Procrastination can affect both your physical and your mental health. These are just a few of the ways in which Procrastination can affect your overall health.
Stress
You may become stressed if you constantly put off completing tasks and then realise that you are under pressure to get them finished by a specific deadline date, or maybe there is an approaching payment deadline on a bill you owe.
The stress can build up in your body and over long periods of time can cause a variety of illnesses from milder ones such as headaches, and backaches through to more serious ones such as heart disease or high blood pressure.
Stress causes cortisol to be released into your body and is a hormone that occurs naturally in the body. It is released by your adrenal glands as a reaction to it’s perceived imminent danger.
Although it is often called the “stress hormone” due to it playing an important role in the fight or flight mode, it also contributes to regulating other functions within your body such as regulating your blood pressure, insulin release or immune function.
It is important for your body to relax after a stressful period or event so that your body’s functions can return to normal. However, in the highly stressed society we live in today your body doesn’t always get the chance to return to normal.
Therefore, when high levels of cortisol remain in your bloodstream for long periods of time, it can result in a state of chronic stress and lead to any number of the issues listed below: –
- High blood pressure or Hypertension
- A blood sugar imbalance or Hyperglycemia
- Increased abdominal fat.
- Lower immunity levels and inflammatory responses
- Depression
Heart Disease and Hypertension
Various studies have shown that Procrastination may be one of the contributing factors which increases your risk of getting cardiovascular diseases or hypertension. As a Procrastinator you are more likely to be highly self-critical and blame yourself for your Procrastination habit. You may be more prone to having negative thoughts and this can increase the stress levels in your body which is an important factor in cardiovascular health.
Immunity Level
Procrastinators have been found to have lower immunity levels and be ill more frequently than none Procrastinators. This can be attributed to higher stress levels and poor wellness behaviours.
During times of stress, or fear, the cortisol that is released into your body as part of it’s fight or flight response, is your body’s way of trying to protect and prepare you to either stay and face the threat, or to escape to safety. While in this state all the body’s energy goes into responding to the imminent danger, resulting in a reduced ability to fight infections, so your body cannot heal itself as quickly or as easily as it would if it was functioning normally.
Increased Abdominal Fat and Hyperglycemia
The issue of increased abdominal fat has also been linked to health problems such as heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and higher levels of the bad cholesterol. If you are one of the people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in your body at times of stress you could have a tendency to eat more foods that are higher in carbohydrates which could contribute to the increase in abdominal fat. Over time this can result in diabetes or metabolic syndrome which is a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
Sleep Deprivation
Procrastination has been known to affect your quality of sleep and procrastinators tend to sleep far less at night. You may also find it difficult to stay awake during the day, as a result of it. Sadly this can lead to restlessness, which can cause you more stress, increase your cortisol levels, and further affect your sleeping habits. This may also mean that you find it necessary to resort to medication of some kind in order to help you sleep better.
Depression
People with depression tend to have reduced amounts of serotonin in their brain and increased levels of cortisol in their bloodstream. When high levels of stress hormones are produced throughout the day it can be exhausting to the body and may cause the neurotransmitters in your brain to stop functioning correctly, possibly leading to depression as a result. Serotonin is the body’s “feel good” chemical that can influence not only your mood but also your appetite and your sleep patterns.
When you are not depressed the cortisol level in your bloodstream peaks in the morning and decreases throughout the day. However, when you are living with depression your cortisol level tends to peak earlier in the morning but does not decrease as the day progresses. Instead you can experience repeated surges of cortisol throughout the day. This can make you become resistant to the positive effects that cortisol can bring, such as preparing you for physical or emotional challenges, generating bursts of energy or triggering surges of immune activity when you are experiencing infectious diseases.
