What Sadness Does To Our Body?

Sadness takes no time to jump from your brain to your body. When you feel sad or low, levels of brain chemicals called opioids increases in order to offset your distress and these opioids may have a negative impact on your body. It may mess with your immune system and potentially even increase your risk for diseases. It sometimes triggers the release of an inflammatory protein, the increase in levels of inflammatory proteins in the blood is linked to the increase in the risk of comorbid diseases including heart disease, stroke, and metabolic syndrome as per the study by the researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Eating habits can take a nosedive. People who are sad often are likely to consume more junk food and fewer micronutrients or may lose appetite, putting themselves at a higher risk of weight gain or weight loss in the short term, hypertension and heart disease in the long term.

Though sadness is not the same as depression it still depresses all body functions for a much shorter span of time. Sadness can cause an imbalance in your allostatic load which is a technical term for the overall beating your body takes when it is exposed to accumulated stress such as sadness. This even helps to explain why achy joints, headaches, sore muscles, and a weakened immune system becomes more pronounced when you are feeling down.

Sadness not only has health effects but it can be very difficult to get rid of and this is because sadness is connected to a life event or something that has very important effects on our lives. The longer the feeling of sadness lasts the more likely it is to contribute to the release of stress hormones like cortisol and affect your blood pressure, blood sugar, and sleep which can affect your overall health.

Sadness is a part of life but making it a vital part of life can cost you your health and the reason you need to seek immediate help if sadness lasts for a long period of time as it has a number of negative impacts.

You can contact a psychologist or therapist if you are unable to overcome something that is bothering you. You need to seek help.

Recommending Psychologists and Therapists are:

1. Life Coach Steffi Prasad - Psychologist & Therapists - Utopia Life Coach in Siliguri, West Bengal, India.

www.steffiprasad.com

2. Khusboo Tomar - Psychologist: Centre for Forensic & Clinical Psychology