Chronic Stress Impacts Our Ability to Stave Off Infection, Illness
What’s the most stressful part of your day, and what instantly comes to mind when thinking about it?
For many, it’s the morning gridlock, which can summon a rush of blood to the head, as we look around frantically for a quick reprieve in traffic en route to the office.Or maybe it’s the anticipation of a standing weekly meeting, where you feel your voice is never heard.
These particular morning aggravations can be so much more than only distracting — because constant worrying actually affects the body, according to an article last week in The Atlantic.
Want to live a long, fulfilling life? You may need to curb your chronic stress. Easier said than done for some.
Adrenaline, in the short term, provides key benefits to the body in the form of a surge of energy to your major muscles.
But when you’re stressed and not entirely in control of your emotions, adrenaline can speed up your heart rate and raise your blood pressure, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
In addition, chronic stress can hamper the function of some immune cells, slowing down and even impacting the body’s ability to stave off infection or illness. It can also slow the rate in which you heal.
Understanding the root causes of your stress can help you live a more productive, healthy and happy life.
For leaders, tackling the causes of stress in employees and throughout the organization can lead to higher performance, fewer missed days and, most importantly, reinforces your company truly cares for its employees.
Start by diagnosing stress through TTI’s Stress Quotient™ assessment, which measures seven ways stress manifests itself and reveals the major sources of organizational anxiety.
Our lives will always be full of stressful situations, but what matters most to your head and your heart is how you respond to and properly manage these situations.
In addition, viewing stressful situations as manageable will allow you to perform better in the short term — and stay healthy in the long term.
It may even cause you to think twice about blaring your car horn and tailgating that slow driver.
