--- title: This Is Why You Get Sick After Stress description: Putting your body into fight-or-flight state for drawn-out periods can weaken your immune response, triggering various symptoms. canonical: https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-13T17:30:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:16.763Z article:section: Health og:title: This Is Why You Get Sick After Stress og:description: Putting your body in fight-or-flight mode can have serious repercussions og:url: https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2a39cd1047ec5ca/6988a375cd1bba6dce702110/sick-leave.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5100 og:image:height: 2869 og:image:alt: sick-leave og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is Why You Get Sick After Stress twitter:description: Putting your body in fight-or-flight mode can have serious repercussions twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2a39cd1047ec5ca/6988a375cd1bba6dce702110/sick-leave.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is Why You Get Sick After Stress > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=2071a8c1-41b2-4aaa-8d0b-2766ccb1701a&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why Some Handle Stress Better Than Others [Watch (HLS stream): Why Some Handle Stress Better Than Others](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oPT2I214.m3u8) (0:54)  _Published 2016-07-21. A study looks inside people’s brains during a stressful situation to see if anything special was happening to help people cope better with stress._ by [Gail Saltz, MD / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Gail Saltz, MD / Health.com Contributor Mar 13, 2017 5:30 PM UTC  Small household waste paper basket full to overflowing with used tissues as a result of a cold flu or allergy with two other used tissues lying on the wooden floor. Small household waste paper basket full to overflowing with used tissues as a result of a cold flu or allergy with two other used tissues lying on the wooden floor. Joe Fox—Getty Images by [Gail Saltz, MD / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Gail Saltz, MD / Health.com Contributor Mar 13, 2017 5:30 PM UTC During stressful moments, our bodies are designed to gear up and go into defense mode. Levels of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol rise, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, your breath might quicken, and your muscles tense up. These physiological changes come in handy if you’re facing an acute emergency (say, you have to quickly climb out of a submerged car) but not when you’re constantly barraged with more ordinary annoyances (you can’t find your work ID! Your computer crashes! Traffic makes you late!). Putting your body into this overactive, fight-or-flight state for drawn-out periods can weaken your immune response, triggering various symptoms (gastrointestinal problems, headaches, insomnia) and contributing to everything from respiratory infections to [heart disease](http://www.health.com/heart-disease). Now, there is no such thing as living stress-free, but you knew that already. What’s key is how you manage what life throws at you—you want to short-circuit worry before it overloads you. **_RELATED_**_:_ [_5 Powerful Mantras to Help You Quiet Anxiety and Manage Stress_](http://www.health.com/mind-body/mantras-anxiety-confidence/?xid=time) One of the best [stress-reduction strategies](http://www.health.com/stress) is controlled, deep breathing, studies show. Inhale while expanding your belly, pause, then exhale slowly to a count of five; repeat for a few minutes. You can also sweat out your angst: Aerobic activity helps lower levels of stress hormones. Even a 20-minute walk can calm you down. And don’t underestimate the power of a good vent session with a friend, partner, or therapist. Talking through stress helps diminish it fairly quickly. I also find that interrupting tense periods by adding some moments of pure, simple joy makes a difference. As adults, we often forget how important it is to play, whether that means skipping something at work to catch a midday movie or just going offline from e-mail after dinner and cracking up at a favorite sitcom. **_Health.com_**_: 9_[ _Easy Ways to Practice Self-Care This Week_](http://www.health.com/mind-body/self-care-ideas/?xid=time) Final note: One of the biggest causes of chronic stress that I see is trying to be a one-woman show. If you always feel overwhelmed, it might be a signal that you need to do some bigger-picture strategizing, like pruning your workload or social commitments. Don’t be afraid to delegate, ask for help from associates at work or your family at home, and eliminate tasks from your to-do list that are not actual priorities. _Gail Saltz, MD, is a psychiatrist and television commentator in New York City who specializes in health, sex, and relationships._ _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/stress/stressed-sick/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://www.health.com) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/"},"headline":"This Is Why You Get Sick After Stress","datePublished":"2017-03-13T17:30:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:16.763Z","description":"Putting your body in fight-or-flight mode can have serious repercussions","url":"https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/","keywords":["Stress"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2a39cd1047ec5ca/6988a375cd1bba6dce702110/sick-leave.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Gail Saltz, MD / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta2a39cd1047ec5ca/6988a375cd1bba6dce702110/sick-leave.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sick-leave","caption":"","creditText":"Joe Fox—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/stress/","name":"Stress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/","name":"This Is Why You Get Sick After Stress"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why Some Handle Stress Better Than Others","description":"A study looks inside people’s brains during a stressful situation to see if anything special was happening to help people cope better with stress.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oPT2I214/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-21T20:20:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oPT2I214.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/","duration":"PT54S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4698397/sick-after-stress/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```