Vol. 9, Issue 4 (2020)

Author(s):
Sangya Singh and Dr. Aditi Vats

Abstract:
Stress affects all of us. One may notice some of the symptoms of stress during busy times at work place, when managing your finances, or when coping with a challenging relationship. Stress is everywhere. Human bodies are designed to handle small doses of stress at a time. But, we are not equipped to handle long-term, chronic stress without ill consequences. Stress symptoms may be affecting your health, even though you might not realize it. Indeed, stress symptoms can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings, and your behavior. Being able to recognize common stress symptoms can help you manage them. Stress that's left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. Stress, Illness and the Immune System. When we're stressed, the immune system's ability to fight off antigens is reduced. That is why we are more susceptible to infections. The stress hormone corticosteroid can suppress the effectiveness of the immune system (e.g. lowers the number of lymphocytes).