A common misconception about stress is that it is “all in your head.” Ignore it, and the stress will go away.
Not true. Stress is the body’s natural response to events or challenges that make us anxious, worried or scared. Everyone’s stressors are different and can change with age. Relationships, health, loss, grief, work and financial troubles can all cause stress.
Stress can bring on physical symptoms like stomach pain, headache, sleeplessness, forgetfulness, appetite loss and more. It can affect your heart health and even, in extreme cases, make you feel as if you’re having a heart attack.
The Body’s Stress Response
Stress triggers the brain to signal your adrenal glands to release specific hormones. These chemicals stimulate your body to fight the source of stress or run away — a “fight or flight” response. As a result:
- Heart rate and blood pressure increase.
- Breathing rate rises.
- Muscles tense.
- Digestion slows down.
- Body sweats.
- The liver delivers a rush of sugar.
In a crisis, those responses generate oxygen and energy. But if they happen repeatedly, the added hormones can hurt your heart, says Benjamin Peterson, MD, an Interventional Cardiologist at the Florence Wormald Heart & Vascular Institute at St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
“When your body is in ‘fight or flight’ mode, that’s great if a bear is chasing you,” Dr. Peterson says. “But if you’ve got low levels of stress hormones running all the time because of how you handle stress, that’s not good. The body’s chronic response to stress changes our metabolism, injures our blood vessels, raises our resting heart rate and raises our blood pressure, all of which increases the risk of heart disease.”
“Stress hormones can also cause weight gain and interfere with our sleep and quality of life. And that becomes a vicious cycle leading to heart disease,” Dr. Peterson adds.
There’s a condition known as stress-induced cardiomyopathy, also called broken heart syndrome. People come to the emergency room with heart attack symptoms.
“Tests and examination, however, show there’s no artery blockage, the usual cause of heart attacks. Often, it turns out they’ve experienced a traumatic event, like a divorce, a relocation, caregiver stress or the death of a loved one,” Dr. Peterson says.
A Stressful Time
We associate stress with things that happen to us personally. But today, things outside our control — COVID-19, war overseas, the economy — contribute to a generally stressed population. A 2022 survey by The Harris Poll on behalf of the American Psychological Association found significant stress among poll respondents of all races and ages due to political divisiveness, inflation and widespread violence. Around three-quarters of adults surveyed (76%) said stress in the prior month impacted their health.
Researchers are also probing if and how the stress of racism and economic discrimination affects people’s health. Preliminary findings of a large-scale study of Black women’s health found that those who faced discrimination in employment, housing and interactions with police were more likely to develop heart disease.
Managing Stress is Good for Your Heart
Learning stress management techniques may not alter national or world events, but they can help you de-escalate your body’s response to stress and contribute to better health. Essential techniques include:
- Sleep: “Sleep is essential to managing stress,” Dr. Peterson says. “And too little sleep is now well understood to increase your risk of heart disease.”
- Meditative practices: Meditation, prayer, mindfulness, deep breathing and yoga are all practices that help you “talk your body and your brain ‘off the ledge,’” Dr. Peterson adds.
- Exercise: It trains our brains to process stress, he says. Repetitive exercises like swimming, rowing, walking, running and cycling are good for the heart and our ability to manage stress.
