You may have several health problems, some visible and some invisible, but stress is unique in nature that affects men’s health vehemently, and it can change your taste of life in a big way.
People living with stress may look normal in appearance, but if you closely observe their behavior, then you can find some differences. The condition of depression not only makes an impact on health and fitness, but also takes a long treatment, including medical and psychological management to make it normal. So, stress and anxiety affect you in two ways and, it could gradually become a life-threatening problem beyond your imagination. It’s also found that men are more affected by the stress than women, and there are different causes and effects of stress that ultimately degrade men’s health to a great extent.
Symptoms of stress:
There is a long list of symptoms relating to the condition of stress. You can easily identify these stress symptoms in men around you, such as:
• Excess anxiety, worry, guilt, nervousness
• Frequent headaches
• Jaw clenching or pain
• Frustration and hostility
• Grinding teeth and stammering
• Problems in communication
• Feeling of tiredness, weakness, fatigue
• Trembling of lips, hands and legs
• Muscle spasms, backache
• Excess consumption of over-the-counter drugs
• Light-headedness, faintness, dizziness
• Hearing popping sounds
• Social withdrawal and living in isolation
• High sweating
• Increased smoking, alcohol or illegal drugs
• Cold or sweaty hands, feet
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Dry mouth, problems swallowing
• Frequent allergy attacks
• Nausea
• Frequent loss of self-control
• Difficulty breathing
• Insomnia, suffering from nightmares
• Sudden attacks
• Chest pain, palpitations, rapid pulse
• Variation in blood pressure
• Diminishing sexual desire
• Disorder appetite
• Overreaction to petty annoyances
• Frequent mood swings
Also Read: How to Get an Instant Relief from Day to Day Stress?
Stress affecting men’s health:
Apart from causing mental trauma, stress is affecting men’s health in different ways that is highly registered in some specific cases. Here are some of these health conditions emanating from stress.
• Stress affects man’s sex life
The impact of stress on men’s sex life is severe. A stressed man gradually weans away himself from sexual attraction and his taste in women changes over a period. It can be because of dwindling health and fitness level in men, diminished libido and loss of excitement in sexual activity, thus more stress shrouding men’s mental condition and forcing them to isolation. Stress can also result from immature ejaculation and low testosterone that may invoke a guilt feeling in men.
Experts say, some men who are suffering from stress, try to self-medicate and somehow get trapped themselves in the poor habits. Their involvement in the illicit drugs, smoke and alcohol further diminish their reproductive capacity. The lack of men’s health, diet and proper nutrition can make the condition worse.
• Stress induces heart diseases
Stress can simply make you a victim of heart diseases and, knowingly or unknowingly, you may witness some acute conditions like heart attract, heart failure and coronary artery disease. The persistent anxiety, depression and mental stress take a toll on the heart’s function that manifest in the entire body. A stagnant body function and disordered lifestyle can cause small cholesterol particles that stick to the blood vessels, posing a threat to the heart’s life.
• Stress encourages blood sugar
There is a strong positive relationship between depression and blood sugar. With the rising stress level, you help to raise insulin level too, along with disorder in certain hormones. The presence of type 2 diabetes is very common in the people living the stress.
Diabetic people already have low response capacity for the fight-or-flight, and insulin present in their bodies doesn’t unlock cells in full capacity. In this way, glucose level starts rising in the blood. Moreover, people with emotional stress witness hormonal disorder and blood glucose levels are likely to be elevated further.
• Impact of stress on respiratory and cardiovascular systems
Stress can be a cause of respiratory problems like asthma and shortness of breath. While you are in stress, you breathe faster to circulate oxygen and blood at a quicker speed. Faster breathing is one of the common stress symptoms in men that puts more strain on the blood vessels and heart, raising the risk of stroke or heart attack. Such a breathing pattern can also damage your bronchial tubes, deterring smooth breathing.
• Stress reduces immune system’s capacity
People under chronic stress are found to be more vulnerable to the viral illnesses like influenza, cough and cold. Strong immune system is like a soul of men’s health that gives the instant and befitting response to the foreign invaders, but stress can corrode this capacity over a period. Therefore, people under stress can take a longer time to recover from illness than a normal healthy person.
• Weight gain or weight loss in stress
It’s very difficult to maintain an ideal body weight under stress as you may either gain too much weight or become extremely feeble. The poor eating during stress encourages the stress hormone cortisol to increase, and thereby it adds up the most amount of fat tissue in the body. On the other hand, poor nutrition and lack of appetite can burn more calories than necessary, resulting in a reduction in body weight.
Also Read: 10 Ways for Men to Reduce Stress
Conclusion:
It would not be wrong if stress or depression were defined as silent killers of men’s health. The most important thing is to apply the recommended remedies in a proper manner to get out of the trap of stress. Meditation, yoga, relaxation technique and sports are some of the widely used methods to counter stress and maintain good health and fitness level for a long time.
Also Read: Is Stress Suppressing Your Skin?
