Stress can play havoc with your weight, sex drive and your fertility. Here's how to heal yourself...

Your Weight

When stressed, your body releases the hormone cortisol, which provides a quick burst of energy for the fight-or-flight response. But when you're stressed for long periods of time, the constant presence of cortisol can cause weight gain. According to a study in Obesity, this effect can be direct or indirect, as the hormone causes fat to be deposited in our abdominal area, as well as cravings, decreased metabolism and blood sugar changes.

Heal Yourself: An increase in glucocorticoids over a period of time can increase compulsive activities, like ingesting more fat, sucrose and alcohol, says nutritionist Charlene Giovanelli-Nicolson. "The first step is to identify your triggers of stress". She also suggests you keep a food diary to see what emotional eating habits you've developed.

Your Fertility

In a study by Emory University, scientists found that women with high levels of cortisol can stop ovulating and are therefore be unable to conceive.

Heal Yourself: In the same study, the researchers discovered that simple talking therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, can reverse the effect of stress and boost a woman's chances of becoming pregnant. In fact, five months after the women were given therapy, 80 percent were ovulating again, and two months later, two of the women were pregnant.

Your Sex Drive

When stressed, your body is wired to choose survival over pleasure, says Women's Health's sex and relationship advisor Elna Rudolph. Cortisol is helpful in short bursts, but over the long run it causes hormonal imbalances, including decreasing the amount of testosterone you have available (the hormone you need for your libido). Cortisol also influences neurotransmitters in your brain like serotonin and dopamine. Your brain is your most powerful sex organ and needs to function optimally for you to have a normal sex drive.

Heal Yourself: Catch up on some sleep, rearrange your life to decrease the stress and make time for some sex when you are rested – it's a great stress reliever! "If sex has been the last thing on your mind, your brain needs a bit of a reminder of how good sex actually is for you," says Rudolph. Take a nice long bath, try to remember how you felt previously when you had raging spontaneous desire and fantasise about sex. She adds: "You might just rediscover one of the body's greatest natural stress relievers – sex!"

For more stress relievers get the August issue of Women's Health