Effects of a stressed mind
Probably the most common, foremost and often ignored of the symptoms.It may be late onset of sleep, getting awake between sleeps or keeping awake after a short spell of sleep.All types are alarming. What is more important is the quality of sleep. We may be asleep but it may be shallow in depth.Poor sleep results in a physical drag which interferes with the day to day working and ultimately leads to mental drag and stress.A person with a poor sleep qualitatively or quantitatively is more prone to make mistakes in making good decisions.
Acute problems often lead to anxiety while chronic problems to depression.These states are usually the result of constant and continuous thinking and pondering on the same subject again and again, with addition of imaginative fears and concocted end results. This happens particularly at night in lieu of sleep or being alone.Use of anti anxiety drugs or anti- depressants do not relieve the situation and may lead to either worsening or drug addiction.
Changes in the blood pressure are commonly observed but is not an early symptom but when detected means that a middle stage has been reached.Vascular hypertension if unchecked is distastrous for the heart (heart attack), kidneys (renal failure), eyes (decrease in visual acuity), blood vessels (cerebral hemorrhage & atherosclerosis), etc. in the long run.Anti hyper tensive drugs have their limitations as they cannot alleviate the underlying cause i.e. the mental stress.
Intolerance to sugar is also a very frequent consequence of mental stress. The biggest problem is that one may harbor it for years without even having the slightest hint of it.It injures, or even kills us, very silently. No tissue in the body is spared by the onslaught of the increased blood sugar levels as sugar is an energy requirement which is basic for every living cell.
It is very natural for the mental stress to affect our other mental faculties due to their interlinkage and interdependency.Importantly it affects one's concentrating power which leads to taking improper or wrong decisions very often. It makes a person irritable more than required, unaware of immediate surroundings, less tolerant, irrational, short tempered etc. All these do not permit the person to plan in a correct perspective or to take the best decision, where it matters.
Body malaise, restlessness, problems in social relations, carelessness, lethargy etc.
© October 2000. Copyright of text and title reserved with Dr. K.S.Parihar