Stress is part of today’s society, a by-product of our way of living. Productivity has become synonymous with being a good person, working long hours the way to be promoted and to-do-lists are many people’s daily companions. The following article will look at what stress causes in our lives.
Besides the physical, mental, emotional and behavioral symptoms that stress can cause, it has some other secondary effects that we will specifically look at here:
1. Deteriorating relationships
Stress keeps people separated. Couples are spending time in front of their computers at home in the evening, finishing off work or personal things that no longer find space during the day, as opposed to spending time with each other. Families are divided as fathers work long hours and barely see their children, besides on the weekend. In the worst case, this can cause loneliness, dissatisfaction in relationship, separation or divorce.
2. Lost passion
Being under the influence of stress over a period of time can rob your passion for what you are doing. Even the most rewarding job or your devotion to your work can fade away if your body is dealing with the effects of stress. If stress remains unaddressed, lost passion can turn into losing passion for life, wondering what you are doing in this life, in this job, in this relationship etc.
3. Lethargy
Your body needs rest and relaxation to be able to perform. Another side effect of continuous stress is lethargy on a physical, emotional or mental level. On a physical level, this can lead to being overly tired even though you might have plenty of sleeping hours as your adrenals are fatigued. Emotionally and mentally you might no longer be able to deal with the simple challenges of life, like dealing with traffic or noise.
4. Accidents
Accidents are a known effect of stress. They are wake-up calls that will require you to stop and look at your life if you are able and willing to do that. Accidents are always signs that something is out of balance.
5. Death
This is not the most pleasant point in this article but it might serve to shake you up. People under various sorts of stress have killed themselves because they could not see any other way out of the situation. Asking yourself existential questions, as mentioned in point 2, can deteriorate into suicidal thoughts.
Death can also occur through stress-related accidents or through wearing the system down over a period of time until the reserves are no longer able to sustain the needs of the moment.
Make sure you notice early signs of stress and manage the stress as well as looking at the causes and making changes in your life to create a healthy balance for body, mind and spirit.