By now, we all know that too much stress is bad for you, but many people fail to determine when that point is reached. The fact is, the body is capable of handling stress- but just to an extent. After that, signs become highly visible that something is going terribly wrong, and sadly, doctors often misdiagnose the root cause.
In addition, being able to identify and link symptoms should set you on the right path to quickly identify when the effects of stress are becoming so compounded, that it can actually kill you. Look out for the following.
Premature Aging
We all have different speeds with which we age, and that’s ok. However, you can identify something is drastically wrong when you start greying significantly before the age of 30, and with neither parent having similar traits. Many young people are becoming busy business executives, jobs that require countless hours at the office and many nights of sleeplessness.
This takes a toll, however, with one of the first signs that stress is slowly killing you being premature aging. You may also notice your skin looking in poorer health than normal, and that is largely as a result of cortisol’s actions. It can’t be reversed, but it’s never too late to start implementing correct changes now to offset what has started.
You are Always Tired
While sleep is an amazing remedy for what ails you, sadly stress is a massive beast that it is not always easy to leash. There is a seemingly unacknowledged condition known as adrenal fatigue, which occurs following periods of chronically high cortisol and adrenalin production, which results in a suppression of its actions.
Thus, the normal get up and go our adrenal glands allow for is no longer present. Drive and motivation become increasingly difficult to maintain without the use of stimulants that evoke forced action of these hormones, and the result is a state of constant grogginess and lethargy.
You are Frequently Sick or Unwell
Cortisol suppresses our immune system after being recruited for long periods of time. As a result, the cells of the immune system become less capable of handling threats that may pose a harm to the body. Even the trivial seasonal flu which you typically avoid may seem like the plague when you have a suppressed immune system.
You Find it Impossible to Lose Weight
While cortisol itself doesn’t result in weight gain, the mechanisms by which it works leads to that outcome. For one, cortisol is a bit of a miser, trying as hard as possible to store as many calories in your body as it can. This is because cortisol recruitment is a primitive survival instinct. Secondly, is the action it has on blood sugar.
It causes the liver to convert stored glycogen into glucose and pour it into the blood, in the event you need fast energy. Insulin follows sugar wherever it goes, and this is what causes fat storage and blockage of fat burning.
Your Sex Drive has Vaporized
Cortisol makes it difficult for men to attain erections, affects their testosterone levels and disrupts the normal menstrual cycle for women. This upsets sexual function and desire in both genders.
Your Brain Refuses to Work at 100% Efficiency
Accompanying the grogginess of daily life is the seeming deterioration of your brain. You find it near impossible to focus, concentrate or formulate complex plans. Add horrible memory to the mix and you can see why stress brings you close to death.
Chest Pains/ Palpitations
This is one of the most serious of the bunch and when you may finally realize that stress is killing you. It accelerates blockages of the arteries on and around the heart, as well as restricting the blood vessels’ ability to relax, cause blood pressure to spike and stroke risk to go up.
You become easily winded and experience chest pains with the least exertion. This is a horrible indicator if you are a young person, obese or not.
