Stress affects us all on a daily basis. We are constantly bombarded by sounds, flashing images, fast-paced videos, doom-scaring headlines - all of it adding to our stress levels.Â
Some stress is good. In immediate short-term situations, stress is a natural, healthy function in the body. Deadlines, for example, are a healthy stress that motivate us to perform and complete a task. Our stress response spikes, pushing us into action, and then once the stress is over, our body relaxes back to normal. Â
Stress becomes detrimental when our never-ending daily pressures act as a continuous stream keeping the body in an elevated state of stress far longer than is necessary. At that point, we begin to see the effects on the body and can put our health at risk.
The effects of chronic stress are wide ranging and varied, including frequent headaches, jaw clenching, neck pain, difficulty breathing, overreaction to petty annoyances, excess anxiety, worry, guilt, nervousness, etc. Stress has an effect on every system in our body.
Researchers at Emory University found that mental stress ‘significantly’ increased the risk of cardiovascular events - including nonfatal heart attacks and heart failure in healthy adults.
The science and study of stress on the body is not new. Dr. Hans Selye, an endocrinologist, introduced the modern concept of stress and its physical effect in the science journal Nature in 1936. From there he continued his relentless research and published over 1,700 articles and 39 books on stress, and his work has been cited further in over 362,000 publications.Â
Since Dr Selye’s foundational work on stress, further research on stress and its effects has expanded exponentially. There is no doubt at this point that stress, especially chronic stress and chronic stress in childhood, has a very serious impact on our health.Â
Our fast-paced, loud, instant response modern culture isn’t helping our stress levels. We need to make consciously healthy choices to manage and reduce our stress. So for the month of April, let’s learn more about the effects of stress on the body and healthy options we can implement to manage and reduce the negative effects.Â
Read more on stress in a previous blog post, What is stress and how it affects the body
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Resources:
American Psychological Association. (2024, October 21.) Stress Effects on the Body. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/bodyÂ
Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.cdnmedhall.ca/laureates/hansselye
Spiegel, Alix. (2014, July 7.)The Secret History Behind the Science of Stress. NPR; All Things Considered.