Thursday, June 5, 2008

Does Stress Affect Weight Loss?

By Jennifer Baxt

There are many different reasons for a person to loose their appetite. Both men and women are prone to loosing their appetite due to sickness or life's stresses. Many people actually suffer such a loss of appetite that they can start to lose weight, making them fairly skinny. Such a loss in weight can lead to other health problems, including a lowered immune system. In many cases, the loss of appetite can be attributed to stress. Either life at home or life at work can become so stressful and worrisome that a person can find it difficult to relax enough to eat.

Stress is interesting in that if people didn't suffer any stress at all, nothing would get done and if people suffer too much stress it can be harmful to the mind and body. Weight loss is just one example of how too much stress can be harmful to an individual. It could be that the person is trying to get the promotion they have been waiting to get for so long, or it could be that a kid is being bullied and harassed at school to the point where the student is constantly thinking about how they are going to make it through another day. It could also be stresses a parent is suffering at home, either from a child that seems to be acting up or relations with the spouse are not promising and are slowly working their way to the situation where divorce might be the answer. The severe loss of appetite and the corresponding loss of weight can be caused by the stress created from any number of situations; even the loss of a close loved one.

When one is at a loss of how to deal with the stressful situation so that they can be more relaxed, it can greatly impact their health in a negative ways like loosing weight because they can't bring themselves to eat. It happens quite often where a person is so worried or stressed about a situation that they can't even think about food. When the worry and stress has come to such a point, it really is time that the person starts thinking about getting some help. Talking to a therapist or a counselor can be extremely helpful in that the professional can help the person address their issue(s) and then deal with it accordingly. Many people are contacting online therapists in order to ask questions or to get the help they need. Online therapy is becoming a more popular way for people to get help because they can contact a therapist from the comfort of their own home. Someone who is feeling excessively worried or stressed can easily get onto the internet, do a quick search and contact an online counselor who can help them put their worries at ease and reduce their stress. Getting this kind of help is usually beneficial because when the worries and stresses are dealt with and the person is more relaxed, they will start getting their appetite back and they can stop losing weight.

Jennifer B. Baxt, LMHC, LMFT offers online audio/video counseling as well as works with children, individuals, couples, geriatric patients, depression, bipolar, anxiety and substance abuse. Please contact Complete Counseling Solutions via email jennifer@completecounselingsolutions.com or visit our website http://www.completecounselingsolutions.com for any further information.