Ever wonder what stress can do to you?  Stress can affect your health.  It can affect your sleep, in a bad way.  It can affect your stomach, and give you head aches, that end up as migraines.  It can shape how you manage relationships, and for some it can increase drug and alcohol use creating even more problems in your life.  Stress can come from relationships, work, feeling alone, poor time management, depression, anxiety, and so many other places.  Managing stress is important for your health.

                I have worked with so many people who struggle with stress, coming from all areas of their life.  For many, stress starts with basic human needs.  They are having trouble with food, clothing and shelter.  We have talked about this before, but it’s hard to manage stress if you have no place to live and nothing to eat.  For people who don’t have support, the stress can be even higher as they try to manage basic needs.  It’s hard to think about going to college if you are having trouble finding out where you could sleep tonight.  With this level of stress, and need, some may struggle with multiple medical issues related to lack of nutrition and basic health preventions, like medications or even vitamins to feed the body.

                Once you have basic needs taken care of, you can move to other issues that cause stress.  Finding a job that brings income and a feeling of accomplishment is a start.  Developing relationships that are supportive is another skill than can help with stress.  Imagine the stress that comes with making choices to do things that are against the law.  Don’t make those choices, there are other options, even if it doesn’t seem that way.  Those can affect so many things related to your health, from over eating, under eating, to other food issues.  It can create drug and alcohol dependence adding to stress, in the long run.

                When it comes to relationships, learn how to understand people, and what they may bring to the table.  Someone with communication skills, who can share things, is a great find.  Someone who is manipulative and aggressive only adds to stress.   Relationships and stress can have effects on your mental health.   Violent relationships can affect your stress, but also your physical health.  Broken arms, dental problems, and broken ribs are only some of the issues that my patients have disclosed, causing long term health issues.

                There will never be a time when people have no stress.  Stress comes with being human.  There are things you can control to manage your stress, and help limit effects on your health.    Do what you can to manage your stress so you can remain healthy and happy.  There is so much information about stress and health.  Do some research, and learn more about it.  This article can be a start, to many more.  Take care to manage stress.  It’s part of being happy, for life.