Although stress can cause physical and mental health symptoms, it isn’t a medical condition. Stress is the body’s natural response to feeling under pressure and is a normal part of everyday life. Stress is often considered to be a negative feeling; however, its effects can help you deal with pressured situations by making you feel more motivated or even excited by a challenge. The ways that people choose to reduce or manage their stress will vary, often depending on the cause of the stress that they are feeling.
When we feel under pressure, our bodies release cortisol and adrenaline. These are the hormones that support our ‘fight or flight’ response. While this hormonal boost can be helpful in dealing with a short-term situation, producing high levels of cortisol and adrenaline over longer periods of time could affect your long-term health. Understanding what is causing your stress can help you better manage its effects.
Stress can be caused by difficult or challenging situations in either our work or personal lives. Issues that cause stress can be temporary, or it could be that an area of our life, for example unhappiness at work, can cause ongoing problems. Situations that cause stress typically include those where we feel we are not in control of what is happening or the potential outcomes, or when we feel under such pressure that we can’t cope with all the demands being made. Sometimes we may have a general feeling of stress but not be able to pinpoint the exact cause. This may be because we feel under pressure in a number of ways. For example, money worries may, in turn, affect our relationships, both of which have a negative effect on our wellbeing.
Everyone experiences stress from time to time. However, some people learn to manage stress and perhaps draw on its positive effects better than others. The causes and effects of stress differ between individuals, as we all have different life experiences and support networks that help us deal with pressure in various ways. Around half of European workers consider stress to be common in their workplace, and it contributes to around half of all lost working days.(1)
It’s important to remember that everyone experiences autism differently. Just like anyone else, autistic people have their own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes.
Stress can cause physical, mental, and behavioural symptoms.
Physical symptoms can include:
Mental symptoms can include:
Changes in behaviour can include:
While most stress is a normal part of everyday life with no long-term effects, ongoing stress can cause knock-on effects and be linked to mental health issues.
People suffering from ongoing or frequent high levels of stress that they are unable to manage effectively may go on to develop a mental health problem such as anxiety or depression.
The pressure of managing mental health problems may, conversely, also become a cause of stress.
The effects of stress on individuals will vary depending on their ability to manage them, which can in turn be affected by factors such as their level of emotional resilience, their lived experience of dealing with challenging situations, the support network of family and friends around them, and how well other areas of their life are going at the time.
While you may be aware that you are feeling under pressure mentally, the first real signs that stress is having an effect on your wellbeing are often physical symptoms, such as being tired but having problems sleeping, or experiencing headaches or digestive issues.
The causes and risk factors for stress vary with each individual. Stress itself may lead to further physical or mental health problems.
Stress is normally triggered by situations within your everyday life that place you under pressure. These can involve negative pressure such as problems at work, or the natural challenges felt when dealing with life changes such as a wedding, a new baby, or retirement. Typical causes of stress can include:
Situations that may generally be considered as happy events but that can still cause stress include:
Stress doesn’t have to be caused by just one big issue; it can also be the result of a number of smaller worries that build up over time.
Stress is not hereditary. However, your ability to deal with stress and its effects may be affected by behaviour and techniques you learned at a young age.
Being under pressure is a normal part of life and everyone will feel stressed at some point. The stress you feel from being under pressure can be a positive force, helping you to face up to challenges and giving you the motivation to deal effectively with difficult situations. However, it can also have a negative effect, depending on how it is managed.
Feelings of stress are usually a result of everyday events that are temporary and will change over time. This kind of stress is a normal part of life. However, long-term stress that isn’t managed well can lead to health problems and wellbeing choices that could impact on your life expectancy.
With ongoing stress, the temporary symptoms associated with stress can develop into chronic health issues affecting the immune and digestive systems, and cause problems with your heart, sleep, and reproductive health.
Over time, continued stress may also lead to mental disorders such as depression or anxiety. These can be exacerbated by behavioural changes such as increased drinking or smoking.
There is no specific treatment or medication for stress because it isn’t a medical condition in itself. However, there is support available to reduce its effects and help manage the possible symptoms.
If you are struggling to cope, or the symptoms of your stress or anxiety won’t go away, you should speak to your doctor or other health professional, as there are treatments available that could help. These include talking therapies, medication, mindfulness, ecotherapy, and complementary therapies.
Look into our Consumer Health section and discover Neuraxbiotic Zen, a probiotic that, promoting the intestinal flora balance, helps alleviate stress symptoms, thanks to the patented probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum DR7 and magnesium. It acts on the gut-brain axis and helps modulate the biological substances that regulate stress. Magnesium complements the action and contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system.
Det finns olika läkemedel som kan hjälpa till att minska eller hantera vissa av effekterna av stress.
Läkare kan ordinera antidepressiva medel vid depression eller ångest, eller läkemedel för att förbättra sömnen och lindra fysiska symtom såsom matsmältningsproblem eller högt blodtryck.
I många fall kan läkaren dock rekommendera att du först provar läkemedelsfria metoder för att minska effekterna av stress, till exempel samtalsterapi eller andra former av psykologiskt stöd.
Samtalsterapi är utformad för att hjälpa människor att hantera mentala och känslomässiga problem, såsom stress. Om du har svårt att hantera stress kan du först prata med din läkare, som kan ge råd om det bästa sättet att påbörja behandlingen.
Samtalsterapi kan inkludera:
Forskning visar att det finns en viktig koppling mellan hjärnan, tarmen och de fördelaktiga mikroorganismer som lever i matsmältningssystemet — den så kallade tarm-hjärna-axeln. Denna koppling kan påverka hur kroppen hanterar perioder av stress.
Vissa livsmedel kan bidra till att minska stress genom att sänka nivåerna av stresshormonerna kortisol och adrenalin. En hälsosam och balanserad kost är också viktig för att stödja den allmänna fysiska hälsan, inklusive blodtryck och hjärtfunktion.
Livsmedel som anses bidra till att minska stress inkluderar:
Fysisk aktivitet är ett utmärkt sätt att förbättra både det fysiska och mentala välbefinnandet. Det hjälper till att hantera effekterna av stress och bidrar till ett bättre humör.
Att öka den fysiska aktiviteten betyder inte nödvändigtvis att du måste gå till gymmet, delta i aerobics eller ägna dig åt organiserad sport — du kan vara aktiv på ditt eget sätt.
Att röra sig minst 30 minuter om dagen kan förbättra känslan av välbefinnande och självkänsla. Du kan till exempel gå med i vandringsgrupper, delta i gratisaktiviteter i ditt område eller prova kurser som dans, yoga eller simning.
Om du inte har varit aktiv på ett tag kan du börja med att öka intensiteten i dina vardagsaktiviteter — gå i trappor oftare, dansa hemma till musik eller ägna dig åt trädgårdsarbete. Om du har ett funktionshinder eller ett långvarigt hälsotillstånd är det bra att rådfråga din läkare om säkra och anpassade träningsalternativ.
Genom att göra fysisk aktivitet till en naturlig del av din vardag, snarare än att se det som något du "måste" göra, kan du skapa hållbara och hälsosamma vanor. Du kan också komplettera detta med andra metoder för att förbättra ditt välbefinnande, såsom meditation och andningsövningar.
While some stress is inevitable in everyday life, it is possible to reduce and manage its effects. By identifying what causes your stress, you may be able to avoid it in some cases or develop the emotional resilience to cope with stress better. By recognising the symptoms you will also be able to reduce or better manage them. A review of evidence conducted by the New Economics Foundation suggests there are five steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing(2):
Try to keep in touch with people who can provide emotional support and practical help and spend time with your family, for example eating dinner together. Make time for a social life – for example, arrange a day out with friends or have lunch with a colleague. Find a volunteering role that gets you out and about.
Regular exercise will support your physical and mental health. Try to introduce regular activity into your daily life in ways that you enjoy. Remember that you don’t have to take part in organised exercise or join a gym – get active in the ways you enjoy and at a level you’re comfortable with. Discuss your ideas with your doctor if you’re unsure about what level of activity will be safe for you, for example, if you have a long-term health condition.
Learning something new can improve your mental wellbeing, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Consider joining a local college course where you can share the experience and meet new people. If you don’t fancy joining a class, try something challenging at home such as DIY or cooking. And why not ask about any learning opportunities at work?
Acts of giving and kindness can help improve your mental wellbeing by creating positive feelings, giving you a feeling of purpose and helping you connect with other people. Support others by asking friends, family, or colleagues how they are and really listening to their answer. You can also volunteer in your community or spend time with people who need support or company.
Pay more attention to the present moment, as this can improve your mental wellbeing. This includes your thoughts and feelings, your body, and the world around you. Mindfulness can positively change the way you feel about life and how you approach challenges. Ask your doctor or other health professional about where you can get support with mindfulness.
Much research into stress focuses on ways that people can effectively manage its symptoms. For example, research has been carried out into how music can lead to feelings of pleasure(3) and its effects on stress within couples(4) and recovery from stressful situations(5).
A paper in the journal Experimental and Molecular Medicine also considers the effect of stress on release of the hormone dopamine and how it helps us select the best way to cope with stressful situations.(6)
The US publication Psychology Today(7) has highlighted research on strategies for stress management. The methods covered include reframing our stressors in a less negative way, improving our planning, learning to relax, affirming our values and using our strengths, being more forgiving, practising mindfulness, and expressing gratitude.
Researchers looking at the gut–brain axis are also investigating the importance of the human microbiota (the ‘good’ bacteria and other microorganisms that live in our digestive system). The gut microbiota has been implicated in a variety of stress-related conditions, including anxiety, depression, and irritable bowel syndrome, although additional research in humans is needed to reveal the relative impact and causal contribution of the microbiota to stress-related disorders(8).
Stress