In this article submitted to Choices Magazine I talk about some of the warning symptoms of stress and how they can manifest if not managed properly.

1. STRESS CAN KILL
YOU EARLY
By
Heart Health Consultant
Adam Shaw

2. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
In all my years of nursing there was
one recurrent theme with everyone
who had serious illnesses:
Heart

3. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
In all my years of nursing there was
one recurrent theme with everyone
who had serious illnesses:
They had all been experiencing above
average amounts of stress in their
lives for at least several
months, sometimes several years

4. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
One common symptom was people caught in
relationships where their partner had become
lazy, complacent, critical, inattentive and/or
abusive.
Stress

5. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
One common symptom was people caught in
relationships where their partner had become
lazy, complacent, critical, inattentive and/or
abusive.
Despite this, the recipient of this behaviour would often stay in the
relationship, using children or the fear of a split as their reason for
staying.
Stress

6. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
One common symptom was people caught in
relationships where their partner had become
lazy, complacent, critical, inattentive and/or
abusive.
Despite this, the recipient of this behaviour would often stay in the
relationship, using children or the fear of a split as their reason for
staying.
It is a very common symptom and really emphasises that many
people accept the “better the devil you know” approach to life.
Stress

7. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
There is another common and equally deadly cause of stress
Adam Shaw

8. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
People in jobs that they hate, with bosses
who intimidate or abuse them regularly
was another all too common symptom that
Adam Shaw

9. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
People in jobs that they hate, with bosses
who intimidate or abuse them regularly
was another all too common symptom that
I came across during my nursing days.
The need to pay bills and the economic
depression has elevated fear amongst
employees and self-employed business
people of late.
Adam Shaw

10. There is another common and equally deadly cause of stress
Fear of not being able to pay bills and the
increasingly common fear in the UK of not
being able to even eat has raised the stakes in
this department.
Heart Health

11. There is another common and equally deadly cause of stress
Fear of not being able to pay bills and the
increasingly common fear in the UK of not
being able to even eat has raised the stakes in
this department.
Because there is a reticence in many people
asking for help, this problem has become
increasingly real in some people’s daily lives.
Heart Health

12. There is another common and equally deadly cause of stress
All too often people hold back from
expressing their true feelings or emotions
for the fear of losing their jobs or business.
Your Heart

13. There is another common and equally deadly cause of stress
All too often people hold back from
expressing their true feelings or emotions
for the fear of losing their jobs or business.
This internal conflict can spark your body’s
stress response and put you into fight or
flight mode.
Your Heart

14. There is another common and equally deadly cause of stress
All too often people hold back from
expressing their true feelings or emotions
for the fear of losing their jobs or business.
This internal conflict can spark your body’s
stress response and put you into fight or
flight mode.
This is the root of the problem

15. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
What is the stress response?
Prevention

16. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
What is the stress response?
As a species, we have been evolving for
millions of years.
Prevention

17. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
What is the stress response?
As a species, we have been evolving for
millions of years.
Back in our prehistoric origins, there was a
very real danger that a hungry and
unreasonable Tyrannosaurus Rex could
suddenly turn up for dinner.
Prevention

18. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
What is the stress response?
As a species, we have been evolving for
millions of years.
Back in our prehistoric origins, there was a
very real danger that a hungry and
unreasonable Tyrannosaurus Rex could
suddenly turn up for dinner.
This would trigger a stress response.
Prevention

19. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
WELLBEING CHOICES
Heart

20. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
WELLBRING CHOICES
When this happens your body will fill with
adrenaline and divert all of your blood to
your brain and your peripheral
organs, shutting down everything else.
Heart

21. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
WELLBRING CHOICES
When this happens your body will fill with
adrenaline and divert all of your blood to
your brain and your peripheral
organs, shutting down everything else.
You become hyper alert, and fell a strong urge to
either attack or run for your life.
Heart

22. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
WELLBRING CHOICES
When this happens your body will fill with
adrenaline and divert all of your blood to
your brain and your peripheral
organs, shutting down everything else.
You become hyper alert, and fell a strong urge to
either attack or run for your life.
Under such circumstances things like digestion
are not a priority, so blood is diverted elsewhere
Heart

23. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
What is the stress response?
Stress

24. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
What is the stress response?
You would become hyper alert, highly
motivated and be ready to fight or
flight for your life.
Stress

25. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
What is the stress response?
You would become hyper alert, highly
motivated and be ready to fight or
flight for your life.
Clearly, this is a beneficial response
when I hungry beast with 30
centimetreteeth and a bad attitude
turns up expecting you to be on the
menu.
Stress

26. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The flip side of your stress-response
Adam Shaw

27. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The flip side of your stress-response
Unfortunately, your brain has not learned
to tell the difference between a real or
perceived stress-response.
Adam Shaw

28. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The flip side of your stress-response
Unfortunately, your brain has not learned
to tell the difference between a real or
perceived stress-response.
Since humanity has only been office based
for a relative microsecond on our time-
line, our current stressful, sedentary
lifestyles are less than ideal for our
general wellbeing.
Adam Shaw

29. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The flip side of your stress-response
Things that can trigger your stress response
include
Heart Health

30. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The flip side of your stress-response
Things that can trigger your stress response
include
Criticism, intimidation, anger, lack of
respect, insults, unreasonable demands and a
person’s inability to listen or understand your
point of view
Heart Health

31. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Have you ever felt like punching your boss or smashing your computer?
Heart

32. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The good news is that this is a
perfectly understandable reaction
when you are stressed.
Heart

33. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The good news is that this is a
perfectly understandable reaction
when you are stressed.
After all, you are filled with chemicals
that have you ready to perform
physical feats that could literally save
your life if it was in danger.
Heart

34. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The not so good news is that if this is
happening regularly to you then it is
putting unnecessary strain on your
heart, body and life.
Adam Shaw

35. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The not so good news is that if this is
happening regularly to you then it is
putting unnecessary strain on your
heart, body and life.
If this status quo continues unmanaged then it is highly likely that it
will lead to serious dis-ease in your life.
Adam Shaw

36. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The not so good news is that if this is
happening regularly to you then it is
putting unnecessary strain on your
heart, body and life.
If this status quo continues unmanaged then it is highly likely that it
will lead to serious dis-ease in your life.
Common manifestations of this response are heart attacks and
strokes
Adam Shaw

37. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Because you have no way of offsetting the
chemicals of this response when you are sat
behind a desk, it is likely that you will just
simmer with rage for a few
hours, days, weeks or months.
Heart Health

38. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Because you have no way of offsetting the
chemicals of this response when you are sat
behind a desk, it is likely that you will just
simmer with rage for a few hours, days,
weeks or months.
Your failure to deal with the conflict between what is happening and
what you want to do or say can continually trigger your stress
response.
Heart Health

39. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
The situation is usually motivated
by fear of what would happen if
you were more honest about
how you really felt to those who
were leading you to feel this way.
Heart

40. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Feeling stuck in a bad relationship can eat you from within
Prevention

41. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Feeling stuck in a bad relationship can eat you from within
Unfortunately, it is a vicious circle
when you start to feel stuck in a
relationship that isn’t working for you.
Prevention

42. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Feeling stuck in a bad relationship can eat you from within
Unfortunately, it is a vicious circle
when you start to feel stuck in a
relationship that isn’t working for you.
The first thing to go is love.
Prevention

43. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Feeling stuck in a bad relationship can eat you from within
Unfortunately, it is a vicious circle
when you start to feel stuck in a
relationship that isn’t working for you.
You may not love yourself enough to
sustain you during the times where
your partner does not appear to love
you either
Prevention

44. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Feeling stuck in a bad relationship can eat you from within
Honesty as to how you really feel will usually
fall by the wayside from here.
Adam Shaw

45. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Feeling stuck in a bad relationship can eat you from within
Honesty as to how you really feel will usually
fall by the wayside from here.
Mutual respect is often the next thing to exit
the equation.
Adam Shaw

46. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Feeling stuck in a bad relationship can eat you from within
Honesty as to how you really feel will usually
fall by the wayside from here.
Mutual respect is often the next thing to exit
the equation.
From this point trust, happiness, confidence
and belief will leave at various points.
Adam Shaw

47. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
Heart Health

48. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
The human body has a remarkable
ability to adapt.
Heart Health

49. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
The human body has a remarkable
ability to adapt.
This is the good news.
Heart Health

50. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
The human body has a remarkable
ability to adapt.
This is the good news.
However, the stress response, if not
used for real life fight or flight will take
its toll on your body and heart over
time.
Heart Health

51. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
Because this happens so slowly, you
may have learned to live with the
above symptoms, dealing with your
stress by ignoring it.
Heart

52. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
Because this happens so slowly, you
may have learned to live with the
above symptoms, dealing with your
stress by ignoring it.
From here you may find your blood
pressure rise.
Heart

53. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
You could put on weight as your
digestion suffers.
Prevention

54. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
You could put on weight as your
digestion suffers.
Your stress response will continually
divert the supply of blood from your
stomach and bowel.
Prevention

55. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Your body is resilient
You could put on weight as your
digestion suffers.
Your stress response will continually
divert the supply of blood from your
stomach and bowel.
Sleeplessness is common as fight or
flight is designed to keep you awake.
Prevention

56. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Violence can result
Stress

57. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Violence can result
Continuous stress in any relationship will
naturally lead to angry thoughts and feelings
towards your boss, colleague, friend or partner.
Stress

58. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Violence can result
Continuous stress in any relationship will
naturally lead to angry thoughts and feelings
towards your boss, colleague, friend or partner.
When Michael Douglas cracked in the film “Falling Down” this may
have been extreme, but many people have at least some empathy for
his often extreme responses to stressful circumstances.
Stress

59. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
Violence can result
Continuous stress in any relationship will
naturally lead to angry thoughts and feelings
towards your boss, colleague, friend or partner.
This is a great example of fight or flight kicking in.
Stress

60. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS?
Heart Health

61. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS?
The best way to deal with stress is to get
physically active when you feel you blood
pressure rise.
Heart Health

62. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS?
The best way to deal with stress is to get
physically active when you feel you blood
pressure rise.
Sport is a great outlet for stress.
Heart Health

63. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS?
The best way to deal with stress is to get
physically active when you feel you blood
pressure rise.
Sport is a great outlet for stress.
Walking may be a more appropriate alternative
if you are working in a stressful office.
Heart Health

64. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS?
Taking a 5-minute walk outside or once around
the building can help.
Heart

65. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS?
Taking a 5-minute walk outside or once around
the building can help.
Deep breathing will also start to reduce the
symptoms.
Heart

66. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE THE SYMPTOMS?
Taking a 5-minute walk outside or once around
the building can help.
Deep breathing will also start to reduce the
symptoms.
This will stimulate your parasympathetic
response and start to counter the stress and
adrenaline in your body.
Heart

67. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
GET HELP
Adam Shaw

68. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
GET HELP
Ultimately, if you have been experiencing any of
the above symptoms for an extended period of
time then your health is at risk.
Adam Shaw

69. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
GET HELP
Ultimately, if you have been experiencing any of
the above symptoms for an extended period of
time then your health is at risk.
If you are overweight or suffering with
hypertension, diabetes, insomnia, indigestion or
anger then get professional help.
Adam Shaw

70. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
GET HELP
If left unmanaged then this may well kill you
early.
Stress

71. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
GET HELP
If left unmanaged then this may well kill you
early.
Heart attacks and strokes were responsible for
23.6% of all deaths on the planet in 2008
according to the World Health Organisation.
Stress

72. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
GET HELP
Heart attacks and strokes were responsible for
23.6% of all deaths on the planet in 2008
according to the World Health Organisation.
It has been proven that unmanaged stress is a
major factor for both of these and many other
illnesses.
Stress

73. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
There is no gentle way to say it
Heart

74. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
There is no gentle way to say it
If you have identified any of these symptoms in
your life then get help now or you will probably
die sooner, rather than later.
Heart

75. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
There is no gentle way to say it
If you have identified any of these symptoms in
your life then get help now or you will probably
die sooner, rather than later.
In 13 years of nursing, I have learned that being
subtle does not work very often.
Heart

76. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
There is no gentle way to say it
If you have identified any of these symptoms in
your life then get help now or you will probably
die sooner, rather than later.
In 13 years of nursing, I have learned that being
subtle does not work very often.
I have seen enough people die younger than
necessary to own this lesson.

77. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
There is no gentle way to say it
There are free resources available to help you
to manage your stress but if you are struggling
on your own, get professional help.
Heart Health

78. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
There is no gentle way to say it
There are free resources available to help you
to manage your stress but if you are struggling
on your own, get professional help.
Your life can be easier, happier and better when
you understand how stress works, how your
body responds to it and how to manage it more
effectively.

79. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
THE ULTIMATE PARADOX
Adam Shaw

80. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
THE ULTIMATE PARADOX
Your body’s stress response is designed to keep
you alive.
Adam Shaw

81. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
THE ULTIMATE PARADOX
Your body’s stress response is designed to keep
you alive.
It will also kill you early if you are not using it to
run away or fight your corner.
Adam Shaw

82. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
THE ULTIMATE PARADOX
Your body’s stress response is designed to keep
you alive.
It will also kill you early if you are not using it to
run away or fight your corner.
Speak up, be honest, get assertive and learn
how to manage your stress better.
Most importantly of all: get help.
Adam Shaw

83. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
By
Heart Health Consultant
Adam Shaw
Published in
CHOICES MAGAZINE
Stress

84. STRESS CAN KILL YOU EARLY
For more information please visit
AdamShaw.co