Stress And Anxiety in Wayland MI

Stress is an experience we all go through from time to time and most of experience some type of stress on a daily basis in Wayland MI.  The medical definition of stress is "the brains response to any demand."  Given that understanding anything from an argument with a friend, to an intense workout, or fluctuations in blood sugar are a type "stress" on the brain and body.

Toxic Stress in Wayland MI

While our nervous systems and bodies are designed and equipped to handle short bursts of temporary stress any situations that are long lasting or chronic begin to become toxic to our body.  The term "toxic stress" comes from life situations or events that don't necessarily have a clear beginning and end.  Examples of chronic stress can be unhealthy relationships, poor work environments and managing a chronic illness.   Overtime this long term stress erodes away at the nervous system having many effects on quality of life and health.

So when does stress become anxiety? Anxiety is defined by the American Psychological Association "…as a persistent emotion characterized by feelings of tension, and physical changes like increased blood pressure.  People with anxiety tend to have recurrent intrusive thoughts or concerns."  While stress is a person's response to an external situation, anxiety is an internal response, meaning there may be no exact cause, but the feelings of dread or apprehension persist.  Long term anxiety has many serious effects on an individual that go far beyond just daily living.  Insomnia, weight gain or loss, social isolation, loss of productivity, increased risk of high blood pressure and depression are all side effects of anxiety.

So what causes one person to have daily moments of stress while another deals with almost never ending tension and anxiety?  Science is now showing many causes including genetic, environmental, nutritional and lifestyle can all contribute.  While there are many causes there are even more treatment options both through conventional and more alternative medicine.  Exercise and diet cannot be under estimated with links to severity, duration and recurrence of many mental health issues including stress, anxiety and depression.