Sweaty and Stressed

By Brooke Strickland
Writer for FEP International

Stinky. A new study published in the online journal PLoS showed that when you are put into a stressful environment and begin to sweat, others around you may sense your stress simply by breathing it in. It also showed that there was a change in brain activity when people are exposed to sweat from others. Researchers took sweat samples from 144 people who were put into the situation of tandem skydiving for the first time – an obviously somewhat stressful circumstance. Imaging results indicated that the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with emotion, was more active when exposed to the skydivers' sweat than to the runners' sweat [1].

Are you stressed? Here are some symptoms that may indicate you are under some strain.
- Headaches: If you’re getting headaches more often, stress could be the perpetrator.
- More frequent flu or cold viruses: If you’re always stressed, your immunity is down, allowing those pesty viruses and bugs to get into your system.
- Sleep problems: Insomnia? Restless sleep? Both indicators that you might be stressing.
- Anxiety: If you’re feeling more anxiety than normal, you may have too many stressors in your life.
- Unclear thinking: If your “fight of flight” response is being triggered too much, it can cause you to think and react less quickly to regular day-to-day situations.
- Lowered libido: Finding time for your partner may be hard if you’re too tired, anxious, or overwhelmed.
- Irritability: If your faced with many frustrations or demands, it’s easy to become irritable and cranky. Find ways to prevent frustration and calm down faster.

Manage your stress! There are some simple techniques to effectively manage your stress and live a happier, more fulfilling life.
- Identify the stress in your life: If you find out what’s really stressing you, you can focus on finding ways to eliminate unnecessary tensions and focus on what’s really important.
- Express your feelings: Don’t bottle your emotions. Expressing your feelings in a healthy way is important to building better communication with those around you, while also creating ways to reduce the stressors in your own life.
- Manage your environment: If you know certain things, places, or situations are going to cause anxiety, try to avoid them or find alternate ways of dealing with them.
- Focus on the positive: Negativity is draining not only on you, but those around you.

Recharge yourself by doing something that you enjoy. These might include:
- Take a walk and enjoy nature’s scenery
- Curl up with a good book
- Shop
- Hang out with a close friend
- Listen to music
- Play with a pet
- Work out
- Watch a funny movie or TV show
- Take a long bubble bath
- Get a massage

So remember. If you’re stressed and your armpits are a little stinky, you might be stressing other people out. You owe it to yourself, and those around you to take a break and reduce your tension.

References

1. Sweat may give off stress signals, study says. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/19/stress.sweat.smell.pheromones/index.html
Accessed on the web August 20, 2009.