healthy food at home), insufficient sleep or poor sleep quality, and limited exercise. All of these factors can contribute to an increased chance of getting sick. Stress can also make people feel nauseous, get a headache, get a stomachache, or have diarrhea.

The cycle of stress

As stress can contribute to being unhealthy, this can cause a number of issues that can ultimately lead to more stress. For example, if excessive stress contributes to a person smoking or drinking alcohol, this can lead to health issues that result in stress. If a person works an excessive number of hours or takes on too much at school, they may become sick and miss workdays or school days, causing them to become further behind. Excessive stress can also make it difficult to concentrate on tasks, making us less productive, contributing to spending more time on tasks. And again, if we are not getting adequate sleep, this can lead to more stress and irritability, which can, in turn, affect our personal lives, also increasing our stress levels.

Setting limits and using coping skills.

While most people at some point may experience the physical effects of stress at some point, setting limits is important. The individual should ask themself if he is taking on excessive responsibilities. Once stress affects our health, we could become sicker, and it is best to set limits before our health continues to decline. Additionally, incorporating self-care strategies in our lives can help reduce stress. For example, we can journal or talk to a friend about how we are feeling. We can take some time each day for relaxation, whether going for a walk, watching a favorite show, or reading a book. We can pray or seek other spiritual experiences. We can enjoy nature, be creative, write a poem or story, or draw a picture. Taking long, deep breaths can help us reduce anxiety, and strategies such as progressive muscle relaxation and adhering to good sleep hygiene practices can improve our quality of sleep.