Introduction
Basically, stress is characterized by increased physical activation. After a few days, stress-related changes in the organism occur. This manifests itself in an increased growth of the adrenal cortex and a reduced immune defense. Thus, if the body is not given the all-clear by changing or leaving the “stressful” situation, the stress hormones are not broken down and the symptoms of physical tension remain.
- If the stress-triggering factor continues to exist, the alarm response enters the adaptation phase, which is characterized by increased tolerance (resistance phase).
- However, this acquired adaptation is temporary and passes into the symptoms of the exhaustion phase, in which the organism experiences lasting and sometimes irreversible damage.
Typical symptoms of stress
- Concentration disorders and forgetfulness
- Nervousness
- Unrest
- Irritability
- Dissatisfaction or excessive demands
- Insomnia
- Swindle
- Listlessness, exhaustion and tiredness
- Tachycardia and/or stumbling of the heart
- Shortness of breath
- Weld outbreaks
- Dry mouth
- Hoarseness
- Headaches
- Neck Pain
- Back pain
- Muscle tension and/or muscle twitches
- Abdominal pain
- Skin rash
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Heartburn
- Gastrointestinal Ulcers
- Loss of libido or sexual dysfunction
- Hair Loss
- Changed eating behavior with appetite increase or decrease
- Changed addictive behavior (alcohol consumption, nicotine consumption)
- Increased susceptibility to infections due to weakening of the immune system
- High blood pressure
- Depression
- Burn-out
Stress can lead to certain types of cardiac dysrhythmia. We are talking about so-called extrasystoles. These are extra beats of the heart which are perceived by those affected as heart stumbles.
In most cases, these extra heartbeats are completely harmless, but they are usually unpleasant for the person affected. If symptoms such as dizziness or shortness of breath occur during the heart stutter or if the extrasystoles persist for a long time, a doctor should be consulted. This doctor can then determine whether or not it is a cardiac arrhythmia requiring treatment by means of a (long-term) ECG.
Other – more serious – cardiac arrhythmias cannot be caused exclusively by stress. In people who already suffer from a cardiac arrhythmia, however, stress can provoke or trigger its occurrence. An example of such a cardiac dysrhythmia is atrial fibrillation.
- Heart and circulation problems
- Tachycardia
- Detect cardiac arrhythmia
Mental and physical stress lead to increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system in the human body. In an acute stress reaction this leads to a short-term rise in blood pressure. But chronic stress can also lead to a permanent increase in blood pressure via this mechanism.
In order to describe the influence of stress on blood pressure, the term stress-induced hypertension is used. Studies have shown that many employees have normal blood pressure values in their private lives and during measurements in the doctor’s office, whereas they have too high blood pressure values at work. This is known as masked hypertension.
A study with more than 4000 test persons could show that every second person at the age of 45 years has high blood pressure values at the workplace. High blood pressure is a widespread disease that, if not treated, carries numerous risk factors. Thus the risk for illnesses such as heart attack and impact accumulates with a durably increased blood pressure.
Therefore the detection and treatment of stress-induced hypertension is essential. Initially, stress reduction or stress management plays a decisive role in the treatment. Antihypertensive medication is only of secondary importance in the treatment of stress-induced hypertension.
You can find more detailed information under: High blood pressure shortness of breath is a typical symptom of a panic attack. The first symptom is an increase in heart rate.This is often experienced as threatening by those affected. The fear increases and breathing becomes faster and deeper.
As a result, more carbon dioxide is breathed out. This is also called hyperventilation and within minutes leads to symptoms such as dizziness, tingling sensations in the mouth and fingers and an increasing feeling of breathlessness. Not only in full-blown panic attacks but also in stressful situations a change in breathing can occur.
This can lead to a subjective feeling of shortness of breath or the feeling of not being able to breathe properly. If the symptoms occur repeatedly, a medical examination should be considered in order to exclude possible organic causes. Therapeutically, in addition to stress reduction or coping with stress, learning various relaxation techniques can be considered.
- Panic Attack
- Breathlessness – What is behind it?
Stress leads to physical arousal through the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. In the course of this physical excitement, the muscles become increasingly tense. This tension is most likely to be felt in the jaw area and shoulder girdle.
In the area of the back, the acute tension often goes unnoticed at first. If the stress persists, a permanent increased tension of the back muscles occurs, which inevitably leads to tensions that become noticeable through pain. A decisive measure in the therapy is a change in lifestyle, especially if the office work is predominantly sedentary.
This increases the back problems. Therefore, regular standing up and short back exercises during working hours can contribute to a relaxation of the musculature. Regular physical exercise is a must.
Heat can also help in the acute stage. However, it is also important to learn how to deal with stress so that it does not manifest itself repeatedly in physical symptoms. Mental or emotional events strike at the stomach.
This phrase does not exist for nothing. So psychological or physical stress often leads to complaints in the gastrointestinal area. These can be manifold.
From abdominal pain and nausea to flatulence, diarrhoea or constipation. In addition, psychological stress can manifest itself either as loss of appetite or, on the contrary, as a ravenous appetite attack. An empty stomach and too fast and too much food intake also lead to stomach ache.
To treat stress-related abdominal pain, stress reduction is of course the first priority. Supporting however also vegetable medicines can be used as for example Iberogast®, in order to calm the stomach intestine tract. In addition, psychological stress can manifest itself either as loss of appetite or, on the contrary, as a ravenous appetite attack.
An empty stomach and too fast and too much food intake can also lead to stomach aches. For the treatment of stress-related abdominal pain, stress reduction is of course the first priority. Supporting however also vegetable medicines can be used as for example Iberogast®, in order to calm the stomach intestine tract.
As described in the previous section, stress often leads to symptoms in the gastrointestinal tract. Abdominal and stomach pain can be the result. The symptoms can occur at different times.
Some people who are exposed to a high level of stress complain about stomach pain on a daily basis, others only suffer from the symptoms when acute stress is present. First of all, it is important to rule out other possible causes for the stomach pain. If stomach pain persists for weeks or months, the family doctor should be consulted.
He or she can decide what further diagnosis is necessary. Stress is a so-called exclusion diagnosis. Before the stomach pain is evaluated as stress-related, all other significant – physical – causes must be excluded.
Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to take stomach acid-reducing tablets or even a gastroscopy. This could also be interesting for you: Home remedies for stomach aches, vomiting due to stressMany people who are very excited before tasks such as lectures in front of an audience or examinations suddenly get red spots on their face and décolleté. After the stress situation, the spots disappear just as quickly as they appeared.
This is just one of the examples of skin rashes that can be caused by psychological stress. Stress-related rashes can look very different.They can occur with or without itching and last for hours and days or disappear after minutes. It is also known that stress is a trigger for hives (urticaria).
Stress reduction and stress avoidance are the most important therapeutic approaches. Complaints in the gastrointestinal tract often occur in the context of physical or mental stress. Whether this manifests itself as diarrhea or constipation varies individually from person to person.
To counteract these complaints, stress management is the first priority. A change in eating habits can also be helpful. For example, small, low-fat and low-fiber meals can be used to prevent situations in which an increased stress level is expected.
There are also various herbal remedies for treating gastrointestinal complaints. One example is Iberogast®. Furthermore, drugs can be purchased which counteract acute diarrhea.
However, they should not be taken in case of gastrointestinal infections and should not be taken permanently. Imodium® is an example of this. Further interesting information on this topic can be found at Diarrhea due to stress
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
The development of gastrointestinal ulcers has various causes such as bacterial colonization of the stomach lining, overuse of painkillers or nicotine/alcohol abuse.
But stress can also trigger gastrointestinal ulcers. One then speaks of a stress-induced ulcer. However, stress is not primarily a psychological stress but primarily a physical stress.
For example, a body can develop gastrointestinal ulcers as a result of a major surgical operation, shock, a serious accident or sepsis, i.e. situations associated with an extraordinarily high level of stress. Psychological stress, on the other hand, such as that caused by a high level of psychological stress at work, cannot in itself cause gastrointestinal ulcers. Several factors must come together to cause such an ulcer.
Mental stress alone is therefore not the only trigger of gastrointestinal ulcers, but it is a risk factor.
- Stomach Ulcer
- Irritable stomach
- Irritable bowel
- Heartburn
Erectile dysfunction, also known as erectile dysfunction, can affect men of all ages. It can be organic, but also psychological.
Stress plays a decisive role in the psychological causes. Whether it is stress at work, in the relationship or with the family is irrelevant. Often a vicious circle develops because the affected person is very afraid that the erectile dysfunction will reoccur.
Erectile dysfunction is often a one-time event. If it occurs more frequently, organic causes should be excluded by a urologist for safety’s sake. Both physical and psychological stress can be triggers for hair loss.
Chronic mental stress in particular is a risk factor for hair loss. Stress-related hair loss is usually diffuse hair loss, i.e. distributed over the entire scalp. The onset of hair loss is often much later than the point in time at which the stress began.
There are often 2-3 months between the beginning of stress and hair loss. This has to do with the hair cycle. Before a diagnosis of stress-related hair loss is made, other causes, such as hormone metabolism disorders, thyroid diseases or deficiency symptoms should be excluded.
The most important measure is stress reduction. Once the stress has subsided, it takes time, due to the hair cycle, until the hair growth increases again. It can take six to nine months until the lost hair begins to grow back.
More useful information can be found at: Homeopathy for hair loss as a result of mental strain and stressIt is known that chronic stress weakens the immune system. The body’s own immune system is responsible, among other things, for the defense against pathogens that have entered from outside. A weakened immune system becomes noticeable by an increased susceptibility to infections.
This can be shown, for example, by the fact that a person with a weakened immune system suffers more often from banal colds. But also more serious bacterial, viral and fungal diseases can occur more frequently in such people.Even already existing basic diseases such as bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular diseases can deteriorate if the immune system is weakened. While chronic stress weakens the immune system, the opposite happens in an interesting way during acute stress: certain parts of the immune system tend to become even stronger during acute stress and lead to an increased immune defense in some areas.
Burnout and depression are two different diseases, but they are often equated. However, burnout is not coded as an independent clinical picture in the current classification. While burnout usually has a context – namely a chronic overload in working life – depression is in many cases context-free.
It usually affects and encompasses all areas of daily life and is not limited to the professional sphere. However, burnout can very well be accompanied by depression. In most cases, burnout is caused by chronic stress in combination with an experience of being overwhelmed and a lack of recognition of the work performed.
Stress can also play a role in depression. However, the interaction of psychosocial and biological factors is extremely complex and still the subject of numerous research projects. However, it can be assumed that chronic stress, which cannot be managed well, can be a risk factor for the development of depression.
- Burnout
- Depression – What are the signs?
- Consequences of stress
Gum bleeding is mostly caused by an inflammation in the area of the teeth. It is discussed whether stress can be considered a risk factor for the development of gum bleeding. Stress is not the direct trigger for bleeding gums, but a high level of stress increases the probability of its occurrence.
However, bleeding gums is not a typical stress symptom.
- On the one hand, prolonged physical or emotional stress reduces the immune system so that gum inflammation with bleeding gums occurs more quickly.
- On the other hand, it has been shown that dental care is somewhat neglected in stressful times, which in turn promotes plaque build-up and bleeding tendency of the gums.
Lip herpes is one of the most widespread diseases, since about 90% of the population are carriers of the Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1, although not all of them show the typical blisters. A therapy can be performed, but often nothing is necessary.
It is known that stress is one of the most important triggers of cold sore. The pathogens causing lip herpes are permanently present in the body. Acute as well as chronic stress inhibits important tasks of the defence against viruses.
This makes it easier for the existing herpes viruses to multiply in stressful situations, as the body does not have an adequate defense. Blisters form in the area of the lips, which heal after a few days. Shingles is a disease independent of lip herpes.
It is caused by chickenpox viruses (varicella). If a person has contracted chickenpox once in their life, the viruses remain in the body. If the immune system is weakened, for example by stress, they can multiply again and lead to shingles (herpes zoster).
Nowadays, vaccination against chickenpox is recommended, so it can be assumed that the prevalence of shingles will decrease significantly in the coming decades. The assumption that stress is a classic trigger for tinnitus is widespread. However, it is controversial among experts whether stress is actually a direct trigger or only one of several risk factors for the development of tinnitus.
Many affected persons describe that an already existing ringing in the ears increases or noticeably comes to the fore in situations of high stress levels. Tinnitus is therefore not a typical stress symptom. Dizziness is a very unspecific symptom that can occur in the context of numerous illnesses, but also without a tangible illness.
The causes are manifold. One of the most common and harmless causes is a lack of fluid. This in turn can lead to a lowered blood pressure which in turn can cause dizziness.
Dizziness occurs relatively often in the context of physical and psychological stress. It can last only a few seconds, but can also occur in the long term as a general feeling of insecurity.In the acute situation it can be helpful to sit or lie down and have a drink. In the long term, however, it should be examined to what extent the triggering stress can be reduced.
Stress is suspected to be a possible trigger for nosebleeds. During an acute stress reaction, various messenger substances are released. These can cause an acceleration of the heartbeat and an increase in blood pressure. An increased blood pressure, in turn, is often the trigger for nosebleeds. However, nosebleeds are not one of the characteristic symptoms of stress.