Don't freak out, but stress is killing you

The news about stress is so bad, it's hard to think of something stress isn't responsible for. And that's part of the problem: Sometimes I feel like "stress" is an all-purpose explanation for disease and ill health that basically amounts to "blame the victim." Because after all, if you are stressed, it's your own fault and it's your problem to fix. ARGH HOW STRESSFUL.

Chronic stress is linked to inflammation, hemorrhoids, migraines, fatigue, insomnia, aggression, lack of focus, anxiety, depression, drug abuse, and more. By increasing your cortisol levels, stress can be responsible for adding belly fat to your figure. By bathing your brain in corticosteroids, stress can have a severe impact on your working memory and spatial memory. By increasing your blood pressure, stress can lead to cardiovascular disease and death.

Am I freaking you out yet? Because I get stressed out just reading about all the problems stress can cause you.

The biggest issue with stress is that it is poorly defined and difficult to defuse. How do you cure stress? Eat right and exercise more. (As if.) Take up yoga, tai chi or meditation. (Who has the time?) No wonder so many people choose to self-medicate stress with alcoholic beverages, shopping sprees and binge eating Ben & Jerry's ice cream instead.

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers when it comes to stress. The only ultimate solution is to find a way to remove or work around the main causes of stress in your life. This could mean changing jobs, leaving your partner, hiring someone to help out with the kids, or all three. (Who has that kind of money? Not someone who takes a less high-pressure job in order to alleviate stress, that's for sure.)

The best cure for stress may be to stop, take a deep breath and realize that you are not alone. We're all in the same boat. At least stress is driving us all crazy together!

Image courtesy Flickr/Dave-F