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Negative Emotions & the Effects on Health

Negative emotions are more than just emotions. Indeed, they can have very real negative effects on your physical and mental health. These range from back pain to lightheadedness to insomnia to trouble performing sexually. If you are having physical health problems whose source you can't diagnose, you need to look at your emotions and try to determine whether they could be causing your physical symptoms.

  1. Substance Abuse

    • Negative emotions can lead you to abuse substances, which in turn can affect your health. Drinking a lot, smoking tobacco and abusing illegal or prescription drugs can all have a variety of negative effects, such as a compromised immune system, difficulty performing everyday tasks and generally poor health as you neglect other things, such as healthy food and drink, in favor of your substance of choice. So, if you're drinking a lot of alcohol or abusing another substance, you should examine your emotions to see if you can identify a root cause.

    Appetite

    • Negative emotions can cause you to eat either more or less than you would otherwise. This can, in turn, cause rapid weight gain or weight loss, which is unhealthy. If you become overweight, it becomes difficult to move around and you run out of energy quickly; the same goes for becoming underweight, as you lose muscle mass and do not have the stored food your body needs to perform its everyday functions.

    Immune System

    • Negative emotions can cause your immune system to function less effectively. This means that if you are feeling emotionally down, you will be susceptible to more bacterial and viral infections. These will, in turn, make you sick, sap you of energy and further emotionally drain you. If you are getting sick frequently, you should look at your emotions and assess whether they could be playing a role in your sickness.

    Pain

    • Negative emotions can cause physical pain, such as back pain and soreness, chest pain from heart palpitations, stiff necks and upset stomachs. These symptoms may be manifestations of emotional problems, such as anxiety or depression, and the emotional problems should be addressed in order to eliminate this physical pain. Of course, this isn't to say that negative emotions are the only source of this pain, but they are one possible source. Always check with your doctor for a proper diagnosis.

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