Pamela Levin, R.N., T.S.T.A., 

How could it be possible that some stress- say, at work, cause a rash or some other horrible physical symptom or illness? Well, it is not only possible, but occurs very frequently.

When you understandi how this works, you will have a way to think about this so you 'll be better able to both reduce your stress exposure when possible and manage your stress better when it happens.

It's pretty simple, really. When you're stressed, your adrenal glands (stress management glands) release a substance called cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that directs your body to go into a special management strategy - one that's as ancient as any human being. Cortisol tells the automatic part of your nervous system (your autonomic nervous system) to 'man the lifeboats'. Then your bodily resources - nutrition, available energy, blood delivery circulation system, - in short, everything - is rerouted into dealing with the stress. You may have heard this response called 'fight or flight' reaction, and more modern research demonstrates that in women, it can be called 'tend and befriend'.

The upshot is that your body no longer tends to everyday household chores, like cleaning up dirty places, repairing tissues that need upgrading, or even chasing out invaders, like bacteria, viruses or even parasites. Your bodily response is an all-out 'run from the lion' - just the same as the first humans had back on the African Savannah.

The thing is, that big cortisol spike is designed to take place only in the short term... a few hours... maybe a day. But not constant. Not on a daily basis, for days, weeks, months, years at a time.

But the more we live in that stress response, the more those repair or chase out invader jobs that got put on the back burner can pile up. Pretty soon tissues start to break down or invaders get the upper hand.

In short, that's how stress can cause a rash or, for that matter, any other physical symptom. So keeping those cortisol surges short and getting back to 'thrive mode' in your automatic nervous system is the key to managing stress.

Keeping yourself emotionally well supported is central to managing stress, To assist you in this, I invite you to sample free emotional support messages at www.youremotionalnutrients.com.

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Tags: emotional health stress stress effects on health long term stress effects stress effects on immune system chronic stress effects stress effects