Last update: January 01, 2015
Stress damages our health very seriously. Suffering from it can lead to both physical and psychological problems and results in premature aging.
Some recent scientific researches have pointed out that it is very common that people who are shy, fearful or always distressed are the first to suffer from stress continuously; it is precisely for this reason that they are predisposed to live fewer years than cheerful and outgoing people. The functions that our body performs are governed by the brain, the central nervous system and, consequently, our state of mind.
Mind and body form one. The metabolic processes of proteins, heart rate, blood pressure, depend on our nervous system. When we subject our mind to prolonged psychological stress, we also cause countless physical problems to our body and damage our immune system in a particularly severe way.
Our body responds to stress through a defense mechanism called a "fight or flight reaction". This response is vital for overcoming situations that involve danger or threat. When one of these cases occurs, our senses are alerted by the nervous system: the heart rhythm changes and with it breathing, muscle activity and blood glucose level increase, and the response of our immune system. decreases.
The special protagonists are some hormones produced by the adrenal glands (glucocorticoids and adrenaline), which are responsible for mobilizing all this energy in the body.
When this fight or flight reaction is not activated only for a few minutes (without there being any real risks), but is prolonged as a consequence of factors that affect our emotional state (work problems, family problems, illness), the level of hormones that initially were beneficial begins to damage our body continuously, due to the decline in defenses.
Some studies published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Alcancemy of Sciences) show that stress hormones can be released in high quantities when shyness or situations occur unfounded fear in the face of new situations (such as meeting new people, being afraid of some people, objects or places even if they do not represent a real threat), called neophobia.
The categories of the population most affected by neophobia are young children and young people, who often have this type of behavior until they reach maturity. If we allow the the pace of this society stresses us, we will release hormones continuously, and this will accelerate the aging process, as well as make us sick more easily.
And if these new situations cause us fear or shyness even after we become adults, the level of stress hormones will increase permanently, so much so that our life expectancy will be reduced by about ten years. Because of this it is good to try to have a peaceful and peaceful life, but at the same time be able to be determined, courageous and fearless people. We don't grow up shy!
