Stress in Autoimmune or Any Chronic Disease

Stress can be good or it can be bad. That is to say- it can have a good effect or a bad effect on a person's health and wellness.

Good stress (“eustress”) inspires and motivates you, brings happiness, helps to focus your energy, concentration and enhances your performance. But it isn’t without it’s challenges. Examples of life events that are related to good stress are: getting married, having a baby, getting accepted to college, graduating from school, getting a new job.                                                                                              

Bad stress (or “distress”) is caused by physical, mental, emotional, environmental, or social conditions and/or circumstances that wear you out, cause anxiety, depression, headaches, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, poor performance, a variety of other symptoms, and it is harmful to your health.                                                                                                              

Research shows that stress can have a harmful effect on the health of people with autoimmune diseases (or any chronic disease). It may even be related to the onset of autoimmune disease. It can be psychological stress or physical stress such as trauma or infections.

https://arapc.com/stress-and-autoimmune-dieases/ 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18190880/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2685155

https://www.emersonecologics.com/blog/post/7-ways-to-reduce-stress-to-beat-autoimmune

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/the-link-between-autoimmune-diseases-and-ptsd

Because good stress is beneficial and desirable to keep a person’s body and brain stimulated and challenged in a helpful way, we should find ways to provide sources and occurrences of good stress in our lives on a regular basis. This can be done by learning a new skill, a new hobby, taking on a new project at work, teaching someone how to do something, volunteering your time in a meaningful pursuit. The list is endless of activities or experiences that a person can engage in to create challenges and stimulations which provide that desirable good stress.

Chronic bad stress can cause serious problems in your life by compromising your health and wellness. Methods to reduce or counteract bad stress in your life include:

• Dietary changes

• Acquiring healthy sleep routines and habits

• Controlling your thoughts to be positive, calming, and mood changing

https://positivepsychology.com/

https://www.positiveintelligence.com/program/

• Increasing your social network

• Connecting with good friends and close family members

• Using breathing techniques when most needed and beneficial

• Employing physical movement of your body in different ways

• Defining and maintaining healthy boundaries related to work life, people, places, situations

These topics will be addressed in future Blogs on my website as well as in my coaching programs. My coaching programs focus on:

Personal Transformation and Habit Change

https://lifeenhancementcoaching.org

It’s difficult to automatically recognize concrete causes of good or bad stress because one person’s trigger for good stress could be another person’s trigger for bad stress. Two people could encounter the exact same event (such as a new project at work with a tight deadline) but one of them might see it as an opportunity to take on an exciting challenge to prove their value, while the other person might immediately expect and fear that they’ll fail.

To identify the different types of good and bad stressors in a person’s life a questionnaire is often used. If you know the stressors in your life, you can better manage your stress levels and implement a plan to prevent excessive negative pressure that impairs your health. Numerous common types of triggers can be at play in the process.

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/take_quiz/stress_and_anxiety

https://www.stress.org/self-assessment

https://www.psycom.net/stress-test

I have experienced many different kinds of good stress, as well as bad stress. I have 4 children (5½ years apart) and 2 grandchildren. (2 of our children were born after I was diagnosed with MS.) I have changed employment positions over the years, all of which I’ve enjoyed. My husband has changed jobs and specialty fields several times also. We’ve moved from Ohio to Michigan and back again when the kids were in elementary and middle school. We have a 33-year-old son with schizophrenia since age 21 and drug/alcohol abuse since age 14, and is still struggling with those issues, resisting treatment—talk about stress!!

The influence of stress on health/wellness and illnesses involving all bodily systems is an example of the indisputable mind-body connection. Research has repeatedly confirmed this connection. There is a mountain of information about this topic. So it is the basis of many coaching programs and all kinds of therapy programs. I will be posting more regarding this topic in future Blogs.

Schedule a free 45-minute coaching session

https://lifeenhancementcoaching.org