Make wishtv.com your home page

Emotional Impacts of Stress: Is Stress affecting your daily life?

More than ever, many of us are feeling the stress of everyday life, and that can have a negative impact in many ways. Doctor Stephanie Young Moss joined us today to help us recognize the signs of stress on our mental health and offer some remedies. Here’s more from her:

Stress impacts every aspect of our
lives, from physical health to emotional health. More than anything, stress
negatively impacts our emotional health. It can cause you to be depressed,
emotionally drained and exhausted. Not to mention a slew of other negative
things.

In this article, I am going to
help you identify the emotional impact of your stress and what you can do about
it.

Personality Changes That May be Caused by Stress

The first way for you to identify
if stress is impacting your emotional health, is by observing if you have any
personality changes. It’s important to note that by personality changes, this
means long-term. Everyone experiences mood shifts, good days and bad days, etc.
I’m talking about noticing these personality changes taking effect for days and
weeks at a time, or longer.

The following are noticeable
personality changes that could be caused by stress:

  • Irritability
  • Anger
  • Anxious Behavior
  • Frustratio
  • Hostility
  •  Decreased interest in
    appearance
  •  Aggressive feelings or
    behavior
  •  Depression
  •  Decreased concern in
    punctuality
  •  Reduced work efficiency or
    productivity
  •  Obsessive/compulsive
    behaviors
  •  Excessive suspiciousness or
    defensiveness
  • Lying or making excuses to cover up poor work or behavior
  •  Communication difficulties
  •  Isolation
  •  Social withdraw
  • Impulsivity

If you notice any of the following
changes taking hold on your life and emotional health, try to limit your stress
and seek additional help from your doctor or a mental health professional.

Anxiety disorders

Stress can cause certain anxiety
disorders to creep up, come back, or flare up. Stress and anxiety go hand in
hand and rarely exist without each other. If you’re overworked and overstressed
and do nothing about it, anxiety can start to take hold.

If you notice that simple
situations cause you to feel anxious or even to panic, this could be a problem
for you. If you’re unfamiliar with the feelings of anxiety, here are some
common signs of panic:

● Heart racing

● Tightness in the chest making it
difficult to breath

● Stomach pain

● Acid reflux

● Shaking

● Flushed

Depression

Stress can also impact your
emotional health by causing or worsening depression. It’s very important to
address depression if it’s starting to take hold in your life, as it can worsen
very quickly with little to no warning. If you’ve noticed any of the following
symptoms creep up and not seem to go away, consider talking to a friend, loved
one, or mental health professional for assistance:

● Decreased interest in favorite
things or activities

● Social withdraw or isolation

● Decreased interest in appearance

● Interest in doing little other
than laying around

● Decreased interest in hygiene

● Fatigue

● Sense of hopelessness

Tips
for Reducing Daily Stress

In order for you to reduce stress that you
experience on a daily basis, you need to

understand what your actual stressors are.
These worry thoughts are could be what is

adding to your stress and overwhelm. If you
are dealing with burnout, it could be making

that worse as well. Worry thoughts are
sometimes very obvious, while other times they

come from very surprising places.

The first thing you need to do is figure out
what your biggest stressors are, then

look for good resolutions to put these to
rest. Not all of them will have a good resolution,

but you might find that some of your thoughts
are just you overthinking or making a

bigger deal out of things that you really need
to.

Write
Down Your Stress/Worries and Analyze Them

Not sure what your worry thoughts are? Write
them down! This is yet another benefit of

using a journal when you struggle with stress,
worry, or overwhelm. Take a few minutes

to write down anything you are thinking about.
What you will notice is a lot of your

thoughts on paper are things you are worried
or concerned about. This typically

happens naturally without having to think too
much about it.

Be
Mindful to Reduce Daily Stress

To reduce daily stress, start practicing
mindfulness. It is not a miracle cure for

every concern in your life, but being more
mindful helps you understand your state of

mind during each activity and helps you
maintain a more positive attitude. Focus on what

you are eating, where your mind is while you
are working, your emotions while driving,

walking, or other daily activities.

If you’ve noticed that stress is
impacting your emotional health, there are a few other things you can do to
help:

  • Eliminate unnecessary stressors
  • Keep to a schedule or to-do list
  • Take time for yourself
  • Practice breathing exercises
  • Talk to someone about it
  • Analyze your diet

Many people don’t realize that
what you eat can impact your emotional health. While some foods can increase
stress, others help to reduce it. In fact, your diet has a much larger impact
on your stress levels than you might expect, and your stress can determine what
your food choices end up being. This is a vicious cycle that starts with
focusing on proper nutrition to fuel your body.

Here are a few nutrients you need
to help balance your mood and fight stress naturally are:

Omega 3 fatty acids – Healthy fats are still
important! Some Omega-3’s have been shown to have a potential benefit in people
in mood disorders. You can get your fatty acids from healthy sources of fats
like salmon, tuna, walnuts, avocado and olive oil.

Vitamin
D
– Do you know why you feel more energized and happier
during sunny days? It is the vitamin D from the sun’s UV rays. While getting
plenty of sunshine can help increase your vitamin D, many people need
supplements. Small amounts of Vitamin D can also be found in fish, eggs, and
fortified foods. People with dark complexion skin are more prone to Vitamin D
deficiencies.

Fiber–It has
been shown that high fiber foods can increase your mood. For more fiber, eating
more fruit, avocados, and whole grains is usually a good place to start.

Calcium– Calcium supplementation has been shown to be
effective for reducing mood swings and anxiety. While many people get their
calcium from dairy and yogurt, you might not be someone who can eat a lot of
dairy. In this case, you can get it from foods like almonds, sesame seeds,
tofu, and kale.

Iron– You also want to make sure you have enough
iron.  Iron can help with your mental
health, as well as balancing your energy levels. Get iron from red meat,
turkey, some nuts and seeds like pumpkin seeds and almonds, broccoli, and dark
chocolate.

Protein – The feel good hormone, Seratonin, is made from the
break down of protein, none as amino acids. You get protein from many of these
same foods, including meat, poultry and fish, dairy, cheese, eggs, and nuts.
Many vegetables and beans also have small amounts of protein.

Unhealthy Habits from Stress

Having too much
stress in your life can further encourage you to have other unhealthy habits.
Not just having nutrient deficiencies and emotional eating, but generally
overeating the wrong foods, not getting enough exercise and sleeping too much,
drinking alcohol, smoking, or doing drugs. These activities can make daily
stress in your life much worse and cause a vicious cycle that can be hard to
stop.

The Cycle Continues

Once you start unhealthy habits to deal with your stress, you may feel that temporarily it is helping, but it is hurting your mental health in the long-term. The best thing you can do is stop this cycle now, start eating right, and look for healthier ways to manage your stress.

Dr. Stephanie Young Moss is a licensed pharmacist and a certified health and nutrition life coach. Her mission is to reduce health disparities by providing families across the world with practical wellness tips that are both attainable and sustainable.

For more information visit drstephanieyomo.com or @drstephanieyomo on Instagram or Facebook.

Doctor Stephanie Will Share Some Natural Ways To Balance Out The Stress Of Our Everyday Lives