They say stress is a killer. It is one of the leading causes of death. But it doesn’t only shorten lives. Stress causes you to have less sex, gain weight no matter how good you eat, and makes you tired and run down.
“I was a little excited but mostly blorft. "Blorft" is an adjective I just made up that means 'Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.' I have been blorft every day for the past seven years.” ― Tina Fey
Most people don’t notice the changes right away. As life goes on, less sex, being tired, and having extra weight around your stomach becomes the new norm. You don’t have to live that way. These are not symptoms of getting older.
These are symptoms of stress.
How stress causes many of the so-called "symptoms of aging"
In this article, you will learn how stress affects your sex life, your appearance and your quality of sleep.
You will also learn why it is important to care for yourself first and how to do it.
Good And Bad, it’s all stress related
Stress is not just an American phenomenon, but in health terms, stress is one of the leading causes of disease and death in Americans. It could be that other societies have coping mechanisms that we, Americans, don’t have. We live in a world of illusion and escape. It’s much easier to pretend we aren’t completely stressed out.
However, the effects of daily stress are pervasive. How many times do you feel you are faced with trauma after trauma? Sometimes it feels like life just doesn’t let up.
Severe or even small traumas leave people still living a normal life. A life of stress is not normal.
Stress doesn’t have to be “bad” to affect you. In fact, Hans Selye stated that any change causes stress. Marriage, moving, kids, getting a job you want, school, and even getting a raise or going on vacation all causes stress in your body.
Effects of stress
Even after the stressful situation has passed, your body has stored the stress. This is what causes stress related illness and diseases like:
- Cancer
- ALS
- Parkinson’s disease
- Heart disease
- Immune problems
- Chronic Fatigue
- Restless Leg Syndrome
- Insomnia
- Depression
- And even death
The havoc stress has on sleep
Stress has a major impact on sleep.
Sleep affects weight gain and also impacts libido. The REM part of your sleep pattern processes stress and tells your body what to do with it.
If your stress is too much for your REM state to process, it robs your body from the healing state your body naturally enters during sleep.
This leaves people fatigued, gaining weight, and not desiring sex as often. It’s hard to muster up the feelings of sex when you are tired. Your body is also not producing the amount of sex hormones is should just so it can conserve energy.
Could a low sex drive, depression, and weight gain actually be a sleep disturbance caused from stress?
Why you seek to escape from stress
Rounding back to the fact that we have a society made up of illusion and escape, stress is the cause. Your body and mind want relief. Unfortunately, many attempts for escape are found in alcohol, drugs, and other addictive behaviors.
Here is the United States, as a society, emphasis is not placed on our wellbeing. We have few vacations, less paid sick days and no mental health days.
This is the reason exercise, meditation, and even hypnosis are more than just tools we should use to look and feel better. These are as necessary as eating for us. We need to feed our mind and body because society won’t.
Our attitudes on having a fast paced life have proven to be responsible for a shorter life span. Watch this video on how stress impacts your body.
I specialize in panic attack relief, depression and mood related issues. I work to calm your stressors.
If you live in the LA area, I have appointments available in my professional Tarzana office.
Don’t live near me? Or simply don’t want to leave your home? No problem! I also work via Skype or a video chat session. Contact me for more information.
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Hypnotherapy for sexual issues
Is Your Brain Making You Fat? What You Can Do About It
Top Foods to Fight Depression
The Growing Problem of Body Dysmorphic Disorder
How to Improve Your Quality of Sleep
