How Excessive Worrying Can Affect Your Physical Health

If you had a parent growing up who liked to tell you not to be such a worrywart or that worrying could give you wrinkles, you might have gotten tired of hearing that. The reality is that there are plenty of things in the world that are cause for legitimate concern, and life is never easy. You might have a hard time not thinking about things that bother you or even fixating on them.

There’s no denying, though, that worrying too much can have a profound impact on not only your mental state but your physical health as well. Before you have to check yourself into a mental health treatment center, you need to take control and find constructive ways to cope.

We’ll talk about some physical effects that excessive worrying can have on you now.

You Can Give Yourself High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is not a condition that you ever want to have. If you have it and it remains untreated, then you have a much higher chance of suffering either a stroke or a heart attack.

There are some hereditary factors that come into play with high blood pressure, but you can also give it to yourself from excessive worrying. If you can’t figure out some ways to rest easier, you might cause yourself to have a cardiac event.

You Can Struggle in Your Daily Life if You’re Not Sleeping Enough

Any credible doctor will tell you that you need to get a healthy amount of sleep every night. They sometimes differ about just how much that should be, but they’ll all tell you that if you’re not getting sufficient sleep, your physical health will suffer.

If you’re worrying too much about problems in your life or events in the world that are troubling but beyond your control, you’re likely not getting enough sleep. A couple of nights of this should not hurt you too badly, but if it’s going on for weeks or months on end, your physical health can deteriorate in many ways.

You Can Gain or Lose Weight

For some people, worrying can manifest itself through various harmful physical habits. Maybe that’s biting their nails or grinding their teeth. They might also gain or lose weight because they’re eating too much or not enough.

A healthy, balanced diet can do a lot for you. If you’re worried about something, though, you might binge eat a pizza every night, and you can gain weight that will slow you down and give you a long list of other health problems.

Not eating enough is another way that worrying can manifest itself. If you only pick at your food because you have very little appetite, that’s going to make you ill if it goes on for a long time.

You need to find a way to relax if there’s a lot on your mind that’s causing you stress. Consider something like meditation, going for walks in the woods, or anything else that makes you feel better.