Stress is the Leading Cause of Death

It's true that unhealthy people find early graves. American's especially have a high prevalence of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. We know there are unhealthy things like french fries, cigarettes, and toxin exposure which can attribute to these diseases. Even the sun damages our skin; the biggest organ of the body. People often search for health remedies and eternal youth through a plethora of goods. People take things like collagen, testosterone, or CoQ10 to be healthier and look younger. We often times don't realize that it's stress causing everything from our weight gain, gray hairs, wrinkles and inability to sleep at night.

We get diagnosed with things like high blood pressure, anxiety, or depression all which come back to the fact that we are over worked, under-slept, and underpaid. Cue the great resignation. People were distraught and displaced by the pandemic. Now companies are realizing it's better to ditch a physical office, and save the commute if your employees can forgo pants and still preform their job. Zoom has allowed doctors to make house calls from anywhere and customer service reps can now be screamed at from the comfort of their own home. Interestingly, the work from home shift has allowed many to relocate and still keep their job. People are moving because of cost of living, to be near family to help out, or simply for a change of scenery. It was a positive shift and attempt by corporate America to help with work life balance.

Getting back to why stress is a killer. The number one reason why obesity is killing more Americans than anything else comes back to stress. Obesity is the biggest predictor of heart disease and diabetes. People call it stress eating or emotional eating. People are oftentimes tricked by their bodies into thinking they're hungry because they are overwhelmed and under-slept. This causes a vicious cycle of people pushing themselves and relying on over eating to cope. Ever had a bad break up and eaten an entire carton of ice cream? Food can become a crutch for some people. It's a comfort and we live in the day and age of convenience. After a long day at work it's easier to hit a drive thru than face your kitchen. Another predictor of heart disease is high blood pressure. It can come from diet and life style choices too: smoking, too much salt, or drinking soda and energy drinks. Cholesterol and Triglycerides are directly tied to what we eat as well.

Depression and anxiety are also highly prevalent in America. Most people don't know this but there are two types of depression: clinical and situational. A person with clinical depression has a chemical imbalance. These people need an antidepressant. These are the people who say, "I have a great life. My marriage is great. My kids are great. My job is great. But I can't even stand to get out of bed in the morning”. Situational depression, on the other hand, has a specific root cause. If you are depressed because you had a death in the family, are trapped in a dead end job, or are recently divorced, then anti-depressants might help some but most likely not. The serotonin in an anti depressant is equivalent to what your body naturally produces by going on a walk in the sun. There's also Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which is literally experiencing depression in the winter. It's caused by the stress of the holiday season and the decrease of sunlight in winter months.

Stress is also linked to other things like substance abuse and alcoholism. Have you ever met a happy heroine addict? If you remember 90's grunge like Nirvana and Kurt Cobain then you already know the answer. Alcoholics tell themselves they're happy but there is underling stress or trauma that is compelling them to drink. I'm not just talking about the town drunk. There are a lot of functioning alcoholics as well. You don't have to go on a bender and call off work to be an alcoholic. Alcohol is one of the most addictive substances on the legal market. In rehab, people have to detox before treatment in a facility for both alcohol and opioid dependance because it's actually dangerous due to the body's dependance on it.

Stress manifests in many ways. People manage it using whatever vice they choose. In the end, if we can't get our stress under control before it's too late we will succumb to illness and find an early grave.