When stress happens, it happens everywhere from your brain to the joints of your toes. "Virtually everything is affected," says stress expert Eli Bay, founder of The Relaxation Response Institute. "Every system, every organ, every cell is affected by stress. It's total body involvement. And it not only affects your body; it affects your mind and emotions as well."

To help you see the wide range of stress reactions and how they may impact your health, Eli provides his view about the major systems and organs affected. Click on a dot in the illustration below to take a stress tour of your body.

Connect the dots

“All of the systems in your body are connected,” says Eli. “Too much stress can have a domino effect and trigger many different symptoms. Your immune system, for example, can be weakened during stressful times leaving you more susceptible to common illness and conditions such as cold and flu and fatigue.”

To get control of the stress in your life, explore Manage Stress for more information and stress-busting tips. You can also search “stress” in Find Support for resources in your area.

List of links

For your convenience, here is a list of links provided in this interactive tool:

Brain

• Recognizing the different levels of stress

Lungs

• Inhale. Exhale. Breathe!

Cardiovascular system

• The one number that could save your life
• Audio: Simple meditation with Eli Bay
• 7 simple tips to boost your mood by getting physical

Muscles

• Video: The 5-minute stress buster
• The massage message
• How to get the sleep you need

Joints

• Top moves to prevent and relieve joint stiffness

Reproductive organs

• Hot flash: “the change” doesn’t have to be all bad

Skin

• Stress, anxiety or panic? How to know the difference

Liver

• Sweet high and lows

Digestive system

• 5 easy ways to aid digestion