Do you still suffer from recurrent inflammation, rhinitis, colds, or viruses? Even if you eat enough vitamins and minerals, exercise regularly, and also strengthen yourself, long-term stress can be the culprit of your weakened immunity. How to get out of his negative influence?
Long-term stress is one of the main killers of a properly functioning immune system. If you are under long-term stress, a number of serious illnesses can develop due to reduced immunity. To prevent this from happening, watch carefully for certain signals that your body is trying to tell you that something is wrong with you.
Long-Term Stress Versus Short-Term Stress
Psychology distinguishes a total of two types of stress, short-term and long-term. Short-term or acute stress is natural and healthy. It allows us to strain our forces at some point when, for example, we need to resist, fight, run away or complete a task that is very burning. As a result, acute stress stimulates and increases our defenses.
Long-term or chronic stress, on the other hand, has a negative impact on our bodies. Significantly weakens the functioning of the immune system. Long-term stress also worsens the response of the nervous system, in extreme cases, it can also damage it. During chronic stress, our body deviated from its internal balance for a long time and the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline are flushed into it for a longer period of time. In the long run, this means a huge burden on the human body.
Symptoms of Long-Term Stress
How do you even know that you are under long-term stress? Pay attention to the following warning signs that your body is trying to alert you to this condition.
- Migraines or frequent headaches
- Increased fatigue
- Palpitations, chest pain
- Sleep disorders, common nightmares
- Indigestion – constipation, diarrhea, bloating, or heartburn
- Increased taste of sweets and flour dishes, or, conversely, anorexia
- Significant weight gain or, conversely, weight loss
- Sexual libido disorders
- Increased pain during menstruation
Chronic Stress Weakens Our Body’s Antiviral Immunity
A number of scientific studies confirm that long-term stress significantly weakens the body’s defenses. At the same time, chronic stress also adversely affects the body’s antiviral immunity. It can inhibit components of the immune system that would otherwise keep viruses in the human body under control.
Long-term stress thus increases the body’s susceptibility to disease with various types of viral infections. It is not only a cold, cold, or flu but also a higher susceptibility to diseases caused by herpes viruses or coronaviruses.
Long-Term Stress Triggers A Number of Other Diseases
Chronic stress has a degenerative effect on the human body in the long run. Due to its unfortunate effect, it is responsible for a number of diseases. Long-term stress can lead to anxiety and severe depression and triggers a number of other illnesses. These are, for example, allergies, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, or autoimmune diseases, such as cellillary, Crohn’s disease, thyroid disease, or multiple sclerosis.
Long-Term Stress: How To Deal With It
Do you feel that chronic stress got you too? To break free from its clutches, you should completely change your lifestyle. The change in lifestyle concerns not only the adjustment of the diet and drinking regime but also the absence of alcohol and cigarettes. Start to take more care of your mental well-being, try to spend more time with your family and friends during the week
Learn to relax passively and actively. Start reading books, listening to pleasant music and several times a week engage in intense physical activity, which makes you happy. Every day find time for a walk in nature. If you feel it’s doing too much for you, learn to say stop and turn it off.
Herbs Against Chronic Stress
You can also relieve long-term stress and its effects on your body with herbs. An herb from the island of Fiji in the Pacific Ocean Kava kava will help you treat anxiety and depression. Your healthy sleep will be supported by L-tryptophan, which is very effective in treating depression. Ashvaganda gives you a helping hand, which reduces the level of the stress hormone cortisol in the brain. Thus, this herb brings relief from chronic stress accompanied by anxiety to depression and contributes to mental balance.
The Chinese gooseberry (Goji) will help you in a good mood and a feeling of well-being, as well as lavender, which reduces insomnia and helps with depression and anxiety. The symptoms of anxiety and depression are also improved by the heart and the pink stonecrop. Stress hormones are further broken down by valerian (Valeriana officinalis). The extract of this herb reduces anxiety and acts against depression, but has no sedative effects and does not affect muscle activity.
