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How stress affects your health
Stress: We've all felt it. Sometimes stress can be a positive
force, motivating you to perform well at your piano recital or
job interview. But often — like when you're stuck in traffic —
it's a negative force. If you experience stress over a
prolonged period of time, it could become chronic — unless
you take action.
Even short-lived, minor stress can have an impact. You
might get a stomach-ache before you have to give a
presentation, for example. More major acute stress, whether
caused by a fight with your spouse or an event like an
earthquake or terrorist attack, can have an even bigger
impact.
Multiple studies have shown that these sudden emotional
stresses — especially anger — can trigger heart attacks,
arrhythmias and even sudden death.
When stress starts interfering with your ability to live a
normal life for an extended period, it becomes even more
dangerous. The longer the stress lasts, the worse it is for
both your mind and body. You might feel fatigued, unable to
concentrate or irritable for no good reason, for example. But
chronic stress causes wear and tear on your body, too.
Stress can make existing problems worse. In one study, for
example, about half the participants saw improvements in
chronic headaches after learning how to stop the stressproducing habit of “catastrophizing,” or constantly thinking
negative thoughts about their pain. Chronic stress may also
cause disease, either because of changes in your body or
the overeating, smoking and other bad habits people use to
cope with stress. Other forms of chronic stress, such as
depression and low levels of social support, have also been
implicated in increased cardiovascular risk. And once you're
sick, stress can also make it harder to recover. One analysis
of past studies, for instance, suggests that cardiac patients
with so-called “Type D” personalities — characterized by
chronic distress — face higher risks of bad outcomes.
Adaptado de: <http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress.aspx>
Acessado em 01 de maio de 2015.
When a person gets sick, stress
