In 2018, YouGov was commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation to carry out a UK-wide stress survey to determine the anxiety levels the population were experiencing on a daily basis. It was believed to be the largest and most extensive survey on stress ever proposed in the UK. It revealed the fact that in the timeframe of a year, 74% of UK adults said that they had felt so stressed that they were overwhelmed and unable to cope. A few years and one pandemic later, it isn’t hard to imagine that these feelings have increased throughout the nation. Monthly bills, political news, mental health issues, productivity pressure, challenging relationships, personal and family crises, addictive content feeds and the fear of being pinged - the list of 21st century western stressors is predictable, but for many unavoidable. It’s not just adults either - a recent BBC news article highlighted a study showing that nearly 60% of young people feel very worried about climate change. Stress seems to be a part of our everyday life, so the question is, what is it doing to our health?

Stress is essentially the body’s response to physical or emotional pressure from a situation or event. When perceived by the brain, the body releases a number of hormones in attempt to adapt itself to the stress. The aforementioned study included in the Mental Health Foundation’s published report reminds us that aside from our mental health, stress can also have a significant impact on our physical health. It is linked to causing problems such as gastrointestinal or cardiovascular issues, for example. Stress is also shown to affect other, perhaps less noticeable areas of your general health: strength of the immune system, quality of sleep, memory ability, eating habits, muscle tension, headaches… the list goes on. Research also shows that one of the most targeted areas of impact is - you guessed it - your skin.

Recent clinical observations link psychological stress to the onset or aggravation of multiple skin diseases, such as acne and eczema. Although essential in healthy doses, the main stress hormone, cortisol, has negative effects when overproduced. Its immunosuppressive properties cause your skin to be more sensitive in general, which has an effect on inflammation and skin barrier effectiveness.

Your skin’s ability to retain water is hindered by this, causing a dry and dull complexion. Cortisol can also lead to an overproduction of sebum in your skin glands, which causes breakouts.

As if these issues weren’t bad enough, stress is also linked to skin ageing. Although unprotected UV exposure remains the biggest culprit for premature skin ageing, recent research has also found that epinephrine, norepinephrine (both hormones involved in your fight or flight response) and cortisol were found to increase DNA damage and interfere with DNA repair. Poor quality of sleep caused by stress is shown to accelerate skin aging including fine lines, uneven pigmentation and reduced elasticity.

Seeking out proper support is the best solution to address any underlying mental health issue and reduce stress. In the meantime, maintaining a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle is a good way to combat the effect of stress on health. As for your skin, here’s how we can help you in the clinic:

We provide tailored products that will support your skin’s moisture level to prevent any further damage. For example, Medik8’s HYDR8 B5 is a deeply hydrating and long-lasting Hyaluronic Acid serum, which nourishes and restores stressed skin. We would also recommend the luxurious Dr.Bragi products, which use powerful marine enzymes to rebalance the skin’s water content to ensure continual hydration.

Our trained clinicians also offer many treatments that help with the signs of stress and ageing that have already occurred. A series of radio-frequency treatments will tighten your skin and a treatment of IPL Skin Rejuvenation removes sun damage, stimulates new cell growth and increases collagen production. You may also want to consider trying Dermalux LED Phototherapy which revives the skin’s natural rejuvenation and repair processes to speed up cell renewal, resolve problem skin conditions and promote vibrant and healthy skin.

As always, if you have any questions, we would be happy to offer you a complimentary consultation with one of our clinicians.

Written by Jessica Moriarty

Sources:

Mental Health Foundation (2018), Stress: Are we coping?

Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst (2021), Climate change: Young people very worried – survey

Ying Chen and John Lyga (2014), Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging