Stress can make you sick
Ever feel “stressed out”? We all do occasionally. But when the stress never goes away—-when you feel stressed day in, day out—with no relief and no intervention, you may be setting yourself up for illness.
Stress is sneaky. It comes in layers until you can feel you are suffocated—much like lying on a bed under too many blankets.
It starts when the alarm goes off. You curse staying up late to work on a project the night before, and then you realize that the suit you had planned to wear isn’t back from the cleaners. Here comes your son, who reminds you that he needs treats for class today. After you run into the bakery and get your child settled at school, you take a deep breath and think you are in the clear, only to realize that you are now running late for a meeting that your boss’s boss scheduled for first thing this morning. Somehow, you manage to slip into the meeting a few minutes late without anyone noticing, but then you get back to your desk to full in-boxes, and so on and so on. It’s not just the big life decisions that cause stress—it’s just the reality of day-to-day responsibilities, both at home and at work.
It’s important to realize how you are feeling and responding to life’s challenges. Some experts believe true chronic stress may cause 50 percent of all disease. It contributes to the top two leading causes of death: heart disease and cancer. And it’s also a factor in a long list of other maladies, from migraines to tooth decay. You’re even more likely to catch a cold when you are stressed.
“If you want to throw something at the next person who tells you to just ‘relax,’ then you need to really look at how you are responding to your environment and responsibilities, and see what you can do to give yourself a break,” says Lori Thomas, Wellness Coordinator at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska. “It’s important to remember that feelings, not information, change behavior.”
In other words, taking a stress-management class probably won’t help, but finding your “happy place” when you are dealing with an angry customer probably will. Train yourself to shift your emotional gears when you feel yourself starting to feel anxious, hopeless or furious. It’s just one skill that you can learn to help you manage the stressors that life sends our way. For a wealth of practical help to manage stress, visit the “Health Library” at http://www.bluehealthadvantage.com. There are several great documents under “Healthy Mind.”
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