Stress is one thing we all have in common, regardless of gender, location, race, or age. It’s the body’s response to internal and external changes in the environment. Sometimes, it’s a helpful nudge that reminds us to study harder or prepare more. But in many cases, the stress becomes long-term, creating a chronic response that negatively impacts our health.
Although there are thousands of books, blogs, and videos aimed at teaching you how to control your body’s stress response, much of this is automatic. Things like sweaty palms, butterflies in your stomach, or an accelerated heart rate are involuntary and come from the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. This response has served humans over thousands of years as a way to prepare them for a fight-or-flight situation.
But in today’s society, we’re more likely to develop long-term stress from problems like bills, work, illnesses or injuries, or family and friends with problems. These external and internal factors are ongoing, so the stress response in your body is constantly triggered. What is this doing to your health? Let’s dig into the science behind stress next.
1. Inflammation and Stress
Inflammation is a helpful, automatic response that your immune system implements when you’re injured or there’s an infection in the body. Chemicals are released that fight the infection or heal the damaged tissue. You’ve seen inflammation at work when you have a cut or bruise and the area becomes red, swells, and feels warm.
Acute inflammation happens quickly and lasts a short while, like when you have a cut or abrasion. It can also happen with pneumonia or cellulitis.
Chronic inflammation is caused by ongoing stress to the immune system. Rather than being helpful, ongoing inflammation damages healthy cells and tissues. Repetitive stress is dangerous to the circulatory system and can lead to heart attacks, heart failure, and boosted cholesterol levels.
When your immune system is overworked from ongoing stress, it becomes weaker, and your white blood — or nurse — cell count decreases. These cells are essential to fight off infection and heal wounds, so if you are exposed to germs or viruses, you’re more likely to get sick. If you’ve had surgery or have any skin openings, these wounds will heal more slowly.
Stress and Your Mental Health
Stress plays a significant role in your mental health, too. Acute, temporary stress, or eustress, can be a positive motivator. It’s the type of stress that you feel before a major event, a big exam, or something else important that depends on your effort. Eustress pushes you to study or prepare.
But when stress is ongoing, it can lead to psychological problems, including depression and anxiety. If you’ve been feeling down for a while and you think it’s more than just the moody blues, it could be that you’re stressed and don’t realize it, and your stress has morphed into depression or anxiety. You’ll notice other signs if this is the case, such as:
- Memory problems, as stress makes it challenging to remember or learn new things,
- Headaches
- Body aches and discomfort for no apparent reason
- Worries that you know may be irrational but you can’t stop thinking about
- Feelings of uneasiness or nausea in your stomach
- Trouble sleeping
These symptoms are easy to overlook. You can blame your headaches on your lack of sleep, for instance. But when you step back and look at them all together, it may be readily apparent that your stress is causing your mental struggles.
Stress and Your Oral Health
You may not realize it, but stress also impacts your oral health. The most obvious sign of stress in this area is bruxism, a condition in which stress causes your jaw to clench and your teeth to grind. These actions can happen when you’re awake or asleep, but sleep bruxism is the most prevalent.
Bruxism may sound like a minor issue, but it can lead to serious problems. When you’re grinding your teeth for hours in your sleep, it damages the enamel, can harm any restorations, and leads to sensitive teeth and gum disease. The ongoing clenching tightens the muscles connected to the jaw, creating tight muscles, headaches, jaw pain, and facial discomfort.
Other effects of stress on your oral health show up in less obvious ways, such as tongue scalloping if you’re chewing on your tongue. (This article by JS Dental Lab explains what a scalloped tongue looks like and how it happens).
You may find that your gums are bleeding because of the inflammation in your body. Gum inflammation can become gingivitis, which, left untreated, becomes periodontitis. This chronic type of gum disease results in problems like bad breath, loose teeth, decay, and tooth and bone loss.
Conclusion
For most of us, stress is simply a part of life. Yet, when it’s allowed to run rampant, it leads to serious damage to our physical, mental, and oral health.
We know it’s impossible to get rid of all of your stress. But armed with the knowledge of what it can do to your body and mind, you can move forward and decide to take control of the role you let stress play on your overall wellness.
