April is Stress Awareness Month. Stress is an important part of our lives — without it, we couldn’t survive. Stress is a natural response to stimuli. When you work out, you’re placing stress on different systems within your body. The stress you place on your nervous system during a bicep curl helps it adapt and learn how much effort is needed to contract your muscles. But what happens if you experience too much mental stress?
Symptoms of stress:
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· Tension and irritability · Difficulty making decisions · Loss of appetite |
· Feeling powerless · Sleep disruption · Headaches, back pain and stomach problems |
As you can see, left unchecked, too much stress can lead to some pretty disruptive symptoms. If you’re experiencing these or any other symptoms of excessive stress, you should start taking action to lower your stress. Our Blue Cross® Blue Shield® of Michigan wellness coordinator has a few recommendations. The first is start tracking your stress level each day, Monday through Sunday. What trends do you notice?
You can easily track your stress using a Health Tracker within the Blue Cross® Health & Wellness website, powered by WebMD®. The trackers are located under the Health Record tab. You can also access Health Trackers through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan mobile app. Contact our Blue Cross wellness coordinator, Chris Barr, for assistance. He can be reached at cbarr@nmc.edu
Be Well!
- April Wellness Challenge– Attend any of the mindfulness sessions led by Kristy McDonald in the month of April, sign the attendance sheet, and receive an entry into a drawing for every time you attend to win a Fitbit Alta! Tuesdays- 12:30 p.m. Health & Science Building Room 101/ Wednesdays- 9 a.m. University Center Room 214.