“Beyond the physical addiction, smokers repeatedly pointed to the stress relief that smoking provides.  “Cigarettes are just adult pacifiers,” said three-pack-a-day smoker Deborah Israel, 56, of Chicago. “You stick ‘em in your mouth when you get stressed.”

I guess the same could be said of drinkers, who take a drink whenever they get stressed and need to “calm down”.  The alcoholic buzz and the warm glow helps to smooth the rough edges.

The problem with these  “stress relievers”, and other misused alternatives (pain pills, muscle relaxers, illegal drugs, etc.) is the danger to go too far with them.  In the case of the stressed out smoker above, evidently she is getting stressed 60 times a day.  (20 cigarettes to a pack and three packs a day).  That’s every day.  That’s way too much stress to deal with on a daily basis.

But I suspect her stress is not that often.  My guess is that she uses “stress relief” as her validation of why she can’t quit smoking.  And that’s probably true of the other alternatives to reducing stress.  All of these are highly addictive, and produce more bad effects on the body than good.

What do you take for your stress?  Have you stopped to think about it?  Do you subconsciously reach for something to calm you down?  It doesn’t have to be items that are considered bad by society.  How about candy?  Mints?  Snack food?  Sodas?  More coffee?

A bedrock of dealing with stress is to be aware of what is causing you stress and to consciously make decisions as to how to address these “activating events.”.  Remember our “ABC Model”?

Choose your stress relievers wisely!

“that having worrying tendencies or being the kind of person who stresses easily is likely to lead to bad behaviors like smoking and, therefore, raise the mortality rate.”

The researchers followed 1,788 men over a 30 year period.  They looked at their personality traits and smoking behaviors, to see if there were any connections.  What they found was that those men who exhibit higher levels of neuroticism tend to “self-medicate” themselves by using tobacco, alcohol, or drugs.

Neuroticism is excessive worry over minor events in which there is an expectation of negative consequences or an inability to deal with those events.

What does this mean to you?  Well, first of all, if you’re a person who stresses easily, such as worrying about events that are outside of your control, then you need to take affirmative steps toward realizing that you may be at risk.

Make your motto:

DON’T WORRY.  BE HAPPY!

When you do worry, do you turn to bad habits to see you through?  If you do, you are setting yourself up for future medical problems.  At the very least, make the conscious connection that you’re reacting to stress in your life when you turn to these vices.  Understand each time your partake in a smoke, drink, or pop a pill, you are reacting to stress.  Once you understand this connection, you can begin to deal with the real cause of your stress.  And in the meantime, eliminate the temptations to turn to these vices.  Remove them from your environment.  Instead, turn to healthy alternatives.

I know it’s easy to say, hard to do.  But your life is at stake.  Realize that it really is cutting your life short and it should be easier to attack the problem.

Stress Less and Live More

Dillon

“Today’s economy is stressing people out, and stress has been linked to a number of illnesses – such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and increased risk for cancer.  This study shows that stress is also linked to weight gain.”

Some other findings of this study suggest that people who are already overweight get heavier with stress, but not for people who are lower weight.

There are also differences by gender. Women tend to eat more when stressed by financial problems or a difficult work environment, strained family relationships, and a feeling of being limited by life’s circumstances.

Weight gain for men tended to be more likely affected by work problems rather than family problems.  Examples include lacking decision authority or lack of skill discretion (the ability to learn new skills on the job and performing interesting work assignments).

“Our findings show that stress should be recognized as a threat to the well-being of adults, especially those who are already overweight.”

I’m not surprised at the findings.  Stress is such a negative influence in our lives that I would wager that most of the illnesses we suffer are a result of chronic stress.  I think it’s only a matter of time before more studies show the direct linkage.

I think the good news out of this study is that you first recognize that if you have a higher BMI (body mass index), then you need to be watchful of your eating patterns.  If you start to gain weight, take a moment to evaluate whether the stress in your life has changed, possibly increasing.  If so, take active steps to counteract the stress.  Take more walks, make sure you have healthy snacks around, and identify what activating event is causing your stress.

Knowledge is power.  Use it to your advantage.

Stress Less and Live More

Dillon

I’m sure you’ve got a lot of examples. The ones that really get me are people who merge onto an interstate where the traffic is going at least 70 (probably more like 80) and they’re merging in at 50, talking on a cellphone and oblivious to the fact that I’m getting pinched between them and a huge 18 wheeler that is as big as the Empire State Building. Or when I always choose the wrong lane at a checkout. You see, I’m in my 50′s now. I don’t have a lot of time left to just stand around in lines. Leave that to the 20 somethings.

Anyway, I could go on and on. You can as well. It’s just important to know it’s not the events that cause our stress. It’s what we think about them that causes the stress. It’s like when you were a kid and someone called you a name. Remember “sticks and stones may break my bones . . .”? Same thing. You choose what you allow to have power over you.

Personally, I don’t like to have people or events to have power over me. I like to be in control of me. Don’t you? Then you need to start becoming aware (ever heard the term “mindful”?) of what has power over you. Do some thinking the next time you feel your heart racing. Come to a conclusion on what is causing it and how you can react differently the next time. Start becoming “mindful” of what these external events are doing to you (the power they have over you) and start to react differently.

You’ll stress out a lot less and you’ll begin to grow as well. Remember when the name-caller as a kid didn’t get to you anymore? That’s what it will feel like!

Stress Less and Live More
Dillon