STRESS FACTOR: LIFESTYLE

NEGATIVE LIFE CHANGES ARE AN OBVIOUS SOURCE OF STRESS: THE DEATH OF a family member or friend, an illness or divorce, a job loss. But even positive life events can be stressful – ask anyone with a new baby or living through a complicated home renovation.

We can’t control all of our lifestyle stressors, but we have more input than we realize. Making better decisions about how to deal with stress – like limiting bad food rewards, smoking, and alcohol consumption – can play a huge part in improving our health generally and toward controlling stress levels according to Harvard Health Publishing.

We’ve known for a long time that stress has negative health impacts. Lifestyle stressors are important to master because they can sometimes be in place for a long time, leading to serious chronic long-term health consequences. Research has shown that women in abusive relationships have higher risk for heart problems, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and obesity, for example. Hostile relationships can actually slow the healing of physical wounds and injuries, in part due to the stress-induced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Needless to say, this is serious stuff.

Work-related stress can lead to similar health disasters. According to the 2017 study “Inflammation: The Common Pathway of Stress-related Diseases,” work related stressors including low income, high job demands, low control, shift work, and workplace conflicts were correlated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Other risk factors associated with work stress – like poor sleep quality and feelings of anger, hostility, and aggressiveness – can contribute to coronary artery disease.

It’s important to find healthy ways to minimize the impact of your lifestyle stressors. But it isn’t always easy. Start by taking small steps to shore up the factors you can control: Physical activity, a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and holding onto your sense of humor can go a long way toward improving your resilience. Bigger challenges, like a terrible job, might be harder to fix right away. But you can at least introduce new routines like treating yourself to a mindful walk in a sunny park after work, to lower daily stress and raise your prospects for future health.