01.08 Health & Stress

Prolonged exposure to stress is detrimental to our health. Our bodies' job is to try to keep us alive. When we were cave people, our bodies would detect a bear running after us and immediately kick into fight or flight mode- our stress response. That was healthy and helpful because it kept us alive. The problem is that our bodies are going into fight or flight mode several times a day when we don’t need it to anymore- we aren’t chased by bears anymore. Our bodies misinterpret the slow diver in front of us or the annoying customer service rep and a bear and react in the exact same way. During fight or flight our bodies get ready to survive the moment. It turns off the systems we don’t need, like digestion and reproduction, it pumps blood to our limbs in case we need to run fast, and our heart rate increases. When we do this too frequently it taxes our bodies. Studies support that exposure to chronic stress is deadly. So deadly that it is estimated that over 75% of physical ailments in primary care doctor offices are directly related to stress.

Psychosomatic illness, physical diseases that are prone to or worsened by mental factors, like ulcers, hypertension, and asthma are all caused or directly impacted by chronic stress. Stress also contributes to many physical illnesses like cardiovascular disease, cancer, endocrine disease, skin rashes, migraines, musculoskeletal disease, infectious illnesses, breast cysts, and emotional disturbances.