How Stress Saps Your Health
Short-term (acute) stress causes muscles in the body to tense up. While this tension normally goes away once the stressful event is over, chronic stress can leave muscles in a constant state of guardedness, leading to muscle aches. Tension headaches are strongly associated with high levels of stress and are thought to be influenced by muscle tension in the head and neck. Back pain is another common sensation related to stressful circumstances. Even if the pain isn’t directly caused by stress, stressful experiences may intensify perception of pain. This is particularly true for those with chronic pain conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
Reviewed by:
Review Date:
May 15, 2014Citation:
University of Maryland Medical Center, "Stress" Harvard Medical School, "How Stress Harms Your Physical and Psychological Health" Mayo Clinic, "Stress basics" National Sleep Foundation, "Stress and Insomnia" Anxiety and Depression Association of America, "Stress and Anxiety Interfere With Sleep" Journal Of Clinical Sleep Medicine, "Sleep Quality and Functional Disability in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis" Mayo Clinic, "Low sex drive in women Causes" Mayo Clinic, "Stress symptoms: Effects on your body and behavior" American Phycological Association, "Stress Effects on the Body" The American Institute of Stress, "Commons Signs and Sympotons of Stress" Fox News, "High levels of long-term stress linked to two-fold increased risk of infertility" Harvard Medical School, "The gut-brain connection" Psychological Bulletin, "Psychological Stress and the Human Immune System: A Meta-Analytic Study of 30 Years of Inquiry" National Institute of Mental Health, "Fact Sheet on Stress" Annual Review Of Clinical Psychology, "STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological Determinants" Journal of Neuroscience, "Stressed Memories: How Acute Stress Affects Memory Formation in Humans" American Journal of Psychiatry, "Effects of Chronic Stress on Memory Decline in Cognitively Normal and Mildly Impaired Older Adu Harvard Medical School, "Understanding the Stress Response" Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, "Stressful social relations and mortality: a prospective cohort study" OregonLive, "Stress can shorten your life, an Oregon State University study finds" Mayo Clinic, "Stress symptoms: Effects on your body and behavior" Courtesy of Viktor Gladkov | Dreamstime Courtesy of Sebastian Kaulitzki | Dreamstime Courtesy of Alexandre Miguel Da Silva Nunes | Dreamstime Courtesy of Alon Othnay | Dreamstime Courtesy of Citalliance | Dreamstime Courtesy of Ginasanders | Dreamstime Courtesy of Ana Blazic Pavlovic | Dreamstime Courtesy of Subbotina | Dreamstime Courtesy of Diego Vito Cervo | Dreamstime Courtesy of Dinozzo | Dreamstime Courtesy of Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime Courtesy of Alexander Raths | Dreamstime Courtesy of Marco Lensi | Dreamstime
Last Updated:
July 1, 2014