Burnout and stress are realities for many people across the globe and could often lead to negative health impacts if not addressed soon enough. The health impact of stress can be both physical and mental.
According to Faryal Luhar, a naturopathic doctor, stress is a natural occurrence that can have both positive and negative effects. She said the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues have likely exacerbated stress globally.
“Over the last three years or so, the stress levels have been probably at their highest globally, but stress is an inescapable part of life. It’s not something that we can just avoid or shut down.” However, she added, “not all stress is bad”.
“We have some stresses that are positive. For example, if you get a job promotion or you get married. What happens during a positive stress response is that you become more alert and you’re able to perform better.
“Negative stresses can be the loss of a loved one, losing a job, financial issues and sometimes these negative stresses are compounded. The response to the stress is what’s key.
She said the way one deals with stress ultimately determines the effect, but it could be alleviated with enough rest.
SMread: Johannesburg residents living with water and energy crises
Health impacts of stress
When it comes to dealing with stress before it leads to negative health impacts, awareness is key. The health impacts of stress range from mental to physical.
At first, Luhar stated, the effects of stress may be hidden. Eventually, however, they begin to surface as physical effects.
“Most people will suppress a lot of these symptoms – feeling fatigued, feeling like they’re not performing at their best mentally, there’s issues with concentration or with focus, but then you start to have a lot of other issues.”
She said suppressed effects of stress begin to manifest themselves in physical difficulties, such as insomnia. She said this could be detrimental to physical health as the body is deprived of the repairing functions of sleep.
“Then, you start to have a lot of other issues. This exhaustion turns to insomnia. We know that sleep is important because during sleep is when all the repair, the rejuvenation, the healing is happening. If we’re not sleeping, we’re obviously not going to have those repair mechanisms in place.”
One of the effects of this, which could ultimately be indirectly linked to stress, is a weaker immune system. This could make one susceptible to illnesses and therefore deteriorating health. An increase in cortisol, caused by stress, might also lead to inflammation. Other effects are anxiety, depression and diabetes.
Luhar stressed the importance of identifying signs of stress before it’s too late. She said: “It is important to recognise the early signs of the burnout in order to do something about it and start working on stress management.”
