Stress Destroys the immune system and Brain cells

Stress can affect all aspects of your life, including your emotions, behaviors, thinking ability, and physical health. No part of the body is immune. But, because people handle stress differently, symptoms of stress can vary.



 Symptoms can be vague and may be the same as those caused by medical conditions.

Stress and Immune System

The immune system is a collection of billions of cells that travel through the bloodstream.  They move in and out of tissues and organs, defending the body against foreign bodies (antigens), such as bacteria, viruses and cancerous cells.

And during stress the body becomes unstable in it’s nervous Functions and central nervous system shuts down blood flow to certain functions like digestion leaving it open to the viruses, bacteria and cancer
You can enhance your abdominal blood flow with a circular massage anticlockwise for a 20 seconds whenever you want.

There are two types of lymphocytes:

B cells- produce antibodies which are released into the fluid surrounding the body’s cells to destroy the invading viruses and bacteria.

T cells - if the invader gets inside a cell, these (T cells) lock on to the infected cell, multiply and destroy it.

The main types of immune cells are white blood cells. There are two types of white blood cells – lymphocytes and phagocytes.

When we’re stressed, the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens is reduced. That is why we are more susceptible to infections.

The stress hormone corticosteroid can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system (e.g. lowers the number of lymphocytes). 

corticosteroid has been shown to damage and kill cells in the hippocampus (the brainarea responsible for your episodic memory

Physical symptoms of stress include:

• Low energy
• Headaches
• Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea
• Aches, pains, and tense muscles
• Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
• Insomnia
• Frequent colds and infections
• Loss of sexual desire and/or ability
• Nervousness and shaking, ringing in the ear, cold or sweaty hands and feet
• Dry mouth and difficulty swallowing
• Clenched jaw and grinding teeth

Cognitive symptoms of stress include:

• Constant worrying
• Racing thoughts
• Forgetfulness and disorganization
• Inability to focus
• Poor judgment
• Being pessimistic or seeing only the negative side

Behavioral symptoms of stress include:

• Changes in appetite -- either not eating or eating too much
• Procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities
• Increased use of alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes
• Exhibiting more nervous behaviors, such as nail biting, fidgeting, and pacing
• Mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and personality disorders
• Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms, heart attacks, and stroke
• Obesity and other eating disorders
• Menstrual problems
• Sexual dysfunction, such as impotence and premature ejaculation in men and loss of sexual desire in both men and women
• Skin and hair problems, such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema, and permanent hair loss
• Gastrointestinal problems, such as GERD, gastritis, ulcerative colitis, and irritable colon

Stress And Digestion

Digestion is controlled by the enteric nervous system, a system composed of hundreds of millions of nerves that communicate with the central nervous system. When stress activates the "flight or fight" response in your central nervous system, digestion can shut down because your central nervous system shuts down blood flow, affects the contractions of your digestive muscles, and decreases secretions needed for digestion. Stress can cause inflammation of the gastrointestinal system, and make you more susceptible to infection.

"Stress can cause your esophagus to go into spasms. It can increase the acid in your stomach causing indigestion. Under stress, the mill in your stomach can shut down and make you feel nauseous. Stress can cause your colon to react in a way that gives you diarrhea or constipation.

Broken Heart
Broken heart syndrome, also called stress-induced cardiomyopathy or takotsubo cardiomyopathy, can strike even if you’re healthy. (Tako tsubo, by the way, are octopus traps that resemble the pot-like shape of the stricken heart.)

Women are more likely than men to experience the sudden, intense chest pain — the reaction to a surge of stress hormones — that can be caused by an emotionally stressful event. It could be the death of a loved one or even a divorce, breakup or physical separation, betrayal or romantic rejection. It could even happen after a good shock (like winning the lottery.)

Broken heart syndrome may be misdiagnosed as a heart attack because the symptoms and test results are similar. In fact, tests show dramatic changes in rhythm and blood substances that are typical of a heart attack. But unlike a heart attack, there’s no evidence of blocked heart arteries in broken heart syndrome.

In broken heart syndrome, a part of your heart temporarily enlarges and doesn’t pump well, while the rest of your heart functions normally or with even more forceful contractions. Researchers are just starting to learn the causes, and how to diagnose and treat it.

The bad news: Broken heart syndrome can lead to severe, short-term heart muscle failure.

The good news: Broken heart syndrome is usually treatable. Most people who experience it make a full recovery within weeks, and they’re at low risk for it happening again (although in rare cases in can be fatal). 

Anxiety

Suddenly, your heart speed up. feeling weak and lightheaded. you can't get a deep breath. Then your chest starts to hurt and your mind is racing. You feel like everything around you is Crashing, you feel like this might be it. All of the sudden you have one final moment of extreme terror… then suddenly it goes away.

You may know that what you experienced was an anxiety attack

Anxiety And Dizziness

Hyper- and hypoventilation - taking in too much or too little oxygen. Hyper and hypoventilation can change the CO2 levels in the blood, which can cause a myriad of anxiety-like symptoms, such as dizziness.

active stress response - behaving in an apprehensive manner activates the stress response. The stress response secretes stress hormones into the bloodstream where they bring about specific physiological, psychological, and emotional changes that enhance the body’s ability to deal with a threat - to either fight with or flee from it - which is the reason the stress response is often referred to as the fight or flight response.

Some of the stress response changes cause the body to shunt blood to body parts vital for survival and away from those that aren’t. These changes also cause the heart rate and respiration to increase. And many more. These changes alone can cause a person to feel ‘dizzy’ and lightheaded.

Persistently elevated stress - stress impacts the body’s nervous system. Too much stress can cause the nervous system to act in odd ways, which can affect our sense of balance.

Fatigue: Behaving in an overly apprehensive manner stresses the body, and a body that’s under sustained stress can become overworked and tired. Dizziness commonly occurs when we’re over tired.

Hyperventilation

While anxiety is to blame for hyperventilation, hyperventilation is to blame for dozens of the worst symptoms of anxiety. Hyperventilation can cause so many problems that some doctors label it its own disorder, known as "hyperventilation syndrome."

·         Breathing Too Fast– Breathing too fast is the most common way to hyperventilate, and very common with anxiety. During periods of intense anxiety, the body goes into fight or flight mode and starts breathing quickly as it prepares to fight or flee. But since there is no danger, your body just keeps hyperventilating, until you've started to experience the physical symptoms that come from extensive hyperventilation.

·         Thinking About Breathing– Many people with panic attacks have a tendency to think about their own breathing. Unfortunately, this can also lead to symptoms of hyperventilation, because it causes your body to essentially breathe more than it needed to previously. Your body knows how much it needs, and often it needs very little. But when you think about your breathing, you tend to breathe far more than you actually need to, leading to hyperventilation.

·         Unnecessary Deep Breaths– Finally, another often forgotten way to hyperventilate is to take several long, unnecessarily deep breaths. If you have a tendency to yawn when you're nervous or try to breathe in until your chest expands when your body isn't asking for it, that can lead to hyperventilation as well – especially if you're also breathing in too quickly to do it.

·         One of the main issues with hyperventilation is that your body starts to feel shortness of breath. Your body feels as though it's not getting enough oxygen, when the problem is actually the opposite.

·         So the reaction that most people have to hyperventilate is unintentionally to hyperventilate more. They try to breathe in too much air too quickly because they feel like they're not completely breathing, causing the hyperventilation to get worse.

Symptoms of Hyperventilation

Hyperventilation is generally not dangerous. But it causes symptoms that mimic very dangerous disorders. Hyperventilation causes carbon dioxide levels to drop very low in your blood stream. This lack of balance causes your blood vessels to constrict and your nerves to fire incorrectly. All of this leads to a host of problems that those with anxiety attacks will find very familiar, including:

·         Rapid heartbeat.

·         Chest pains.

·         Lightheadedness/feelings of faint.

·         Difficulty concentrating.

·         Shortness of breath

·         Weak or tingling limbs.

On their own, these symptoms would already cause significant discomfort. When combined with anxiety, these symptoms often lead to severe anxiety attacks, health fears, and more.

Prevent Hyperventilation

·         Breathe in through your nose slowly for 5 seconds.

·         Hold for three seconds.

·         Breathe out through pursed lips for 7 seconds.

Walking

·         Check Your Clothes and Posture– Once you become more prone to hyperventilation, there are issues that may increase your risk. Tight clothing, for example, or a belt that is squeezing your stomach too tightly may be causing your hyperventilation. Posture may also be a contributing factor. Fixing these can provide some relief.

Mental Distraction– Remember, your body wants to breathe normally. Even though some hyperventilation happens against your will, once you've noticed hyperventilation you'll find you have a tendency to make it worse. If you can distract yourself mentally and not think about your breathing as often, you should be able to control the extent of your hyperventilation.

Nervous Breakdown

A nervous breakdown can be described as an acute emotional or psychological collapse. The term nervous breakdown is not a medical term, but rather a colloquial term used by the general public to refer to and characterize a wide range of mental illnesses.

It generally occurs when a person is unable to function in social roles anymore, experiencing severe depression or feelings of being out of touch with reality. This often occurs after a long period of stress which has not been adequately dealt with.

This inability to function can occur in both work and personal arenas, resulting in difficulty in fulfilling obligations. It also causes the individual to develop physical, mental and emotional symptoms. A person experiencing symptoms of a nervous breakdown may feel extreme tiredness, weakness, episodes of uncontrollable crying, confusion, disorientation and feelings of worthlessness.

There may also be a loss of self-esteem and confidence, extreme weight loss or weight gain, disrupted sleep patterns and feelings of guilt and despair. In severe cases, an inability to move, called catatonic posturing, may result. This is a serious psychiatric condition and should not be taken lightly.

Physical symptoms of a nervous breakdown

·         Sleep disruption - much longer periods of sleep or insomnia

·         Diarrhea

·         Constipation

·         Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

·         Breathing problems

·         Migraine headaches

·         Low libido

·         Memory loss

·         Disrupted menstrual cycle

·         Extreme exhaustion/fatigue

·         Feelings of persistent anxiety or panic attacks

·         Significant changes in appetite, such as eating too little or too much (comfort eating)

·         Visual/eye disturbances

Emotional symptoms

·         Anxiety

·         Depression

·         Agitation and restlessness

·         Indecision

·         Loss of confidence and self esteem

·         Inability to stop crying

·         Feelings of guilt, poor judgment

·         Disinterest in social life and work or alienation from previously close friends and family

·         Inability to pursue a normal life, normal activities or normal relationships

·         Increasing dependence on alcohol or drugs

·         Paranoid thoughts, such as the thought people are trying to harm you

·         Seeing people who are not there

·         Thoughts of dying or wish to die

·         Thoughts of grandeur or invincibility

·         Having flashbacks to a prior traumatic event

·         Hearing voices

Behavioral symptoms

·         Mood swings

·         Strange behavior such as odd body movements or undressing in public

·         Exhibiting strong or violent anger

What Causes a Nervous Breakdown

There is always a trigger or catalyst that sparks a nervous breakdown. Breakdowns usually stem from a change in a major life, however they may also be attributed to an accumulation of factors. Factors that may contribute to a breakdown include:

·         Stress

·         Depression

·         Genetics (family history)

·         Anxiety surrounding major life changes or disorders

·         Extreme guilt or emotional problems

·         Alcohol and drug abuse