ROAD TO HEALTHIER LIVING WITH COACH COLLINS
THE EFFECTS OF
stress
ON YOUR HEALTH Coach Collins, a renowned fitness consultant, offers her observations and insights into the effects of stress on your health. An excerpt of dialogue between Coach Collins and a group of club members at the Barkersville Recreation Center will help you to discover ways to minimize the impact of stress in your life.
“Coach, I’ve read that stress symptoms often mimic symptoms of other problems,” Mary, a regular attendee, commented. “You’re absolutely correct. You may think illness is the blame for that nagging headache, your frequent forgetfulness or your decreased productivity at work. But the common denominator may be stress. Indeed, stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior.”
“You know when you're stressed. Your heart beats faster, your muscles tense, your stomach gets tied in knots. But the effects of stress don't stop there. Stress may be affecting your health, and you may not even realize it. Stress is a reaction to the outside world, be it work, family, home, or a relationship. It’s so powerful that it can weaken the body making it easier for a medical condition or illness to surface.”
Coach Collins began to pass around a handout. “Let me get some volunteers to read about most notable effects of stress.” “Number one talks about the affects on your body,” a lady responded. “Go ahead and read what it says, Jane,” Coach suggested.
“I’ve just attributed all of those things you’ve mentioned to a way of life, Coach,” a young woman responded.
“The effects on the body include headache, chest pain, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, muscle aches, tiredness, and sleep problems,” Jane stated.
“It has been estimated that two-thirds of all visits to physicians are for stress-related problems. Recent evidence indicates that the physical changes associated with stress may contribute to the leading causes of death – heart disease and cancer. Before we get too involved in this discussion, though, I do want to say that there is good stress. But the stress we’re going to talk about today is the bad stress; that is, the negative effects of long-term stress that will eventually cause you to experience some health problems.”
“I was recently promoted to a new position a couple of months ago, and ever since it seems like I’ve been plagued with daily headaches and ongoing sleep problems,” Shelley admitted. “Aside from the daily headaches, I’ve been waking up around three or four on most mornings unable to sleep…and because my days are so busy and demanding, I can’t seem to find that balance I need to renew and refresh my mind.” 23