In watching Gary Kubiak collapse tonight, we don't know for certain whether stress played a role in it or not. However, I was sitting there thinking about how stress can really negatively impact your body, even to the point of death. A few years ago I lost a friend who died at the age of 37 -- he was the most stressed out person I've ever been around, and died due to heart issues. Then think about Ken Lay, former Enron CEO. He died only months after the company came down. Think about Joe Paterno, who died in the months after the Penn State / Sandusky incident. I'm not a doctor, but mental health and stress reduction is something we should not take lightly.
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If you work in a high stress enviroment, its great to take a 5 min break, walk outside, stretch, get a glass of water at least once an hour. I work in a very very fast paced sales position that stresses me out even when I am at home. The problem is, people usually do not know how to manage more than one task at a time. Theres a book called the 80/20 Rule that touches on this subject and it can help you manage important tasks vs the little ones that can wait. That alone can reduce mass amounts of stress. The inflammation topic is a big one too. That can even be reduced by your diet.
thanks to the entire texans organization i'll probably schedule a check-up. those bastards have been stressing me out for years.
Since stress is inevitable let's talk about ways to relieve stress instead of stress about stress. I'll start with a few of my favorites. Working out but more specifically sweating. There's no better feeling than getting your sweat on like Patrick Ewing. Cooking and eating healthy/satisfying foods, getting laid, golfing, fishing and the occasional hippie lettuce works wonders.
The sinister thing about over-stress is that its a physiological response which can have, not only dire physiological consequences, but psychological consequences as well. This is a relationship that many people underestimate. Stress is a significant antecedent in Anxiety, Depression, Sleep disruption and of course cardiovascular problems as well as many other illnesses. High stress environments often acknowledge stress as a necessary evil which leads to mismanagement and potentially catastrophic health problems and mental illnesses
Another way which works well is changing the way you mentally approach the stressor or problem. People often focus on things which stress them out so much that it blows completely out of proportion and becomes even more stressful and overwhelming. Keep the problem relative to the rest of your life. 'Is it really as important as i believe it is?' type of thinking
This is a great topic bigtexxx! I remember very vividly a situation that happened 20+ ago years where a co-worker was diagnosed with cancer. She was a very attractive, healthy looking Lady in her mid 50's, I remember it so vividly because we were all shocked when we heard the news. There was nothing about her that would indicate that she was sick at all, all you saw was a happy,healthy looking middle aged Lady that seemed full of life. The one thing that has stuck with me all these years is that once she found out that she had cancer, she was gone in a matter of 3-4 months! She literally worried/stressed herself to death! I'm not saying she would still be alive today (we all have to die of something), but it was obvious, to me at least, that she was not able to cope with the diagnosis... We all have stress, some of us seem to thrive under it, while some of us seem be engulfed by it! Adversity seems to bring out the best/worst in all of us, luckily there are many things that can help us deal with stress or at least help us manage it to where it doesn't lead us to an early grave! I have three things that help me deal with stress, feel free to ignore them or apply them in your own fight against stress. 1) Meditation (prayer)...okay throw rocks all you want, but this is by far the best thing that I do when I feel worried and stressed, and I really feel a big difference in myself after I'm done. I feel more relaxed and calm and a sense that this too shall pass! 2) I talk to my wife about what's worrying/stressing me! It doesn't have to be your spouse but you have to open up and speak with somebody! If you don't open up you'll eventually blow up! 3) Breathing! Your body responds to how you breathe either by making you feel stressed out, or by making you feel calm and relaxed! There are many great articles about this on the interwebz. ....... ....... .......
An excellent topic. I'll attest to this first-hand. I was thinking about this subject this morning. About 12 years ago, right after 9/11 (but not because of it, certainly), when I was going through a personally stressful time, I would get these....tough to describe, when you haven't gone through it; but pains/tingling shooting through my legs at night. Night sweats. Even had a submandibular salivary gland swell up and, thankfully, turned out not to be cancerous (as well as other tests saying that I didn't have this, didn't have that). Stress manifests itself physically and can, yes, kill you.
