When Stress Becomes An Illness

The accelerated pace of life that we lead generates stress. Every day, more and more people suffer from the rhythm imposed by the obligations arising from our daily lives. We take care of several things at the same time and in addition, we want to do it quickly and well. This level of requirement and the pressure we put on ourselves with all our responsibilities end up being costly.

There are more and more studies exploring the consequences of prolonged stress in our body. The results show that settling into a state dominated by stress is very dangerous for our health. It is very difficult to live a life without worry, but our attitude towards it is decisive. Psychosomatic illnesses are an example of the importance of our mental state as well as the body / mind connection.

Cortisol is a thyroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland. It is secreted when we are stressed. On the other hand, when it is released for a long time, it puts our health at risk. Cortisol produces the secretion of glucose in the blood to send a large amount of energy to the muscles. This aims to provide us with energy in emergency situations.

When stress arises at a one-time point, the body restores hormonal levels. However, when the situation continues for a long time, adverse symptoms appear, such as:

• Changes in behavior, irritability, bad mood
• Hypertension
• Headache
• Digestive issues
• Lack of appetite or disproportionate hunger
• Muscle aches
• Memory loss
• Affecting the immune system

All these symptoms produced by cortisol can, in the long run, lead to pathology. Indeed, cortisol is the cause of diseases such as hyperthyroidism, but also of various cardiovascular problems (angina pectoris, myocardial infarction), skin infections (herpes, psoriasis, eczema) and digestive diseases ( ulcers, gastritis).

Psychosomatic illnesses are physical illnesses that arise from stress or any other type of psychological discomfort that ends up expressing itself as illness. DSM-5 has cataloged psychosomatic illnesses as somatic symptom disorders and related disorders. The lack of physical or biological evidence that explains each patient’s symptomatology makes it difficult to find an effective treatment to combat this problem.

The symptoms that usually appear are different, but all of them are sources of discomfort and complicate the normal course of daily life. These symptoms are not associated with a physical cause that explains them. Thus, it is important to detect that it is a psychosomatic illness in order to be able to find a solution, then redirecting the patient to a mental health specialist.

Symptoms can be general or specific and sometimes are identified as normal sensations (eg feeling hungry) or mistaken for symptoms characteristic of mild illnesses (eg colds). The most common symptom recorded in this type of patient is pain.

According to the Texas Heart Institute, stress is one of the factors that most increases the likelihood of suffering from cardiovascular disease. Indeed, stress increases heart rate and blood pressure, and at the same time the need for oxygen in the heart.

The journal Nature published an article claiming that there is a direct relationship between stress and cancer. Tian Xu’s experiments revealed that “stressed” cells can emit signals that generate tumors, affecting neighboring healthy cells. The positive side of this discovery is the possibility of taking a new path to fight cancer, intercepting and blocking the stress signals that cells exchange.

A group of Argentinian researchers have identified stress as a trigger for the onset of dementia in their studies . According to a group led by Dr. Reich, stress can trigger a degenerative process in the brain and project it onto the neuroendocrine and immune system. Even if this does not imply a direct origin, it would be interesting to continue to research to what extent this relationship exists.

Either way, what seems clear is that a continuous state of over-activation in our body undermines our defenses and makes us more susceptible to disease. This cause is not reflected by any MRI, which is why identifying the origin of psychosomatic illness is so complicated, and often rejected by patients.