1. Silent Killer

Some people refer to stress as a silent killer. Why? Because stress can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pain and irregular heartbeat. All of these things are horrible for your heart and can lead to serious complications like heart attack and stroke. Isn’t it insane how stress can sneak up on you and cause all these health concerns?

2. Stressful Cities

Here is an interesting fact about stress. Where you live can play a part on your stress level. New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago are the top 3 most stressful cities in the US. It’s no surprise that these are very large busy cities with people constantly on the go. How stressful do you find your city to be?

3. Alcohol and Smoking

Drinking and smoking worsen the effects of stress on the body. While you may think you are calming your nerves and soothing stress for the moment you are actually putting more stress on your body.

4. Acne

If you suffer from acne, stress may be the culprit. Of course acne may be the cause of your stress. I know acne is definitely one thing that causes me unnecessary stress. Stress causes a rise in inflammation which can lead to acne. How do you handle stress related acne?

5. Laugh More

I love this fact about stress. If you want to lower your stress try laughing. Spend time with your most hilarious friends, watch a funny movie, or just watch some awesome videos on YouTube. The reason laughter works to reduce stress is because laughing releases beneficial hormones. I’m glad I have funny people in my life to help reduce my stress.

6. Makes You Fat

I bet that’s a fact about stress you wish wasn’t true. Why can’t stress make us skinny? I’d be up for all kinds of stress if it did! Stress causes the body to release the hormone cortisol that is known to cause stomach fat and makes fat cells larger.

7. Necessary for Survival

Stress is necessary for survival. All animals experience stress, it is what causes animals to go into fight or flight mode. Are you going to stay and fight your predator or run like mad? In humans, stress causes us to have an increase in awareness and physical performance. Perhaps this is why some people work better under pressure.

8. Decreased Libido

As if anyone really wanted to do it anyway having stressed induced acne and fat, stress also plays with the hormones that control your sex drive and how fast you reach climax. However, sex is also a great way to relieve stress. How is that for an evil little twist?

9. Chocolate

Did you need another reason to eat chocolate? I’m guessing not, but I’ll give you one anyway. If you love chocolate then you are going to love this fact about stress. Dark chocolate is known to reduce stress hormones. So eat-up girlfriend, that dark chocolate is doing you a huge favor!

10. Hair Loss

Have you ever heard someone say that their stress is causing them to go grey? This is kind of a missed guided truth. Stress doesn’t turn your hair grey, that comes with age, however stress can cause you to lose your hair. Personally, I’d rather go grey from stress than lose any hair. What about you?

11. Stressful Job

Is your career causing you stress? According to one study the most stressful jobs are in the medical field, airlines, journalism advertising, and real estate, whereas, people in computer technology and astronomy are far less stressed. Do you have a stressful job? Can you think of any ways to make it less stressful?

12. Fertility

Not only does stress affect your sexual desire it can also damage fertility. Women under stress may have trouble releasing mature eggs or complication with implantation. In men, stress can affect sperm count and mobility. If you are experiencing infertility you may want to try stress reduction for you and your partner along with other suggestions from your doctor.

13. Children

Even children are affected by stress. Children experiencing chronic stress may have developmental growth problems because stress can lower the production of growth hormone in the pituitary gland. Obviously it is important to create a low stress environment for children to properly grow and develop.

14. Bleeding

Here is an interesting fact about stress. Stress can also save your life. The body’s response to stress during an injury like being cut, causes blood capillaries to restrict and slows down bleeding. Stress also makes the blood stickier to aid in clotting. All these things together help stop the body from bleeding out.

15. Money

Did you know that money is the number one cause of stress? It is true, and probably not really that much of a surprise considering the struggles with the economy. Many people are worried about money, which leads to a large amount of stress.

16. Teens

According to the American Psychological Association, stress is a top health concern for high school teenagers. Many experts worry that if teenagers don’t learn to manage stress better they will have long term-health problems.

17. Exercise

If you are looking for facts about reducing stress consider exercise. Studies show that exercise is a great way to relieve stress. Find an activity you enjoy and get busy. Not only will you lower stress, you may even lose a few pounds.

18. Sleep

Sleep is another great stress reliever. Your body repairs itself during sleep and not getting sufficient sleep each night can cause more stress. If you are stressed be sure to get plenty of sleep each night.

Stress is a large subject to cover. There are many things to discuss about stress. I was only able to break through the surface with this post, but I hope you learned something new about stress. Did any one of these facts about stress surprise you? Which ones did you already know? Which ones are new to you? Feel free to share your own facts about stress too.