Mental Health issues play a huge goal in our physical health. Research is just starting to show just how much. Here is some information on how stress and heart disease are linked.
Stress and Heart Disease- Wendy Garrison, LIMHP/LADC
Research is currently inconclusive regarding the affect stress has on heart disease. Many people who are constantly under stress tend to live unhealthy life styles which may include lack of exercise, overeating or smoking which are all common contributors to heart disease. High levels of stress can make risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol worse. Constant exposure to stress leads to unhealthy elevated levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Cortisol raises blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol levels. Stress can also affect the way blood clots.
What is stressful for one person is not necessarily stressful for another. We each react to situations in our lives differently. One person may find an event joyful and invigorating while another person may be miserable in the same situation. The key is to be able to identify our own personal stressors and then develop coping skills to deal with them when they arise. Common stressors for people can be illness, death of a loved one, difficult relationships, overwork, unemployment, retirement, pregnancy, moving, daily hassles, legal problems, financial concerns or perfectionism.
Our body is very good at providing us with warnings that we aren’t handling stress very well. We can exhibit physical, mental, emotional and behavioral signs that we need to do something about our stress.
Physical symptoms may include headaches, dizziness, tense muscles, indigestion, and feeling exhausted. We may gain or lose weight. Mentally, we may worry; have difficulty making decisions, become forgetful or irritable. We may have trouble concentrating or lose our sense of humor.
Emotional signs may include anger, anxiety, crying, depression, feeling powerless, loneliness, engaging in negative thinking or feeling nervous.
Behaviorally we may engage in compulsive eating, become overly critical of others, engage in impulsive actions or increase our use of alcohol or other drugs. We may withdraw from relationships and isolate.
Many stress reducing techniques are easy to learn or we may need the help of a trained therapist. We should never feel badly about needing help at some point in our lives. Common techniques that can help are simple things like healthy eating and getting adequate exercise, quitting smoking, learning relaxation techniques, learning to delegate and saying “no”. We can practice being more assertive, get enough rest, and keep a positive attitude. It is essential that we have a strong support system. We all need others in our lives that are willing to point out unhealthy changes when we may not be able to see them ourselves.
All these things can help make a healthier you and a healthier heart. Almost every thing we do to improve heart health also helps improve our mental health.