Can Stress Make You Sick? How to Manage Stress and Anxiety for Older Adults
The majority of adults say they’ve been stressed at some point in the past month, with about a quarter saying they are so stressed they can’t function. Unfortunately, stress takes a major toll on the body in terms of both physical and mental health. The good news is that implementing stress management techniques can quickly help you lower chronic stress, improve blood pressure, and reduce risk of stress-related health problems.
How Too Much Stress Affects Your Body
Experts define stress as a state of worry or tension due to difficult life events. Perceived stress is exactly what it sounds like: your own perception about how much stress you’re under. Some people are more resilient to stressful events, while others experience stress more easily. No matter what category you are in, using better stress management techniques like deep breathing or other relaxation techniques can make a big difference.
High rates of perceived stress causes health issues in every major organ system in your body. That is because too much stress causes levels of the hormone cortisol to increase. Cortisol is an important hormone for the “fight or flight” response. This fight or flight response is evolution’s way of keeping you safe during a dangerous or stressful situation. Your body gets keyed up and your blood pressure rises, preparing you to fight the threat or flee to safety. Cortisol temporarily improves memory and immune functioning, helping you to survive the threat.
In modern life, we rarely face threats where our life is truly in danger. Instead, that fight or flight response is triggered by normal stressful events. Although cortisol is helpful in the short term, it can cause damage to your body when you experience chronic stress. Cortisol flows throughout your body, meaning it affects all aspects of your physical health.
Over Time, Chronic Stress Response Can Lead to the Following Physical Health Problems:
Increased Risk for Cardiovascular Disease
Chronic stress and elevated cortisol cause an inflammatory response in your body. This leads to increased blood pressure, stiffness of blood vessels, and build-up of plaques in the vessels. Over time, this can raise your risk of a heart attack or cardiovascular disease.
Feeling Chronically Fatigued
The fight or flight response makes your body keyed up, meaning you will crash later. One of the most common physical health problems associated with chronic stress is severe fatigue.
Increased Anxiety
Stress and anxiety are related to each other. When we feel stressed, it is often due to life circumstances beyond our control. However, our brains may begin to create a fight or flight stress response when faced with normal (non-stressful or threatening) situations. This can lead to chronic worry that is difficult to control, a primary symptom of anxiety.
Disrupted Sleep
Stress can affect levels of other hormones and disrupt your body’s sleep-wake cues. As a result, you may find it hard to get to sleep, or you may wake up too early and have difficulty getting back to sleep.
Increased Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
Inflammation associated with chronic stress has a negative effect on the brain. In fact, chronic stress and elevated cortisol can damage the brain’s memory structures. As a result, high perceived stress is a risk factor for neurological problems like Alzheimer’s disease.
Poor immune Health
When you're stressed, you're more likely to catch the common cold. Too much stress causes your immune system to work less effectively, making you vulnerable to a range of diseases.
In fact, stress is so damaging that it can accelerate the aging process on a cellular level. Researchers often look at the length of telomeres, bits of genetic material that form a “cap” on the end of your chromosomes, where genes are stored. Telomeres naturally get shorter with age. However, some people have telomeres that look older than their actual age. This is a sign that their cells are aging more rapidly than would be expected by time alone. Stress and its inflammatory response are associated with shorter telomere length, meaning your cells look older than they really are. Fortunately, taking steps to manage stress levels and reduce your fight or flight response can slow the aging process.
Best Stress Management Strategies to Reduce Stress Levels and Prevent Health Issues
The first step in stress management is noticing when your stress levels start to rise. What does chronic stress feel like for you? Physical symptoms of stress might be:
rapid or shallow breathing
chest tightness
muscle tension in your neck or elsewhere
headaches
blurred vision or sore eyes
gastrointestinal distress
heartburn
If you’re noticing these symptoms, pay attention! This is your body telling you that you need to take a break and practice stress management. If you don't, you're likely to develop stress-related health problems.
Once you’ve gotten in the habit of noticing your body’s stress response, such as feeling your blood pressure start to rise, you can begin using these tools for stress management.
Self Talk Tool
When you’re stressed, it’s easy to spiral out of control and begin talking negatively to ourselves. We may say things like, “You’re so stupid” or, “Everyone else can handle hard things, so why can’t you?”
Stress management begins with self-compassion. Take a moment to think of how you would respond if a close friend told you they were experiencing what you’re going through. You might say things like, “I’m sorry, that sounds so hard,” or, “Wow, you really have a lot going on, but you’re still doing a great job.” Over time, using those scripts on yourself can reduce stress and help you develop better self-awareness and self-compassion.
Segmentation Tool
When we’re feeling stressed, that chronic stress causes physical symptoms and feels like it pervades every single aspect of life. That easily makes us feel overwhelmed and out of control. Segmentation refers to the practice of breaking things down into smaller tasks to reduce stress.
Rather than focusing on the big stuff (“I’m never going to lose those 40 pounds!”), focus on something small you can do today for stress management. Perhaps you can take 10 minutes to go for a walk, or make a side dish with vegetables for dinner, or forgo a single sugary drink. Each of those actions has a big impact but feels more achievable in the moment.
Setting Boundaries Tool
Too often, the stress in our life comes from saying yes to too many things. Suddenly, we find ourselves overwhelmed with work, commitments to our kids or families, or social activities. It’s hard to begin to put yourself first and protect your time and space.
The next time something comes up that you feel compelled to say “yes” to, take a deep breath and say “no” instead. Holding better boundaries about what you have the time and energy to commit to can be a powerful stress management tool.
Box Breathing Tool
Box breathing is a powerful deep breathing technique that is great for stress management. The best part about box breathing is that it can be done anywhere. This deep breathing technique takes practice, but once you master it, it can actively counteract that fight or flight response. Box breathing can slow your heart rate, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and even counteract your body’s inflammatory response.
First, breathe in slowly for four seconds. Then, hold your breath for four seconds. Breathe out for four seconds, and hold that exhale for four seconds. Focus on making your way around that “box” of breathing in – holding – breathing out – holding. Schedule deep breathing breaks during your workday or before bed to help your stress management.
Using Gratitude Tool
When we feel stressed and overwhelmed, it’s easy to fall into a pit of negative thinking. To begin pulling yourself out, start a simple gratitude practice for stress management. When you feel overwhelmed or experience physical symptoms of stress, think of three things that you’re grateful for. These could be big things, like a loving spouse or your children, or they could be little things, like being thankful for sunshine or green tea. Some people find it helpful to write those things down in a gratitude journal. Then, when you’re feeling too much stress, you have a ready-made list of things that you feel grateful for. Over time, that gratitude journal can transform your ability to manage stress levels.
Practicing Self Love for Stress Management
Self love is just what it sounds like: loving yourself as the person you are right now. So often, we focus on the things we want to change about ourselves or how we wish we were different. We get stuck with negative thoughts instead of positive self talk. Instead, take a moment to thank yourself for being you. You might repeat a mantra, such as, “I am enough,” or, “I am here, and that matters.” Anything that reminds you that you are a human person worthy of love can help to reduce chronic stress when you feel helpless or overwhelmed.
Looking for More Stress Management Resources?
At Mighty Health, we’re here to care for your whole self: body, mind, and spirit. Learning to manage stress levels with these tools can transform your physical health as well as your mental well-being. For tailored tools to counteract stress and reduce risk of health problems, download the Mighty Health app today. You’ll be matched with a personal health coach who can give you the tools you need to reduce stress and become the happiest, healthiest version of yourself.