Stress is a natural occurrence that actually keeps us alive.At the onset of stress our body immediately releases adrenaline, for ‘flight or fight’ reflexes, and switches our body from burning fat to leaching the ready but limited supply of glycogen in our muscles.
This allows us to be extremely alert, full of energy to defend our lives (or lives of our children) and not feel pain long enough either to win the fight or get to a safe distance before we feel the pain from our injuries.
You’ve probably heard of women and mothers who are able to lift cars many times their weight to free their trapped children; the result of adrenaline and glycogen.
After a certain time the body releases another set of chemicals (serotonin, endorphins and anti-oxidants) to help the body ‘calm down’ and recover – stress creates free radical that damage our cells.
But prolonged stress (work, spousal and financial challenges) leaves no room for our body to recover. To make things worse it creates a vicious cycle that ultimately leads to fatigue and depression and inadvertently, mental and physical diseases.
How do you know that you’re depressed?
Well see if you suffer from a series of these, then you probably are:
- Mood Swings
- Weight gain – Excessive appetite
- Weight loss or anorexia
- Unexplained exhaustion
- Lack of physical and mental energy
- Agitation
- Excessive sensitivity to rejection
- Insomnia
- Daytime sleepiness or grogginess
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