dults are often exposed to stress, and to protect themselves, they form bad habits on a subconscious level. Such people harm their own health. For example, biting nails leads to infectious diseases and inflammation of the skin of the fingers, crunching of the joints threatens with arthritis, and grinding teeth damage teeth and cause digestive problems. Constant overeating leads to obesity, which disrupts metabolic processes and shortens life expectancy.
Bad Habits Due To Stress
As a result of constant exposure to stress, people acquire bad habits, which significantly harm their health. Often, stress makes you chew, drink alcohol, bite your lip, or bite your nails all the time. These actions harm not only the appearance but also the state of the body.
Such bad habits may, at first glance, seem harmless. According to doctors, these obsessive rituals and actions negatively affect the nervous system, organs, and tissues, provoking more serious consequences. Which of the bad habits can cause serious harm? Here is a list of them.
1. Drinking Alcohol
Many people, when faced with a difficult situation, drink alcohol to calm their nerves. Such a habit can develop into alcohol dependency, which is deadly. Alcohol addiction is a chronic and progressive health problem all across the world, especially in the US.
Chronic stress and alcohol abuse is deadly combination, which can cause even death. In Chicago, the largest city of Illinois (IL) state, more than 200 people died due to alcohol-related problems. This is an alarming situation, and the State is trying to control it.
Now, instant help is available to everyone. For example, you can contact alcohol rehabs in Chicago, IL, and get information or advice regarding addiction in a few minutes. So without delaying any further, get help today!
2. Nail Biting
Beautiful, even, and well-groomed nails are a sign of a well-groomed and self-confident person. If the nails are uneven or gnawed, it may be due to constant periods of stress, both physical and emotional. Due to this action, the body makes an attempt to relieve stress, but at the cost of too many sacrifices.
Many bacteria live under the nails and on the skin of the hands, including pathogenic ones, which can enter the body. Few people thoroughly wash them with soap and water before biting their nails. Uneven edges of the nails when biting injure the lips and gums, which contributes to infections.
In addition, traumatized nails are the gateway to fungal infection, and their constant mechanical impact leads to their deformation. It is necessary to deal with such a habit immediately. You can start with the use of special varnishes and wearing a nail file, with its use in case of a stressful situation.
3. Constant Chewing
The habit of constantly chewing something in a stressful situation is no less harmful than the previous one. Often, overeating occurs as a result of emotional problems, internal experiences, and trauma. With constant chewing, an excess of calories comes in, which leads to overweight and obesity.
Due to constant eating due to stress, a person becomes obese and then becomes stressed due to it. In this way, a vicious cycle continues, and you need to break it. If during stress, there is a desire to eat something, you should tell yourself to stop. Remember about your obesity and its dangerous consequences, and start reviewing your diet.
4. Coughing
Sometimes during a period of tension or in conflict situations stress, there is a habit of clearing your throat. This happens because such a person feels like his throat is dry. Often, such a habit remains after an illness or in those who talk a lot.
However, if you do not deal with it, it threatens with problems with the respiratory tract – sore throats, bronchitis, and pharyngitis. Drinking warm water can help, which helps moisturize the mucous membranes and relieves irritation.
5. Clicking Your Knuckles
This is one of the most annoying actions for many people around you. If a person clicks his knuckles – this is a dangerous signal that shows he is worried about something. Although doctors many years refuted the myth that joints with such actions can suffer from arthritis. However, it is impossible to say that it is safe.
Each click of the fingers is a microtrauma for the joint, its capsule, and the surrounding soft tissues. Over time, this leads to a decrease in grip strength, harms the accuracy of the fingers, and loosening of the articular surfaces. Joints can swell and even ache in bad weather. It is difficult to fight this habit; you need strict self-control and endurance. Sometimes psychologists advise wearing gloves at first.
6. Grinding Teeth and Lip Biting
Correctly speaking, teeth grinding under stress is called bruxism. And it most often occurs during sleep, but it can occur during intense excitement during the day. A similar symptom is latent stress, which at night gives itself a way out. Due to constant trauma to the enamel, teeth with bruxism suffer and are prone to abrasion. Besides, headaches and sleep disturbances also occur. During the daytime, the habit of biting or licking the lips can show stress.
The lips of such sufferers look chapped, covered with crusts and sores. The appearance of such a person can repel others, especially in the presence of bleeding wounds. Often, those people who try to restrain their emotions bite their lips, which threatens to result in neuroses and depression.
Such a problem is a reason for lip care with hygienic lipstick and visits to a psychologist or psychotherapist. For women, the solution will be to buy expensive and beautiful, bright lipstick. The application of lip color will restrain attempts to bite the lip so as not to spoil the makeup.
Different people adopt different ways to deal with stress; we mentioned some of the harmful ways in this article. You need to deal with these problems, or your well-being will suffer.