By Hollie Muir
A little stress can sometimes be good for you, however, long term stress could have serious effects on your mental health
A little stress can sometimes be good for you, however, long term stress could have serious effects on your mental health. By being stressed all of the time (from school work or issues at home), your mental health can worsen and you could be affected by things like depression or anxiety. Stress isn’t something that you need to worry about, as stress affects everyone - we all get stressed sometimes and we all cope in different ways and recover from stressful events , at different rates.
There are different types of stress- all of which can carry physical and mental health risks:
Routine stress-related to school, work, family and other daily responsibilities
Stress brought on by a sudden negative change, for example a job loss or illness
Traumatic stress- experiencing a major accident, assault, war or natural disaster (where people might be in danger or being hurt or killed)
Most of us experience routine stress because our brain releases a chemical called cortisol. this chemical is present in the hippocampus part of our brain which controls our episodic memory. This means that when we get stressed our brain releases this chemical. This can make our mind seem ‘cloudy’ and we can struggle to think straight. This is why in stressful situations we do things that we shouldn’t ,or act differently which can make us feel embarrassed after. However, not all stress is bad because it can motivate people to perform or prepare. On the other hand, too much stress can cause long term health issues and people can experience this in different ways. We could get more irritated, angry or experience loss of sleep or headaches.
There are lots of ways to manage stress, for example: get more sleep, talk to someone or even try meditation. By meditating for as little as 10 minutes a day it may help you to control stress, decrease anxiety, improve cardiovascular health and achieve a greater capacity for relaxation. We often think that we will have no time to meditate but it can make you more aware of how much time you have as it focuses the brain and makes you feel calmer. So, by meditating you are making yourself more aware of how much time you thought you didn’t have!
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