Negative Psychological Effects on the Body

Your thoughts and emotions can have a profound effect on your body and your health. Whether that effect is positive or negative depends on the thoughts and emotions in question. Experiencing negative emotions and thoughts can lead to poor health effects. For instance, the Mayo Clinic reports that constant stress puts your health at risk. To reduce the occurrences of these conditions, focus on thinking positively and avoiding negative emotions.

Anger

• Bouts of extreme anger elevate your blood pressure and cause endorphin and cortisol surges, which put added stress on your heart, arteries and blood vessels. These hormone surges are necessary when faced with a fight or flight situation, but repeated surges have a toxic effect on the heart. Medical researchers believe frequent anger increases plaque build-up in the arteries, which damages the walls. To prevent this problem from occurring, work on reducing your angry outbursts through meditation, exercise or deep-breathing exercises. If none of these methods work, consider seeking a counselor for anger management.

Stress

• Stress is a necessary emotion. When expressed properly, it alerts a person to danger and keeps him from getting hurt. Continual stress, however, has disastrous effects on the body. Long-term stress depresses the body's immune system, which makes you more vulnerable to illnesses such as common colds, as well as to dangerous viruses and bacteria. Often, stress is a headache trigger and it can also cause asthma, skin problems and high blood pressure. Many people experience stress as a result of their career, family or financial situation. While it is impossible to eliminate stress completely, learning how to cope with it is essential to good health.

Depression

• Depression is a serious mental illness that affects about 19 million people in the United States. There are several types of depression ranging from mild to life-threatening in severity. Even in mild cases, depression causes body aches and high blood pressure. Prolonged depression also elevates blood sugar levels, leading to hyperglycemia, which affects the kidneys and increases neuropathy and hypertension.

Poor Self-Esteem

• Having low self-esteem or a poor opinion of yourself or your body also affects your health. Believing that you're overweight often leads to eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, which, in turn, can progress to malnutrition and acid reflux. Low self-esteem can pave the way for other negative emotions and thoughts, including depression and stress. Loosing or gaining weight too quickly also has a negative effect on the body. Seek counseling if you suffer from low self-esteem and get guidance if you wish to change your body to make sure you do it in a healthy manner.