Everyone knows how stressful divorce, job loss, or a move to another part of the country can be. But the impact of less obvious stress-producing events often go unrecognized.
These more subtle stressors, such as an unfulfilling job, a rocky marriage, or just sitting in commuter traffic day in and day out, can suppress the immune system. That leaves the body open to infection disease, and muscle weakness, according to Bruce McEwen, Ph.D, of Rockefeller University in New York City, who reported his findings in the New England Journal of Medicine.
We can handle acute stress when we must-both the good stress of working toward a difficult goal and the bad stress caused by some kind of calamity. When the stressful period ends, our bodies gradually return to normal functioning.
However, if we are in a “state of chronic stress, hormones gradually produce harmful changes in blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and cholesterol levels,” notes McEwen. Without realizing it, subtle stress has made us ill.
In more recent research, McEwen and colleagues found that, contrary to the long-held belief that humans or animals cannot grow new brain cells once they reach adulthood, monkeys constantly make new brain cell sin an area of the brain used for forming long-term memories. But the brain stops producing these new cells when the animals are under stress. If this happens in animals, the researchers wonder, why not in humans? This is all the more reason to keep stress at bay.
How can you deal with life’s subtle stressors? The first order of business is to try to get a good night’s sleep. If you go through the day dragging your heels or some other part of your anatomy, you’ll find it difficult to deal with much of anything.
Then, try to alleviate those minor irritations that leave you feeling grumpy or out of sorts. Break up your day by going for a short walk at lunch. Change your routine if you can. Take a different route to work or back home.
If you’re at home during the day, vary the order in which typically do things. If you always go to the market in the morning, wait until after lunch. If you visit the library in the evening, switch to the afternoon for a while. The changes don’t have to earth-shattering, but they should give you the feeling that you’re looking at life from a slightly different angle.
Adapted from New Choices article by Rita Watson, Copyright 2007 Watson