Chronic Stress Causes Adrenaline-Overdose
A rush of adrenaline, in short bursts, is a normal stress response. But when adrenaline and noradrenaline are secreted frequently, due to chronic stress, the body suffers. High levels of circulating noradrenaline make your arteries and veins constrict. To counteract this constriction, your blood pressure goes up. Your heart must then work harder to force blood through your narrowed arteries.
Blood cholesterol levels rise during prolonged periods of stress. The more cholesterol you have circulating in your body, the more likely it is that your arteries will become clogged with cholesterol.
Blood sugar levels increase during prolonged periods of stress, making you more susceptible to diabetes. And studies indicate that when stressful situations last longer than a month, you are 2 1/2 times more likely to catch a cold.
Chronic stress can lead to depression, nervous breakdowns and mental illness. Too much adrenaline, secreted day after day, is harmful. How To Cope
The coping techniques listed below will not solve the problems that cause you to feel stressed. But they may help you to feel not quite so anxious, irritable or depressed. - Invite a friend over for a long weekend. Spend hours kvetching. Spill your guts, talk about your problems.
- Have a good, long cry.
- Indulge (occasionally) your guilty pleasures, even if that means reading trashy romance paperbacks or comic books, playing computer Jeopardy for hours, or watching football all day in your underwear. You deserve time to be silly and unfocused.
- Talk to yourself. Pretend your boss is standing beside you. Now tell him the many ways he angers and frustrates you. It's a little like lying on the psychiatrist's couch, only it's free.
- Go to a comedy club and laugh your head off.
- Cuddle and hug the one you love. The human touch comforts and heals.
If you are a constant worrier or a chronic complainer, remember it is just as easy to smile as it is to frown. Turn your frown upside down because too much frowning will harm you. For more info:
--Jacqueline Tresl, RN, has worked as a coronary intensive care nurse and nursing supervisor for over 20 years. For the past three years, she has written about health and happiness for numerous magazines and newspapers. Her first book, "Whoever Heard of a Horse In The House?" is scheduled for release in March 2000.
