Many wise men have always said that “Manage your stress or it will manage you.” This is a very sad reality of today’s fast paced life where many people are suffering from it. Be it from any reason- personal or professional- the above saying holds true today more than ever.
What most people don’t know is that stress doesn’t affect only a single part of the body but several parts of body! It can start off from anywhere and our body reacts to it by varying the secretions of several hormones and chemicals. These hormones can have damaging effects in the longer term.
Cortisol is the main stress fighting hormone which alters the immune system response and restrains digestive tract and reproductive system. This can further lead to various ailments such as heart disease, digestive troubles, depression, fatness, sleeping problems, memory harm, etc. Such hormones can slow down the discharge of sex hormones- less sperm count in men, decrease in estrogen and painful menstrual cycles in women and an overall decrease in sexual desire.
In order to fight stress there are several things to do, few are mentioned below:
- Try to minimize work.
- Know when to say no.
- Delegate responsibilities to others too.
- Take a break every hour.
- Consume a healthy diet.
- Spend time with yourself!
- Exercise is very effective in reducing stress.
Avoid the followings:
- Answer your emails and phones when it’s not an emergency.
- Avoid taking vacations or going for SPA treatments.
- Smoke, drink alcohol or take recreational drugs.
Following illustration is self explanatory about the stress:
