impact of stressing out
Everyone has stress in their lives, some types of are actually good for us. The anticipation of a first date, starting a new job, having a baby- these all make us feel alive. Without this kind of “good” stress life would be dull and unfulfilled. However, there is another kind of stress that many of us are all too familiar with. This stress causes us to (have):
lose sleep
eat everything in sight
eat nothing at all
cut off all emotions and shut down
mood swings
experience brain fog
breakouts (leading to dark spots)
skin rashes
thinning hair
headaches
body pain
Black women seem to take it in stride leading to the "Strong Black Woman" and "Super Hero" personas. However, study after study show that more Black women are living with chronic stress. Not only that, how we manage this “bad” stress and how it manifests in our lives are very different.
You may know that our body produces cortisol, a hormone that activates an individual’s fight, flight or freeze responses. This defense mode is only triggered in stressful situations. Yet, for Black women who live with chronic stress, our cortisol levels are consistently through the roof. This constant exposure to high levels of cortisol daily increase our risk for:
Heart disease
Anxiety
Depression
Obesity
We all heard that “Black don’t crack”, right? I know that I've used that phrase many times. Compare a black woman and white woman of the same age and most of the time the black woman will look younger. Biologically however, the black woman will be an average of 7.5 years older with a shorter life span all due to the impact of stress in our lives. It is taking a serious toll on us.
There is hope though! We can take back control of our health and overall quality of life. You can sleep soundly at night, feel healthy and whole, clear your mind of the fog, love who and what you see when you look in the mirror, have a more positive outlook on life and just be happy and free.
It starts with us. The simple act of embracing what we call Self-Preservation can help turn the tides and bring those cortisol levels to a healthy state. Love YU Collective is all about sharing our knowledge based on research, studies, and expert advice to provide support and tools to help you incorporate purposeful stress relieving techniques and aids into your daily routine. Love YOU Unapologetically so you can have the strength, will and power to love others fully. Self preservation is not a luxury but a necessity.
Love YOU Unapologetically!
Just so you know we're not making this up. Check our references!