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Your body's stress reaction was meant to
protect you. But when it's constantly on alert, your health can pay
the price. Take steps to control your stress.

Stress is a normal psychological and physical reaction to the
demands of life. But when you're unable to cope well with the stress
in your life, your mind and body may pay the price.

Your body is hard-wired by nature to react to stress in a way
originally meant to protect you against perceived threats from
predators and aggressors. But today's many demands may include
managing a huge workload, making ends meet, taking care of aging
parents as well as young children, and simply making it through the
morning rush hour. You may feel overwhelmed by these daily Stress and
wonder if you'll ever get a handle on all of these extra "threats"
— you can empower yourself to do so.

Understanding the natural stress response

If your mind and body are constantly on edge because of excessive
stress in your life, you may face serious health problems. That's
because your body's "fight-or-flight reaction" — its
natural alarm system — is constantly on.

When you encounter perceived threats — a large dog barks at you
during your morning walk, for instance — your hypothalamus, a tiny
region at the base of your brain, sets off an alarm system in your
body. Through a combination of nerve and hormonal signals, this
system prompts your adrenal glands, located atop your kidneys, to
release a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.

• Adrenaline
  increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts
  energy supplies.
  

  
  

• Cortisol, the primary stress hormone,
  increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain's
  use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that
  repair tissues. Cortisol also curbs functions that would be
  nonessential or detrimental in a fight-or-flight situation. It
  alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system,
  the reproductive system and growth processes.
  

  
  

This complex natural alarm system also communicates with regions
of your brain that control mood, motivation and fear.

When the natural stress response goes haywire

The body's stress-response system is usually self-regulating. It
decreases hormone levels and enables your body to return to normal
once a perceived threat has passed. As adrenaline and cortisol levels
drop, your heart rate and blood pressure return to baseline levels,
and other systems resume their regular activities.

But when the Stress of your life are always present, leaving you
constantly feeling stressed, tense, nervous or on edge, that
fight-or-flight reaction stays turned on. The less control you have
over potentially stress-inducing events and the more uncertainty they
create, the more likely you are to feel stressed. Even the typical
day-to-day demands of living can contribute to your body's stress
response.

The long-term activation of the stress-response system — and the
subsequent overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones — can
disrupt almost all your body's processes. This puts you at increased
risk of numerous health problems, including:

• Heart disease
  

  
  

• Sleep problems
  

  
  

• Digestive problems
  

• Depression
  

  
  

• Obesity
  

  
  

• Memory impairment
  

  
  

• Worsening of skin conditions, such as eczema
  

  
  

That's why it's so important to learn healthy ways to cope with
the Stress in your life.

Why you react to life Stress the way you do

Your reaction to a potentially stressful event is different from
anyone else's. How you react to Stress in your life includes such
factors as:

• Genetics. The
  genes that control the stress response keep most people on a fairly
  even keel, only occasionally priming the body for fight or flight.
  Overactive or under active stress responses may stem from slight
  differences in these genes.
  

  
  

• Life experiences. Strong stress reactions
  sometimes can be traced to early environmental factors. People who
  were exposed to extremely stressful events as children, such as
  neglect or abuse, tend to be particularly vulnerable to stress as
  adults.
  

  
  

You may have some friends who seem laid-back about almost
everything and others who react strongly at the slightest stress.
Most reactions to life Stress fall somewhere between those extremes.

Learning to react to life Stress in a healthy way

Stressful events are a fact of life. And you may not be able to
change your current situation.

But you can take steps to manage the impact these events have on
you. You can learn to identify what stresses you out, how to take
control of some stress-inducing circumstances, and how to take care
of yourself physically and emotionally in the face of stressful
situations.

Stress management strategies may include:

• Exercise
  

  
  

• Relaxation techniques
  

  
  

• Fostering healthy friendships
  

  
  

• Getting plenty of sleep
  

• Professional counseling or psychotherapy
  

  
  

The payoff of managing stress is peace of mind and — perhaps —
a longer, healthier life.