Stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia – these are words I hear more and more in my practice. Even if a patient’s immediate complaint is a stomach issue, most times we end up discussing mood and stress levels. Sometimes, just being able to open up and discuss these issues unleashes a flood of emotion for the patient. This is because stress and our mental and emotional state directly and greatly impacts our health. Stress, in many ways, is part of an underlying trigger for disease processes.
And although stress can happen anytime of the year, holidays are rarely stress free. Even though the holidays can be a happy time, they also bring many obligations – to shop, entertain and travel, which can lead to financial worries and more stress. And these nagging pressures can sometimes create more havoc in our bodies than the big life stressful events.
How does stress impact our health? Stress releases cortisol, which is our flight or fight hormone. Its release causes our heart rate to accelerate, our blood pressure to increase stored sugar gets released and hormone secretion decreases. Blood flow is directed towards major muscle groups and shunted off to areas of the body that aren’t essential for immediate survival. These mechanisms are essential for survival in a fight or flight situation, but remember what I said about day to day stressors. Does the body really need to mount such an extreme response because one has too many social obligations? Financial worries?
The negative impacts of stress can be enormous, especially when they have been persistent for months or even years. The release of stored glucose leads to blood sugar irregularities and possibly diabetes and obesity. Blood shunted away from the gastrointestinal tract can lead to digestion problems such as ulcer, IBS, GERD, etc. Cortisol’s effect on the arterial walls can lead to cardiovascular disease. The list of complications from stress are too many to all be listed and discussed in this short article.
What can be done? Telling a patient to not stress is obviously ineffective and can lead to more stress. That is why I recommend ways to naturally relieve stress, like exercise. One of my favorite exercises is the Ellove Method. I recommend to so many of my patients because tuning into our bodies with exercise and movement helps us not only release stress, but it gets us more present in our lives. Also, exercise releases endorphins which are a natural pain reliever and other brain neurotransmitters like dopamine that help with mood swings.
And finally, Ellove’s meditation element allows the mind to get grounded with the body. Meditation gives us the capacity to note stressful situations, but not become entrenched in them.