What Happens to Your Body When You’re Stressed

23 Feb

There is a lot of talk about ‘stress’ here at Emily + the Plants, and really that’s no surprise seems as one of the highest factors in cfs/me + burnout onset is prolonged and elevated stress.

But what actually is STRESS?

If you don’t understand what stress is, what forms it can come in, and what it’s actually doing to your body internally, then really it’s just some vague term or threat like the boogie monster, right?

What is Stress + Where Does it Come From

First things first, there’s more than one cause of stress that can happen for your body. Just because you don’t necessarily 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 stressed, doesn’t mean you’re not! And stress isn’t always just a mental thing. Stress can show up —⠀

Mentally -

Mentally stress can show up as worrying about finances, relationships, work, your to-do lists or having anxious thoughts about any situation past or present. It can even be worrying about the future.⠀⠀

Physically -

Pushing yourself working out too much (or not enough and putting stress on your heart!), an injury, infection, poor diet, poor posture, pushing yourself too hard in a physically demanding or busy job

Physiologically -

Blood sugar imbalance, lack of sleep, chronic gut infections, and antibiotics

Emotionally -

A traumatic event such as death or loss of a loved one, codependent or toxic relationships, bullying…Anything that your body + soul feel is traumatic

Energetically -

Feeling unsafe in the world, unloved or ostracised in any way from who you see as your community. Not being in alignment with your body + soul desires eg. doing work you don’t love or being in a relationship that isn’t right for you.

Feeling like you don’t deserve to be healthy

Environmentally-

Toxins, pesticides, heavy metals, plastics + other endocrine disrupters, and air pollution can all cause stress for the body + are things we come into contact with on a daily basis in our water, food + products

So most of us are dealing with some degree of stress each + every day!

What Stress Does to The Body

So when I talk about the damage stress can do to your body what do I mean? Again, it can feel pretty vague if you don’t understand just how wide-spread and long lasting that damage can be. Here’s just a brief idea of the damage that prolonged periods if stress can cause :

(and by prolonged I mean anything longer than consistent stress for 2-3 months).

inflammation throughout the body which can lead to many forms of serious illness + disease
unbalanced hormones which can result in thyroid problems, depression + anxiety, painful or abnormal periods, and infertility if left untreated
digestive issues such as bloating, gas, IBS, leaky gut + more
trouble sleeping properly on a regular basis
increased injuries
a lowered immune system
stops the body properly digesting nutrients from our food
and so much more…
unbalanced blood sugar

And once you’ve had a long period of stress and burnt yourself out that can take years to fully heal from.

While the effects of stress may not be evident or seen straight away there are a number of signs + symptoms to show that you are stressed. Things such as eczema + psoriasis, not being able to sleep, constant colds + infections, trouble concentrating or remembering things, knotted muscles tension or pain (most often in the neck, shoulders and back), craving sweet sugary foods or carbs…. These are all signs that your body is struggling and needs to rest and recuperate. As well as some of the very early warning signs of burnout + chronic fatigue syndrome.

So How Do you heal when surrounded by stress triggers?

When your body is dealing with consistent stress it leaves your nervous system in fight-flight-freeze-fawn meaning your adrenaline + cortisol levels are high and everything you have is focused on escape or fighting back. This is your sympathetic nervous system response.

In this state your body cannot heal.

To heal your body must first feel SAFE. That means moving into the parasympathetic nervous system known as the rest-digest-heal mode.

In the early stages of cfs/me, chronic fatigue + burnout recovery, there are two steps I ask all my clients to focus on