Battling Stress

Though some of the effects of stress are still hotly debated within the medical and psychological communities, there are some that are broadly agreed on. Rapid heartbeat, raised blood pressure, a rise in blood sugar level and a lower digestive rate are just a few of the physiological effects of stress.

The psychological effects, though sometimes more subtle, are important too. Increased stress, especially when it lasts over time, often leads to irritability. A person will be more quick-tempered and easy to anger. He or she will be more impatient, and more inclined to fear the future while feeling less able to cope with the present. People who are stressed tend to find it harder to concentrate and have greater difficulty making decisions.

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‘She drove me to drink’ used to be a popular phrase. Its essential meaning is that stress induces people to consume alcohol. While it’s true that stress can be an incentive to drink, it’s equally true that heavy alcohol consumption causes stress.

Moderate alcohol intake, to be sure, can have beneficial effects. Research suggests that small amounts can even improve mental functioning and increase performance in problem solving while stressed. But, there are also studies that demonstrate that large quantities, particularly when consumed for long periods, actually worsens stress.

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By Kristi Patrice Carter

The link between frequent headaches and stress is a serious one and needs to be thoroughly understood to be avoided. Stress can be caused by many things: physical, environmental and emotional factors all play a part. Stress causes tension which causes pain, and all too often that pain comes in the form of a stress-and-tension-induced headache.

Physical stressors include hunger, cold, extreme tiredness, atmospheric conditions created by change in the seasons and remaining in the same physical position for too long at a time, as well as walking or standing in the hot sun for long hours, eye strain due to lots of reading and watching TV for too long at too close a range. Most of the time we can control these, yet too often we don’t. So if you forget to take your allergy meds, or you’re bent on studying all night for a final, dropping those extra few pounds in too much of a hurry, or just plain determined to finish the project before you without a respite, you’re setting yourself up for physical stress—and probably a stress-caused headache as well.

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