Managing Stress in our Lives

Stress can kill | A look at what we can do to control stress and stay healthy


Some is good but over time too much can kill you.

Stress in small amounts is good because it can motivate us to take action. Too much stress can cause us to get sick. Dr. Bill Cook runs a mind-body practice in Fredericton. Most of his patients tell him they can't understand why they're sick. He says almost all sickness is stress-based.

"There isn't a single cell or organ in your body that is not potentially adversely affected by the chemistry of the stress system. That's how substantive it is. You name an organ system and there is something that stress can do to that over the long haul."

In the short term, stress can cause things such as headaches and stomachaches. Over time, he says, we can end up with compressed discs, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, colon cancer and other major illnesses.

To avoid sickness, we need to find ways to relieve our stress. This happens through life-long practices. He says it isn't the straw that broke the camel's back but the constant heavy load that caused the camel to fall.

Once we see ourselves as camels carrying heavy loads then, he says, we can determine the stresses that we can and the stresses that we can't control. We can either rid ourselves of the things that cause us stress, or modify them so they are more manageable. (MORE)

Source: The Daily Gleamer