The bad news: Americans’ stress levels are at an all-time high, and reliance on unhealthy behaviors and instances of health complications due to stress indicate to researchers that the nation could be on the brink of a public health crisis.
The good news: There seems to be an increasing awareness of the health impact connected to stress – and people are taking the time to reduce it.
As the body responds to stress, the hypothalamus tells the adrenal glands to release cortisol and adrenaline, hormones intended to increase the heart rate and send blood to major organs and muscles. When the perceived threat is gone, the body returns to its normal state. But when the body is introduced to these stressors every single day, health complications – such as depression, obesity and even cardiovascular disease – can quickly rise to the surface.
In fact, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), more than half of Americans reported health problems as a result of stress in the last year, and over 84 percent of the population acknowledges that stress can have a strong impact on an individual’s life.
Though half the population claims to be excellent at knowing when their stress levels are high, the APA reports that a fraction of that sample knows how to adequately prevent stress in the first place. That number seems to be climbing, however, suggesting that more people are educating themselves on stress management and taking care of themselves as best they can.
Tessa Flattum is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.