The modern world is pretty amazing. We can start our coffee brewing before we’ve even woken up, have our cars started and warming up in the dead of winter without having to go outside and even drop in on a meeting taking place hundreds or thousands miles away without stepping onto a plane. But for all the modern conveniences, there are some strange – and often unpleasant – side effects that come along for the ride.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is the clinical name for having a constant or near-constant ringing in your ears. Normally associated with hitting up too many concerts or exposing your ears to loud noises over time, the condition has now been linked to stress as well.
A study conducted in Sweden found the stress of a job change resulted in hearing changes in 43% of the women surveyed. FMRI scans conducted at the time found the limbic region of the brain, often associated with tinnitus, is activated duyring stress periods as well which may explain the connection.
The Never Ending Cold
If you’re unlucky enough to get hit with a virus when you’re stressed out, it’s going to be harder to recover from that illness until your stress levels go down. Stress saps the body of energy in a number of ways, including the body’s immune system. Not only does this make you more susceptible to illness, it makes it harder for your body to fight the virus and heal.
Increased Hair Loss
This is perhaps one of the stranger side effects of stress and modern life. Hair loss associated with stressful times can last for weeks or even months after the event occurs. According to clinical instructor and dermatologist Flor A. Mayoral, the inflammation and changes in the body can trigger hair loss. This is usually temporary provided the person resolves the stressful issue successfully but for those dealing with chronic stress, it can lead to thinning hair.
Dr Herbert Benson writes about the ‘refrigerator hum’ of stress caused by modern life in his book The Relaxation Response, and when combined with low nutrient, low enzyme, high glycemic index diet that is the Standard American Diet (SAD) the result is a much larger incidence of hair loss than even a century ago.
Memory Loss
The hustle and bustle of modern life combined with the stress our hectic schedules bring on often means we constantly feel as though we’re forgetting something. Turns out that sinking sensation may be based in reality. Jeffrey Rossman, PhD is a psychologist and also the director of life management at Canyon Ranch in Massachusetts.
He has found that chronic stress leads to increased exposure of cortisol, the stress hormone, which can affect the hippocampus area of the brain. The hippocampus region is associated with short-term memory which may explain why a series of stressful events often leads people to feeling constantly frazzled and more likely to lose track of small things like where they put their keys or whether or not they sent a certain email.
So. Very. Sleepy.
Both stress and modern conveniences can wreak havoc on your body’s natural sleep patterns. Looking at screens right before bed has become pretty common as we check our email, social media and online games while we’re unwinding at the end of the day. But that soft blue glow sends a message to our brain that it’s not quite night time yet, throwing off melatonin production. Stress does the same thing so if you’re stressed out and trying to relax with some online activity before bed, you’re actually making the problem worse.
Indigestion
Just like hitting the pizza buffet too late at night can cause stomach problems, so can stress and anxiety. Most people already know about the link between stress and stomach issues such as ulcers, but few people realize that even minor stress can make you feel sick to your stomach, lose your appetite and even bring on bouts of nervous vomiting.
On the flip side, some people eat when they’re stress, stuffing themselves with sugary, fatty or otherwise unhealthy food as a way to soothe their anxieties or avoid dealing with the root cause of their stress. Gorging on a bag of treats may seem pretty harmless at the time but this can set a person into a cycle of mindless binge eating which can lead to weight gain and exacerbate depression.
Social Media Jealousy
Being so plugged in and connected is a great way to stay in touch with family and friends, but it can also stoke the fires of jealousy. People only post the most flattering moments to social media but too often, others get the feeling as though they are missing out. If you find yourself comparing your good times to those of others or simply posting and grading how good you feel based on comments and likes, you might be nursing a budding problem with online jealousy.
This internet-based for of jealousy can cause all too real problems in the real world. Focusing all your attention on social media likes, bumps, notes and comments can disconnect you from your real life and the real world relationships that are so important to mental health.
The future has brought with it plenty of conveniences, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy journey. While the modern world makes our lives easier in some ways, it also puts more responsibility on us to make sure we keep our self-care a priority.
