It is said that stress is the number one cause of death because it can create problems in a variety of areas of health. Stress is a priority to manage in recovery to keep cravings at a minimum. When life is feeling too stressed, it is important to check in with your mental state, your physical health, and how much you have on your plate in life. Sometimes you need to get back to basics, keep it simple, and remember to take things one day at a time. When you stress, you tend to lose focus of your surroundings and focus on the problem at hand. It is important to take a step back and consider if stress is affection your health.

Physical Effects of Stress

Stress is exhausting. It takes a lot of energy to keep up with the stress you are feeling because stress exists in the body as well as the brain. Your heart feels stress, your hormones feel stress, and your adrenal glands feel stress. Some people mistake their stress for depression because of their chronic fatigue, low energy, and often, their low motivation. Stress aggravates most forms of illness, including mental health disorders. If you’re feeling off and low in energy, it could be a sign you’re highly stressed.

Stress and Relapse

Stress activates triggers for drugs and alcohol because, through active addiction, your brain was rewired to respond to stress by using drugs and alcohol. The more you chose to cope with drugs and alcohol, the more you trained your brain to crave those substances. Relapse prevention and active recovery include a lot of stress management to keep those triggers at bay. If you’re noticing a sudden onset of cravings after you’ve been without them for a while, you might want to check your stress levels and see where you can bring some more recovery into your life.

Stress and Your Wellbeing

At its worst, stress can cause chest pains, which are overwhelming and frightening at times. After working so hard to make it out of addiction and into recovery, a heart attack is the last thing you want to worry about. Don’t worry, though, because chest pains often are not a sign of heart attack but something else. Chest pain can come from anxiety disorders, which can be triggered by stress. You could also be experiencing heartburn, which can be triggered by stress. Sometimes stress just causes chest pains. Stress can cause inflammation, which over time If you’re experiencing chest pains in addition to numbness down the left arm and you’re concerned, you should call a medical emergency immediately. It’s important to take measures to reduce stress as much as possible when you start experiencing physical manifestations like chest pains. It means the stress in your life is completely out of balance and it is taking a negative toll.

Reach Out to Oceanfront Recovery

Oceanfront Recovery is a men’s addiction treatment program offering long term residential care to men who are ready to change their lives. We believe when you change your story, you can change your life. Addiction treatment is different for everyone. At Oceanfront Recovery, we make sure each patient is taken care of in a way that is best for them. We offer a number of treatment therapies to help overcome addiction. Some of these programs include:

Call us today for information on our detox, residential, and intensive outpatient programs in Orange County, California. Call 877.296.7477 to speak to an addiction professional about treatment options available to you.