Stress....Why It's Making You Sick
by: Barbara Basler Source: From the AARP Bulletin Print Edition May 1, 2009
In the still, lonely hours before dawn, Karen
Gaebelein sits in her living room chair staring
out the window at the dark sky—her thoughts
racing, heart pounding. At age 56, Gaebelein,
who lives in Broadview Heights, Ohio, is
worried about the mortgage on her condo, her
shrinking retirement savings, her questionable
ob future.
Like millions of Americans, she is anxious,
stressed by the troubling uncertainties of the
faltering economy. And that stress is literally
making her sick. Gaebelein, who has been unemployed for a year, has had trouble sleeping.
Her blood pressure is high. She has bouts of depression. “I forget to eat some days,” says
Gaebelein, who managed two offices of a credit union. “But once in a while I get a big bag of
greasy fast food and a giant Hershey bar. I know I shouldn’t, I know it’s bad for me, but I can’t
help it.”
While a certain amount of stress can increase productivity and creativity, too much can be
mentally and physically damaging. Not only does stress provoke negative behaviors such as
bingeing on junk food, smoking and excessive drinking, it can also lead to ailments ranging from
colds and flu to depression, high blood pressure and memory loss.
Stress that persists over the years can exacerbate conditions such as heart disease, hardening
of the arteries, autoimmune disease, diabetes and ulcers, experts say. Research indicates
stress can also speed the aging process.
“Stress rarely causes disease, but it creates conditions that make the body more vulnerable to
disease. And if you’re already sick or have a chronic illness, stress can make it worse,” says
Sheldon Cohen, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “Its effects ... can
be long-lasting.”
Stress, he says, “is the perception that you are facing demands that exceed your ability to
cope.” The demands can be physical—say, if you’re being pursued by a robber. Or they can be
psychological—worrying about a job or money.
Today’s economic meltdown is triggering widespread psychological stress, which feeds on
uncertainty and dread. “We feel our control slipping and our lives growing more and more
unpredictable,” says Cohen. And the mind repeatedly mulls the same questions: What will
happen next? How long will it go on? Will it get worse?
Americans of all ages are living with the anxieties that a troubled economy brings. But some of
the most stressed people, like Gaebelein, have been laid off in their last decade of work, with
less chance of finding a new job and recouping financial losses.
“Losing your job at 50 or 60 is not good for your health,” says William Gallo, a research
scientist at Yale University’s School of Medicine in New Haven. “There is compelling evidence
that no matter who you compare the older job loser to, he or she does worse physically and
mentally.”
Gallo’s studies, which tracked older people who lost their jobs after a plant closing, found not
only that they had more symptoms of depression, but also that “their risk of heart attack and
stroke was more than doubled compared with people who did not lose their jobs.”
Gallo says that job loss for people age 50 and older—with its attendant anxiety—should be
considered an added risk factor for cardiovascular problems. (When study participants found
other jobs, he says, the risk was greatly reduced.)
Another finding: People who fear losing their jobs have more health problems than those who
actually lost them, says Sarah A. Burgard, assistant professor of sociology at the University of
Michigan. She and her team looked at 3,000 employed people under age 60 participating in two
long-term studies and divided them into those who worried about losing their jobs and those
who didn’t. They found that over a two-year period people who felt chronically insecure about
their jobs reported much worse overall health and were more depressed than those who
actually lost their jobs.
“Living with uncertainty, that’s extremely damaging to your health,” says Burgard.
Why is stress so insidious?
The stress response is an archaic mechanism designed to help primitive man survive a sudden
physical threat—an animal attack or a raid by warriors. It’s a powerful physiological response
meant to kick in briefly while the body prepares to flee or to fight the danger.
But this atavistic system has been dragged into the 21st century, says Louise Hawkley,
associate director of the Social Neuroscience Lab at the University of Chicago. “What our
brains often interpret as a threat today—a job loss or problems with the mortgage—can trigger
the stress response and keep triggering it” until it actually harms the body.
When the brain perceives a threat, potent stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol
flood the body, creating a surge of strength. Glucose (sugar) levels spike to provide energy.
The heart rate jumps, and blood pressure climbs so that blood moves faster and with greater
force to deliver oxygen to the muscles.
To allow the body to channel all effort toward fleeing or fighting, other hormones suppress
systems that don’t directly aid those actions, including the immune, digestive, growth and
reproduction functions. The body remains in this state of alert until the brain is convinced the
threat is over.
If this massive reaction occurs repeatedly, Hawkley says, over time it wreaks havoc on the
delicate hormonal responses that regulate the body’s various systems.
Elevated hormones, for example, rev up the cardiovascular system, straining the heart and
blood vessels and increasing cholesterol and plaque—changes that can lead to hardening of
the arteries, stroke and heart attacks.
When chronic stress disturbs the body’s correct hormonal settings, other problems can ensue,
including colitis and bowel problems, and infections that breach a faulty immune system.
One study, led by Cohen, shows that people living with one of two major “stressors”—
unemployment and underemployment—were five times more likely to develop colds than the
unstressed.
Still, people can learn to cope, experts say, and that helps mitigate the effects of stress on
health.
The first step is to “learn to notice your stress signals,” says Rajita Sinha, M.D., director of the
Yale Stress Center in New Haven, Conn. Key indicators, she says, include a faster heartbeat, a
drop in energy, changes in appetite, teeth grinding, tension in the arms, back or neck, tightness
in the stomach, and sleep problems. “Attend to these signs early,” she says, “and find ways to
cope that work for you.”
The brain is the arbiter of stress, and what sends one person into an anxious funk or even
prompts thoughts of suicide hardly affects another. What’s key is that the brain can be
distracted, calmed by activities that engage and provide enjoyment—such as reading a great
mystery, jogging with the dog or playing the trombone.
Dealing with stress “is not about moving away from the negative, it’s about moving toward the
positive, doing things that make us happy,” says Douglas Mennin, associate professor of
psychology at Yale and director of the department’s Anxiety and Mood Services. He suggests
engaging in activities that turn the mind away from stress, “not just on the weekend” but as a
regular routine.
A crucial strategy, experts say, is to stay connected to friends and relatives. Find emotional
support. Loneliness is a major stressor that can heighten every other problem.
And remember that many people are resilient and adaptable, Mennin adds.
Karen Gaebelein says she’s trying to exercise more and see her friends. She has found
satisfaction volunteering in a senior community. “I have not lost hope yet,” she says.
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/healthyliving/articles/stress_why_it_s_making_you_sick.html
by: Barbara Basler Source: From the AARP Bulletin Print Edition May 1, 2009
In the still, lonely hours before dawn, Karen
Gaebelein sits in her living room chair staring
out the window at the dark sky—her thoughts
racing, heart pounding. At age 56, Gaebelein,
who lives in Broadview Heights, Ohio, is
worried about the mortgage on her condo, her
shrinking retirement savings, her questionable
ob future.
Like millions of Americans, she is anxious,
stressed by the troubling uncertainties of the
faltering economy. And that stress is literally
making her sick. Gaebelein, who has been unemployed for a year, has had trouble sleeping.
Her blood pressure is high. She has bouts of depression. “I forget to eat some days,” says
Gaebelein, who managed two offices of a credit union. “But once in a while I get a big bag of
greasy fast food and a giant Hershey bar. I know I shouldn’t, I know it’s bad for me, but I can’t
help it.”
While a certain amount of stress can increase productivity and creativity, too much can be
mentally and physically damaging. Not only does stress provoke negative behaviors such as
bingeing on junk food, smoking and excessive drinking, it can also lead to ailments ranging from
colds and flu to depression, high blood pressure and memory loss.
Stress that persists over the years can exacerbate conditions such as heart disease, hardening
of the arteries, autoimmune disease, diabetes and ulcers, experts say. Research indicates
stress can also speed the aging process.
“Stress rarely causes disease, but it creates conditions that make the body more vulnerable to
disease. And if you’re already sick or have a chronic illness, stress can make it worse,” says
Sheldon Cohen, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “Its effects ... can
be long-lasting.”
Stress, he says, “is the perception that you are facing demands that exceed your ability to
cope.” The demands can be physical—say, if you’re being pursued by a robber. Or they can be
psychological—worrying about a job or money.
Today’s economic meltdown is triggering widespread psychological stress, which feeds on
uncertainty and dread. “We feel our control slipping and our lives growing more and more
unpredictable,” says Cohen. And the mind repeatedly mulls the same questions: What will
happen next? How long will it go on? Will it get worse?
Americans of all ages are living with the anxieties that a troubled economy brings. But some of
the most stressed people, like Gaebelein, have been laid off in their last decade of work, with
less chance of finding a new job and recouping financial losses.
“Losing your job at 50 or 60 is not good for your health,” says William Gallo, a research
scientist at Yale University’s School of Medicine in New Haven. “There is compelling evidence
that no matter who you compare the older job loser to, he or she does worse physically and
mentally.”
Gallo’s studies, which tracked older people who lost their jobs after a plant closing, found not
only that they had more symptoms of depression, but also that “their risk of heart attack and
stroke was more than doubled compared with people who did not lose their jobs.”
Gallo says that job loss for people age 50 and older—with its attendant anxiety—should be
considered an added risk factor for cardiovascular problems. (When study participants found
other jobs, he says, the risk was greatly reduced.)
Another finding: People who fear losing their jobs have more health problems than those who
actually lost them, says Sarah A. Burgard, assistant professor of sociology at the University of
Michigan. She and her team looked at 3,000 employed people under age 60 participating in two
long-term studies and divided them into those who worried about losing their jobs and those
who didn’t. They found that over a two-year period people who felt chronically insecure about
their jobs reported much worse overall health and were more depressed than those who
actually lost their jobs.
“Living with uncertainty, that’s extremely damaging to your health,” says Burgard.
Why is stress so insidious?
The stress response is an archaic mechanism designed to help primitive man survive a sudden
physical threat—an animal attack or a raid by warriors. It’s a powerful physiological response
meant to kick in briefly while the body prepares to flee or to fight the danger.
But this atavistic system has been dragged into the 21st century, says Louise Hawkley,
associate director of the Social Neuroscience Lab at the University of Chicago. “What our
brains often interpret as a threat today—a job loss or problems with the mortgage—can trigger
the stress response and keep triggering it” until it actually harms the body.
When the brain perceives a threat, potent stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol
flood the body, creating a surge of strength. Glucose (sugar) levels spike to provide energy.
The heart rate jumps, and blood pressure climbs so that blood moves faster and with greater
force to deliver oxygen to the muscles.
To allow the body to channel all effort toward fleeing or fighting, other hormones suppress
systems that don’t directly aid those actions, including the immune, digestive, growth and
reproduction functions. The body remains in this state of alert until the brain is convinced the
threat is over.
If this massive reaction occurs repeatedly, Hawkley says, over time it wreaks havoc on the
delicate hormonal responses that regulate the body’s various systems.
Elevated hormones, for example, rev up the cardiovascular system, straining the heart and
blood vessels and increasing cholesterol and plaque—changes that can lead to hardening of
the arteries, stroke and heart attacks.
When chronic stress disturbs the body’s correct hormonal settings, other problems can ensue,
including colitis and bowel problems, and infections that breach a faulty immune system.
One study, led by Cohen, shows that people living with one of two major “stressors”—
unemployment and underemployment—were five times more likely to develop colds than the
unstressed.
Still, people can learn to cope, experts say, and that helps mitigate the effects of stress on
health.
The first step is to “learn to notice your stress signals,” says Rajita Sinha, M.D., director of the
Yale Stress Center in New Haven, Conn. Key indicators, she says, include a faster heartbeat, a
drop in energy, changes in appetite, teeth grinding, tension in the arms, back or neck, tightness
in the stomach, and sleep problems. “Attend to these signs early,” she says, “and find ways to
cope that work for you.”
The brain is the arbiter of stress, and what sends one person into an anxious funk or even
prompts thoughts of suicide hardly affects another. What’s key is that the brain can be
distracted, calmed by activities that engage and provide enjoyment—such as reading a great
mystery, jogging with the dog or playing the trombone.
Dealing with stress “is not about moving away from the negative, it’s about moving toward the
positive, doing things that make us happy,” says Douglas Mennin, associate professor of
psychology at Yale and director of the department’s Anxiety and Mood Services. He suggests
engaging in activities that turn the mind away from stress, “not just on the weekend” but as a
regular routine.
A crucial strategy, experts say, is to stay connected to friends and relatives. Find emotional
support. Loneliness is a major stressor that can heighten every other problem.
And remember that many people are resilient and adaptable, Mennin adds.
Karen Gaebelein says she’s trying to exercise more and see her friends. She has found
satisfaction volunteering in a senior community. “I have not lost hope yet,” she says.
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/healthyliving/articles/stress_why_it_s_making_you_sick.html
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