Resources For Stress

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• Your body activates a flight or fight response when it feels physically threatened.
• Stress also activates your body's flight or fight response.
• The flight or fight response causes the production of cortisol. 
• Cortisol raises the blood pressure and increases the production of glucose to give you energy to run or fight.
• If you are constantly stressed out from life events, the body triggers the production of cortisol.
• Because you are not needing to run or fight, the cortisol is unnecessarily increasing your blood pressure (hypertension) and blood sugar levels (diabetes). 
• Now you have unhealthy symptoms that contribute to- and worsen kidney disease and other medical conditions.
• It is important to acknowledge the presence of stress in your life and the negative impact of that stress on your health.
  

    You can assess the amount of stress in your life with the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory.

https://www.stress.org/self-assessments/holmes-rahe-life-stress-inventory/

https://www.stress.org/self-assessments/

https://www.stress.org/what-is-stress/

https://www.stress.org/stress-effects/

https://www.kidney.org/kidney-health/stress-and-your-kidneys

If you realize that you could benefit from speaking to a counselor about the stress in your life, Google Psychology Today to find a licensed professional clinician in your area.

Unacknowledged and untreated stress can lead to serious medical conditions (kidney disease, high blood pressure/hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, strokes, thyroid conditions, anxiety, and depression).

Likewise, poor coping with stress can lead to the use of maladaptive coping strategies such as smoking (raises blood pressure), drinking alcohol (raises blood pressure and sugar levels) and eating unhealty foods (containing high fructose sugar, excessive salt, and fats) --- resulting in debilitating medical conditions and poor health outcomes.