Repeated and ongoing stressors cause chronic stress conditions with various effects on your mental health. You can experience anxiety and fear caused by trauma, and persistent stress can lead to emotional and psychological issues requiring professional intervention involving therapy and medication. Here’s how repeated and ongoing stressors affect mental health:

Anxiety and Depression

Chronic stress may lead to persistent worry, fear, and sadness, increasing the risk of developing anxiety disorders and depression. You can also suffer psychological trauma following upsetting, frightening, or life-threatening events. Events such as accidents, natural disasters, robberies, murders, and assaults usually cause mental and emotional distress. Serving in the military can also expose you to stressful conditions that increase the risk of mental disorders.

Such events can leave you with physical injuries and disabilities, resulting in chronic pain and persistent worry. Other ongoing stressors include bullying, handling a chronic illness, and living with domestic violence or emotional and physical abuse. Living in high-crime neighborhoods and being the subject of harassment and discrimination also causes repeated stress. Such circumstances can leave you constantly worried or in fear, leading to the onset of mental health issues like anxiety and panic disorders.

Mental Health Symptoms

Repeated stressors result in various short-term and long-lasting symptoms of mental health issues. You may experience flashbacks and nightmares, difficulty sleeping, memory loss, and attention problems. High cortisol levels caused by stress may affect memory and learning. Chronic stress also causes emotional dysregulation, resulting in irritability, anger, uncharacteristic aggression, and emotional outbursts.

Symptoms may get worse as your ability to cope with difficult situations diminishes due to persistent stress. Other negative mental health symptoms include isolation from family and friends and changing daily routines to avoid triggering memories of traumatic events. Physical symptoms also manifest as headaches that come and go, fatigue, and gastrointestinal issues. The physical stress further puts strain on your mental well-being.

Unhealthy Coping Habits

Ongoing stressors lead to burnout, where you gradually become unable to deal with challenging situations. Burnouts usually lead to feelings of despair, which can promote unhealthy coping behaviors, such as alcohol, drugs, and gambling. Such behavior causes more negative effects, including financial strain and work and relationship issues. Unhealthy coping habits can exacerbate mental health problems, leading to chronic conditions.

Psychotherapists may work with medication management specialists to treat severe depression, panic attacks, and uncontrollable anger. They also provide therapies, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, dialectical behavior therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Other healthy coping techniques used to address psychological disorders include mindfulness and relaxation, regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and lifestyle adjustments. Your specialist can also treat pain and other symptoms and help you avoid the issues that lead to ongoing stress.

Get Help for Trauma and Ongoing Stress Today

Prolonged exposure to stressors increases the levels of cortisol and other stress hormones that affect brain structures and mood regulation. If you’re experiencing ongoing stress or the symptoms of mental health issues, speak to an expert to develop a personalized recovery plan. Contact a psychotherapist today to find out more about recovering from trauma and mental health conditions caused by ongoing stress.