JOB STRESS & MENTAL ILLNESSES?
DOES JOB STRESS CONTRIBUTE TO MENTAL ILLNESSES?
I will go into detail but in short…Yes.
Image Credit @elisa_ventur
Stress isn’t something any of us get to live without. Some people barely stress in life but we all have stress because it’s part of the fight or flight response. Our bodies are equipped to handle short term stress. Actually, that short term stress can be a good thing because in the short term, senses heighten (among other things in our body) and it makes us even better at dealing with what will come our way. But I’m talking about a performance, a job interview, or encountering a wild animal.
Long Term Stress…We aren’t made for it. It’s too much for your body to constantly maintain. So instead of ramping up your senses, it starts to “turn them down”.
A good example of this is what a lot of people call “Mom Brain”
Mom’s usually started to realize this after they have had a newborn for a month or two and just can’t seem to remember anything. They are clumsier and don’t seem to have the same coordination they used to. Then the kids get a bit older and mom still just can’t seem to remember things as well as she used to.
Because mom is probably always stressed out from the physical and mental demands of a baby, so the body’s ability to remember isn’t as sharp because it’s focusing on all of the other physical issues the stress is causing.
And that stress can develop into depression and anxiety. As a matter of fact, many of the symptoms a person may have from depression and anxiety can also be seen with with chronic stress.
And to be clear this isn’t PTSD, this is just from “Everyday” stress without appropriate coping mechanisms.
Image Credit @yasmina
Now take everything I just said and apply it to your job. If your going to a job that stresses you out, that doesn’t begin the moment you walk into the door of that job. And it doesn’t begin the moment you sit in front of a computer. It starts from the moment you tried to sleep without success the night before along with the constant fatigue you feel the moment you wake up. Even if you were able to obtain a full nights rest.
That’s chronic stress and medically for some, it can lead into depression and anxiety.
But even if it doesn’t become a bigger mental illness, one could argue the issues chronic stress alone causes on a daily basis is equally is detrimental to your wellbeing as being clinically depressed.
Both can lead to physical illnesses like Heart Disease, Respiratory Issues, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Obesity, Autoimmune Diseases, and much more.
In these crazy few years, we all need to really make it a point to try and DE-STRESS!
Life will get better again, we just have to hang in there as long as we can but if you can’t.
If you can’t You aren’t alone in dealing with the struggles of everything going on. You can call a helpline, talk to someone (A therapist), and find out what free or paid help your own city and county has as well, but get the help you need.
It’s ok to ask for help and it’s ok to take breaks.
How do you De-stress from your job?
