Many diabetics, especially the newly diagnosed ones, ask if psychological stress can raise blood sugar. Psychological stress becomes physical stress to the body. Physical stress to the body can raise blood sugar levels.

When you have psychological stress this is another way of saying you are having some unpleasant emotions. For example, panic, worry, anxiety, anger, and others. These emotions can set off what is called the stress response. These are changes your body makes to adapt to stress conditions whether they are real or perceived. For example, the body will narrow the arterial blood flow, increase blood volume, secrete the stress hormone cortisol, release stored blood sugar into the bloodstream, and other adaptations that make the body more ready to meet threats.

If you are at your job and have deadlines to meet, and you panic about them, you may set off the stress response. You may be the boss of many people and you may get angry with some of them. This anger may set off the stress response. The point is the emotions trigger aspects of the body. The main one triggered is cortisol production. This is a catabolic hormone (breaks down the body) that is intended to work short term in the body to help you adapt to stress. Constant psychological stress can result in constant pouring out of cortisol into the bloodstream. Cortisol secretion results in blood sugar pouring out into the bloodstream to assist cortisol and the rest of the body with the threats, real or perceived.

When the blood sugar is elevated this stresses the body again. Insulin surges are needed to cope with the surges of blood sugar. This results in the pancreas going to work and producing insulin. Too many sugar surges will overwork the pancreas, creating additional stress to the body. If you are in a constant state of psychological stress, such as being in a panic all day at the workplace, your body is being subjected to many stresses, but the main ones are cortisol secretion, elevated blood sugar, and hyper insulin production. If you are subjecting yourself to this all day, then you are under a great amount of stress.

The whole point is emotional stress can be deadly to a diabetic. It can lead to hyper cortisol levels, elevated blood sugar levels, hyper insulin, and many other adaptive changes in the body. It is clear this is not healthy. Additionally, it results in elevated blood sugar and this is not what a diabetic needs.

Therefore diabetics need to make their choices carefully. To panic, get upset, to have unpleasant emotional binges, or to remain calm and meditative and avoid the dangers that unpleasant emotions can create for diabetics.


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Page Last Modified: 04FEB02