We’re waking up to the very real effects of stress, and the prognosis is rough. While stress might be an inescapable part of modern life, there are plenty of ways to reduce your levels and take some of the strain off your heart, brain, gut and the rest of your body.
After poring through the science, we’ve compiled 11 alarming facts about stress that, unfortunately, might spike your worries. But no fear, we’ve also found some of the best (and easiest) fixes to help you breathe easy.
1. Stress Can Turn Your Hair Grey
While it might sound like a myth, there’s some solid science backing up the age-old fable that worries whiten your locks. A study examined whether regular angst can cause you to go grey prematurely by exposing a group of mice to three common types of stress. These included short-term pain, psychological stress and restricted movement—we feel bad for these poor mice!
Ultimately, the researchers discovered that signals from the sympathetic nervous system play a huge role in stress-induced greying. These nerves extend into each follicle, releasing noradrenaline in response to your worries.
READ MORE: Here’s Why Washing Your Hair Less Won’t Prevent Hair Loss
2. It Can Affect Your Sperm Quality
Daily life taking its toll on your mental well-being? Your stressors could also be wrecking your reproductive system. One study found that stressful work periods can negatively affect semen volume and the percentage of spermatozoa, i.e., the cells that carry genetic material. Further research found that prolonged stress could even tank your sperm quality, with soldiers on active duty having 47% increased chances of impaired sperm motility.
Quick Fix: Researchers at the University of Cordoba found that moderate physical activity can help regulate sperm production. Best part? Regular exercise has also been shown to reduce stress. That’s a two-in-one solution we can get behind.
3. Stress Can Wreak Havoc on Your Digestive System
When your stress levels get high, you might experience decreased blood flow and oxygen to your stomach. In the short term, this can lead to inflammation, cramping and even an imbalance of gut bacteria. While prolonged stress might not cause ulcers, IBS and their ilk, there is significant research showing that your worries could exacerbate these conditions.
4. It Can Wreck Your Sleep Schedule
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but a lack of sleep can lead to increased stress. Unfortunately, this can be the start of a vicious cycle as stress has been shown to affect your ability to get significant shuteye. High levels can affect you in several ways. For instance, it might prolong how long it takes you to fall asleep, it could cause you to wake up frequently during the night or it could negatively impact the quality of the kip you’re getting.
Quick Fix: Our resident sleep expert Barry Bridges, the recovery coach behind Successful Sleeper, recommends journalling throughout the day to ensure you’re putting stress to bed. His prescription? Schedule brain dumps. In the morning, grab a pen and crack open your journal to let go of all your negative thoughts. Then, in the hour or two before your bedtime, devote your journalling session to highlighting all your positive thoughts. “Taking time to declutter your head while you’re awake is crucial to your sleep recovery strategy,” says Bridges. Follow his five-point plan HERE for better Z’s every day.
READ MORE: Sleep Supersets: 5 Foolproof Strategies To Catch More ZZZs
5. Stress Can Harm Your Heart
Yes, long-term stress can lead to higher levels of inflammation, potentially leading to plaque build-up in your arteries. This could spike your chances of heart-related issues such as coronary heart disease. It can also increase production of catecholamines (the “fight or flight” hormone) which over a prolonged period could damage your ticker. But it’s not just long-term stress you need to keep in check, even short doses can put pressure on your heart. If you have a build-up of plaque in your arteries, a sudden surge of adrenaline could result in a heart attack.
6. It Can Affect Your Cognitive Ability
There’s plenty of research showing that prolonged stress might rewire your brain. Ultimately, over time, the parts of your brain that are activated the most often will get stronger, while the parts lying dormant will get weaker, chief scientific officer at McLean Hospital Dr. Kerry Ressler told Harvard Health Publishing. Essentially, if you’re devoting most of your headspace to stress, you’ll bolster the parts of your brain designed to handle threats while the parts that can handle more complex thought processes sit on the bench. Even worse, chronic stress can put you at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia.
7. Stress Can Tank Your Immune System
Here’s a familiar scenario: you’re working full out for weeks, putting in major hours to meet your deadlines and then, the moment you’re ready for some R&R, you suddenly fall sick. Well, turns out prolonged periods of stress can affect your immune system. That’s because stress stimulates your immune system, giving you the ability to power through when you need to be firing on all cylinders. But over time, this all-systems-go reaction can start to dampen your body’s response to viruses, bacteria—you name it!
As such, studies have found that if you’re experiencing chronic stress, you might be more susceptible to the current “flu of the month” than your relaxed peers. Stress has also been shown to prolong your recovery times.
Quick Fix: Your company gives you sick days for a reason—use them! Working while you feel like death puts added strain on your body, turning a 48-hour cold into a week-long struggle. Booking off a couple of days could be a net positive for your productivity, and laying low could spare your colleagues the germs you’d be spreading if you were in the office. If you do take time off, make sure you stay hydrated. A constant supply of H2O will help your organs function and help you stave off headaches, nausea and other side effects. Plenty of sleep is also advised.
READ MORE: Worried Sick: 7 Ways Stress Can (Seriously) Hurt Your Health
8. Stress Can Lead to Depression
Stress is a major disruptor. It can throw your schedule out of whack, leading you to ditch healthy coping mechanisms (i.e., exercise, meditation) in favour of unhealthy ones (i.e., junk food, alcohol). Unsurprisingly, there’s a strong causal relationship between stress and the blues—and vice versa. According to Psychology Today, stress can disrupt almost every aspect of your life from your routines to your relationships that poses the biggest risk.
As such, they recommend developing an awareness of the healthy coping strategies that usually sit on the bench when your resilience is taking strain, and making sure to devote some time to carrying out these mood-bolstering activities. For instance, you might have a big deadline on the horizon, but it’s important to carve out time for your gym sessions, even if that means logging a quick 20-minute circuit rather than your full hour of reps.
9. It Can Cause Rashes
While most of stress’s detrimental side effects happen under the surface, some are—literally—skin deep. It’s not unusual for someone to develop so-called hives, characterised by discoloured or pink raised bumps. These rashes can sometimes pack a serious itch or even cause severe pain. While stress rashes are more common for women, men aren’t immune.
Quick Fix: Taking an antihistamine can help you rein in these rashes, but it’s important to address the root cause with effective stress management. Try exercise, journalling, meditation—whatever (read: healthy) coping mechanism works best for you.
10. Stress Can Exacerbate Acne
It’s a common myth that stress causes acne, but that way of thinking has been largely debunked. What has been confirmed by research is that prolonged periods of stress can worsen the effects of pre-existing acne. Studies have found that cuts, bruises, wounds and, yes, acne, heal much slower if you’re experiencing stress. This means your pimples might linger around for longer, so your breakouts might appear more severe.
11. It Can Lead To Hair Loss
Stress won’t just put you at risk of sprouting grey hairs—it could also cause you to scupper your locks. One study found that stress could inhibit hair growth and extend follicle resting periods, i.e., it might seem like your mane isn’t regrowing. While, fortunately, there’s nothing that points to this hair loss being permanent, long-term stress could leave you with thinning hair.
