Can Stress Make You Sick?

“The stress at work is sending my blood pressure through the roof,” a patient told me. His instinct was good, because experts who study stress are increasingly seeing how it connects to illness. Stress affects your heart, weight, and skin. It’s also linked with “poorer wound healing, an increased risk for developing depression, the common cold, and influenza, as well as associated with increased symptoms among those with chronic illnesses,” says Dr. Sheldon Cohen, a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

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Confronted by sudden danger, the human body instantly pumps the bloodstream full of adrenaline. This hormone, along with cortisol, raises your blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar, temporarily giving you additional strength, speed, and stamina. In emergency situations, stress can save your life.

But ongoing stress—the kind you might face when you’re experiencing marital, financial, or work-related problems or are caring for a sick relative—influences your ability to function and may lower your immunity. Even your genes can be affected, says Dr. Elissa Epel, a health psychologist at UC, San Francisco, because stress changes “the protein output of our DNA.” That’s like saying it affects the core of what we are made of.

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Here’s what else we know about stress and sickness.

Heart

“There is overwhelming evidence that stress creates an environment where heart attacks and even sudden death become more likely,” says Dr. Joel Dimsdale of UC, San Diego, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Job stress has been found to increase cardiovascular risk by up to 50%. In addition, stress lowers estrogen production, which reduces protections against heart disease in women, explains Dr. Stephen Manuck, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Headaches

Stress appears to change the balance of chemicals in the brain in a way that may contribute to the narrowing of blood vessels—one theory for why we get migraines. Stress also is a factor in tension headaches. And physical reactions to stress—such as tensing the neck and shoulders, grinding teeth, or clenching the jaw—may make headaches worse.

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Skin

Stress can exacerbate many common skin conditions, such as acne, psoriasis, hives, and rosacea. It may lead to hair loss, brittle nails, herpes outbreaks, and shingles.

Cancer

The evidence linking stress to cancer is limited, but we do know that chronic stress can weaken a person’s immune system, which may make him or her more susceptible to certain cancers associated with viruses.

Obviously, you need to address stress that wreaks this sort of havoc. Start by recognizing what stress looks like—it’s not always obvious. You might feel tense, have headaches, sweaty palms, a racing heart, or an upset stomach. General aches and pains can be stress-related. The same goes for constant worrying, difficulty focusing, and trouble making decisions.

The good news is that there are various ways to cope with stress, ranging from medications to exercise to calming techniques like meditation and biofeedback. Taking these routes to “chilling out” is well worth the effort.