Your Body on Stress

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Between school deadlines, friend drama, and extracurricular pressures, you might be pretty stressed out. You might even feel stressed about how stressed you are! Stress is a totally normal part of everyday life. In fact, studies suggest a little bit is actually good for you. Short-term pressure, like the nervousness you feel before a big test, can help you focus and perform. But too much long-term stress, like when you’re worrying about everything you have going on, is definitely not your friend. Read on to understand how stress affects you and learn techniques to keep it under control.

When your brain is busy releasing stress hormones, it has less energy for functions like storing memories. Stress can make you feel forgetful and disorganized.

Research shows that prolonged stress can impair your ability to regulate mood and anxiety, and may contribute to illnesses such as depression.

Stress can cause you to clench your jaw, which can give you headaches. Stress can also make you grind your teeth together, which over time can erode their protective enamel coating.

Over time, stress can increase your blood pressure, which can strain your heart.

The bacteria in your gut that aid digestion can be affected by stress. You might experience stomach pain or nausea when you’re under stress.