Negative emotions, attitudes, and thoughts can cause chronic stress. Chronic stress can take years off the human lifespan.
Studies have shown that chronic stress, trauma and grief shortens the length of our telomeres.
So what are telomeres and why are they important?
Telomeres are the caps at the end of our DNA strands. As we age, these caps get shorter, and the body becomes closer to dying. In short, Chronic Stress can shorten your life span.
Repressed negative emotions, repressed expression, and poorly managed emotions have been linked to numerous health conditions.
These conditions include:
Cancer
Mental health issues
Hypertension
Cardiovascular disease
Digestive disorders
Infections & low or weakened immunity
Inflammatory response related disease
Hormonal imbalances
Chronic pain
Chronic fatigue
Muscular issues
Why Do Emotions and Stress Affect Our Health?
Your body naturally responds to how you think, feel, and act.
For example, if you’re depressed, stressed or anxious, your body will react to let you know that there are physiological issues also developing during emotionally difficult times.
Also, when you are feeling emotionally overwhelmed you may not take care of your health as well as you should. You may not feel like exercising, eating nutritious foods, or taking medicine that your doctor prescribes. You may abuse alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs.
Signs of poor emotional health include:
back pain
stiff neck
period pain
sweating
stomach complaints
weight gain or loss
brain fog & inability to focus
change in appetite
chest pain
constipation or diarrhea
dry mouth
extreme tiredness
general aches and pains
headaches & migraines
high blood pressure
insomnia (trouble sleeping)
lightheadedness
palpitations (the feeling that your heart is racing)
sexual problems
mood swings
shortness of breath
hair loss
skin irritations
Many of these same causes of stress in the body can also cause long term health issues including experiencing trauma and grief as a by-product.
How to Manage Negative Thoughts and Emotions
At some point, we all experience some form of negative emotions in some form or another. Even the most resilient people experience anger, sadness, fear, doubt, and anxiety.
The key is to overcome these thoughts and emotions by using specific tools. Many people experience negative thoughts and emotions every day.
It is easy to develop a negativity bias (tendency to dwell on negative events) and continue to ruminate on the negative things that happen to us.
What tools can help overcome negative thoughts and emotions?
Express your feelings in appropriate ways.
If feelings of stress, sadness, or anxiety are causing physical problems, keeping these feelings inside can make you feel worse. It’s okay to let your loved ones know when something is bothering you. However, keep in mind that your family and friends may not always be able to help you deal with your feelings appropriately. At these times, ask someone outside the situation for help and support to help you improve your emotional health.
Take care of yourself.
To have good emotional health, it’s important to take care of your body by having a regular routine. This includes a routine of healthy meals, sleep, and exercise to relieve pent-up tension. Avoid overeating and don’t abuse drugs or alcohol. Using drugs or alcohol just causes other issues, such as family, health and financial problems.
Live a balanced life.
Focus on the things that you are grateful for in your life. Refrain from obsessing solely about the problem. This doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be happy when you feel stressed, anxious, or upset. It’s important to deal with negative feelings but try to focus on the positive things in your life, too. You may want to use a journal to keep track of things that make you feel grateful, happy or peaceful. Some research has shown that having a positive outlook can improve your quality of life and give your health a boost. You may also need to find ways to let go of some things in your life that make you feel stressed and overwhelmed. Make time for things you enjoy.
Develop resilience.
People with resilience are better at coping with stress in a healthy way. Resilience can be learned and strengthened with different strategies. These include having social support, keeping a positive view of yourself, accepting change, and keeping things in perspective.
Calm your mind and body.
Relaxation methods, such as meditation, listening to music, listening to guided imagery tracks, yoga, and Tai Chi are useful ways to bring your emotions into balance. Free guided imagery videos are also available on YouTube.
Meditation is a form of guided thought. It can take many forms. For example, you may do it by exercising, stretching, or breathing deeply.
𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞 a complimentary 45 minute 𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗢𝗠 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 with me to find out how to live a life with better emotional and physical health.
♥️
Ｃａｔｈｅｒｉｎｅ
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & COACH
Catherine is a heart-centred wellness therapist, transformational coach, intuitive counsellor and mindfulness facilitator who specialises in helping you create calm confidence, nourish your self esteem and self-love, build healthy boundaries, ditch perfectionism and people-pleasing, and get out of your own way to achieve the life you deserve.
She offers her wise words, actions, and guidance to help people connect positively with their body, mind, and soul.
Her sessions provide you with real-life the support and the readily accessible mindset tools you need to achieve this.
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