Constant (chronic) stress is like having a car alarm constantly going off in your body 24/7!  Eventually, you’ll learn to tune it out.  But, you’ll end up with a terrible headache at the end of each day... or something far worse.

When your brain feels threatened for long periods of time, your body experiences the following changes:

High blood pressure: The freeze-flight-or-flight hormones that get your body ready to react will also eventually wear out.  The list of potential complications from high blood pressure is very long, but at the top of the list are deadly heart, eye and kidney damage.

Faltering brain and memory: The freeze-flight-or-flight hormones also weaken your ability to concentrate and form new memories.  In fact, several studies suggest that the “hippocampus” (the brain structure that’s responsible for long-term memory storage) begins to shrivel up under the influence of constant stress.

Disease: As part of the freeze-flight-or-flight response, your body releases glucose into your blood to provide more energy for serious athletic feats (like sprinting away from a vicious dog).  But over the long term, high levels of glucose can damage cells throughout your body and aggravate diabetes.

Weakened immune system: Cortisol and other stress hormones have a natural anti-inflammatory effect, which prepares you to deal with injuries.  But, they also weaken the immune system, making stressed people more susceptible to infections.

Weight gain: Cortisol promotes weight gain.  And because the freeze-flight-or-flight response diverts blood from your intestinal organs to your muscles, you’ll have a much harder time digesting your food.

Dampened sex drive: Long-term stress can dramatically decrease sex drive in men and women, possibly through a reduction in testosterone.

All the above problems have the same cause.  The freeze-flight-or-flight response diverts energy from tasks like digesting your food, maintaining your body, and burning calories, which are luxuries when the brain believes you’re in a life-threatening situation.

In Part 2, we’ll learn ways to conquer that stress.