How might severe or chronic stress impact my health?

There are several situations in which the severity or chronicity of the stressor/trigger can cause a "bad stress" response that aggravates existing disease processes or predisposes you to the development of new ones. In other words, allostasis (ability to defend homeostasis through a coordinate response to stressors/triggers) becomes maladaptive rather than adaptive. The mind-body-spirit connection becomes imbalanced and disturbed.

Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D., a neuroscientist, says, "During episodes of acute stress, stress hormones provide a protective function by activating the body's defenses, but when these same protective hormones are produced repeatedly, or in excess, because of chronic stress, they create a gradual and steady cascade of harmful physiological changes. From the standpoint of health," Dr. McEwen adds, "What is even more important than how we feel about the stressful events in our lives is how our bodies react in terms of the stress hormones they produce." The long-term and harmful effects of the "bad stress" response is called allostatic load, which is the wear and tear that results from chronic overactivity or underactivity of the stress response systems operating through the three mind-body-spirit communication systems.

Stress doesn't feel very good, but that's not the only reason it's bad for you. In this video, internal medicine specialist Dr. Keri Peterson describes the profound impact chronic stress can have on your health.