Your heart’s worst enemy is stress, Here’s why?

Your heart’s worst enemy is the silent killer that many ignore but it has taken a lot of lives. Most of us fear heart diseases but we rarely think about stress as an enemy of the heart.

Although you may be highly likely to die of cardiovascular diseases rather than chronic stress it is important to watch your health like a hawk. Cardiovascular diseases are a leader in causing deaths globally.

Keep your health as the top priority, every day.

Your muscles of the heart may not be able to withstand the impact of stress.

Just processing this thought is both nerve-wracking and scary.

Therefore, it is important to know when your heart is at risk. You can only fix problems that you are aware of.

1.     Why stress is the greatest enemy of your heart

The silent killer that is stress is slowly becoming a threat to humanity. Stress has been known to cause a lot of nonfatal heart attacks, however, depending on your general health you can never be sure that stressing will not cause a fatal heart attack.

The scariest thing is that even those with healthy hearts can be susceptible to stress and ultimately end up with heart problems. If you suspect you are stressed, you can take mental stress tests at your nearest health facility.

Better safe than sorry.

Remember that stress causes inflammation and by stressing you could be at risk of cardiovascular damage. As mentioned before, stress is a silent killer and some of its effects may only be felt later when they are in an advanced stage.

Your body tissues may respond negatively due to the impact of stress.

For some people, stress may result in blood clotting which can fatal. So, if you have never thought of stress as anything serious just remember that clots could kill you therefore your heart’s worst enemy is stress.

2.     Areas you are experiencing stress in

When dealing with stress it’s important to isolate the sources or causes of stress. Most of these factors are within your control so that is good news, but some are external, and you cannot stop them from happening.

However, you can manage how you react towards them.

1. Financial Stress

With inflation and an imminent recession, we are all stressed about money. Most of us are concerned about our finances. We worry whether we can make ends meet and if we will have enough to cover all the monthly bills. The biggest and most stressful part is debt. We are all drowning in debt and we miss payments monthly.

Receiving a call from our debtors is even more stressful.

Some of us go as far as not to answer the calls from those who want their money. We feel powerless and hopeless. It becomes even worse when we cannot provide for our family.

Job losses and rising food and gas prices are not helping the situation either.

So, what can you do?

Is there hope or light at the end of the tunnel? Yes!

Don’t despair you are not alone and there is a proven way to get out of debt. It’s not fast but it works. It requires you to be dedicated and to fully focus. You need to attack your debt with guzzle intensity.

The journey to getting your finances back on track is not for the faint-hearted, but you can do it.

How to handle financial stress.

• Decide to stay away from debt, and cut up all your credit cards. Getting into debt is a habit and a lifestyle you choose. Therefore, getting out of debt starts with choosing to live differently.
• Pay off debt as quickly as possible (get a second job if you must)
• Live within your means, do not spend more than you earn
• Say no to unplanned expenditures (baby showers, family dinners, black tax, unplanned trips, shopping for clothes (you have enough clothes), and unnecessary kitchen and garden equipment)
• Save for a rainy day (Murphy (Murphy’s law) will become a part of your family by visiting consistently if you don’t have an emergency fund).
• After paying off all debt, learn to invest.

Your heart’s worst enemy is stress that is caused by the mess in your finances. You cannot live like that. Decide to take action today and change it by following these steps.

The decision that enough is enough is all you need to start getting rid of financial stress.

2. Emotional stress

This is the worst one because the causes of this stress may be people that are very close to us. These could be friends or family members that are stressing us or members of the family that are sick and need our emotional, financial, and physical support.

It could be that you are worried about whether you will ever get married or your marriage feels like it is ending and you don’t know what to do.

Emotional stress could also come from worrying about situations beyond our control. It may cause anxiety. Sometimes we evaluate our lives, and we realize we have not achieved any goals in our lives. We feel like failures and we feel stuck while everyone else is succeeding. All these situations cause emotional stress, and we must learn to manage them.

A lot of recent studies show that emotional stress is one of the causes of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

How to handle emotional stress

• Take time out and reflect on life. Take some time off from work and your responsibilities.
• Decide to live a happy life by following these steps
• Decide to live in peace despite your circumstances
• If you are dealing with past hurt and failure, try forgiving
• Protect your personal space and set boundaries

3. Psychological stress

This stress should not be undermined. Experiencing chronic psychological stress is an adverse reaction to constant stress disorder. Psychological stress can be caused by anger, guilt, depression, grief, and lacking confidence in yourself (read this guide to improve your confidence and self-esteem)

How to handle psychological stress

Decide to protect your mental health by mindfulness meditation. Take time out to be quiet and enjoy calmness. When the busyness of life and stress gets to you, you have to regroup with yourself and gather your thoughts.

• Practice positive affirmations about yourself and your situation
• Empower yourself with knowledge
• Decide to be happy each day
• Celebrate the life you have and its little golden nuggets

Your heart’s worst enemy is stress that comes from your surroundings. But learn to manage it.

3.     Symptoms of stress

Although many of us do not know we are struggling with stress, we are. Often, we don’t realize that our level of stress has escalated until we cannot get out of bed in the morning or until our body has a drastic reaction that lands us in hospital.

Take note of these symptoms and see which ones you have been experiencing lately. If you have been experiencing some of these for over a week it is time to see a professional about it.

• The first and most common is poor sleep. Most people who struggle to sleep are battling stress. When we go through physical stresses or emotional stresses our brain activity is high throughout the day and at night thus sleep eludes us
• Indigestion
• High blood pressure
• Isolation
• Lack of interest in life, work, and other activities you used to enjoy
• Feeling tired all the time
• Lack of concentration
• Reduced productivity
• Binging on food or not having an appetite for food
• Headaches
• Heavy reliance on drugs or other substances to cope
• Easily irritated and constant anger outburst
• Panic attack

4.     Your heart’s worst enemy is stress: How to manage it

Getting your stress levels under control and your blood flow going by trying such measures is a good option to deal with stress. Although these ways to manage and control stress do not take away some causes of stress, they help you manage it and keep your body going.

1. Get rid of physical inactivity

Being a couch potato and sitting down 90% of your day is not going to help you.

Get into a routine of moving your body. You don’t need to become a gym freak overnight but you do need to at least take a 30-minute walk around the block. You need to get those steps in and start walking around a lot. Remember that blood flow comes naturally with movement.

Regularly taking part in habitual physical exercise is one of the best ways of stress management.

2. Eat and drink healthy

Yep, you guessed it right, what we eat, and drink has a great influence on how our body handles stress.

Eat healthy to improve the health of your heart. Although exercise is important you must feed your body and heart the nutrients and the energy it needs to withstand all the stress you put it under.

Stressed spelled backward is dessert but do not be tempted to eat sweets and cakes to overcome stress because that is not the solution.

Grab a carrot or cucumber and chew on that.

Your immune system is not strong enough to handle the stress you are experiencing so you have to help it by eating healthy and drinking loads of water.

I know you think drinking coffee keeps you awake and energetic, but a team of experts has found that our body needs water. Coffee may lead to an elevated level of emotional stress and water will help to keep the body calm.

3. Develop good sleep habits

Because some of the effects of stress include not sleeping well, you need to develop a great sleeping pattern. Decide to reduce your screen time. This could be on your laptop, phone, or TV especially two- or three hours before bedtime. This is because such devices increase our stress levels. You could be watching some disturbing news reports or scrolling through social media where you read disturbing posts.

Rather read a book and wind down

These mind-body techniques help you sleep better.

Develop a consistent pattern for bedtime. Decide to sleep at a certain hour and never go past that bedtime no matter the reason. Stress is the heart’s worst enemy and if you are to fight it you have to be prepared to put boundaries around your personal space and your life.

4. Avoid stressful situations

We all know which situations cause us stress. Avoid those and protect your personal space and peace. Avoiding certain people and events will save you from undue emotional stress and create a no-passing zone where people will realize you have boundaries that they cannot cross.

5. Take medication if recommended by a medical practitioner.

For those who struggle with chronic conditions, prior studies show that common medications recommended by doctors will help you reduce stress. Try to follow the doctor’s orders but do not rely heavily on them.

Using modern medicine can help lower stress levels and make you a happier and more peaceful person.

Finally

Stress may be caused by traumatic events that we cannot change. This makes it difficult to manage especially if we struggle to understand and accept what happens. If you have to forgive, then go ahead and use this guide to help you let go and move on. It will not be easy but it’s a good start.

Your heart’s worst enemy is stress, but you can manage and control it.

Lastly, a problem shared is a problem half solved. What are you worried about? What is causing you sleepless nights and what is your area of stress? Share with us in the comments section below.

We have a brilliant community that loves you and is willing to listen and help you.

As South Africans say: “Umuntu ngu muntu nga bantu” – You are what you are through other people.