How Happiness Affects Your Health

Mental Health America says that small doses of stress can be good for us.  If you're a procrastinator, you know this.  It's that uncomfortable feeling of stress that prods you to finally take action.  When we get uncomfortable enough with our situation, we seek to change it.  That's good.  I've often said that if it wasn't for the last minute I'd never get anything done.  This is an exhibition of good stress, however, too much stress has toxic effects on your body.  So, what are the effects of stress on your health and what can you do about it?

What causes Stress?
WomensHealth.gov puts it this way "Stress happens when people feel like they don’t have the tools to manage all of the demands in their lives. Stress can be short-term or long-term. Missing the bus or arguing with your spouse or partner can cause short-term stress. Money problems or trouble at work can cause long-term stress. Even happy events, like having a baby or getting married can cause stress."  They list these as being some of the most common stressful life events:

• Death of a spouse
• Death of a close family member
• Divorce
• Losing your job
• Major personal illness or injury
• Marital separation
• Marriage
• Pregnancy
• Retirement
• Spending time in jail

What does a Spell Check APP and Bullying have to do with health, or this blog?

For me, my learning disability is hugely stressful.  I am a dyslexic adult.  Anxiety and depression are common in adults who have struggled with dyslexia, and I am no different.  I am very visual because of the way I process information, part of that (and also common among dyslexics) is a sensitivity to the body language of others.  In a conversation I may key more on what your body language tells me than what your words say, inconsistencies between these two messages affect me deeply.  It has often been the source of disagreements between me and my husband, I may perceive one of his friends or even a cashier as hostile due to their body language cues that he skips over, because what they said was "friendly", then I am "hyper sensitive".  Crafting a written response is painful, I struggle with the written word and often reread what I have written aloud and silently more than a half dozen times before submitting it.  Even then I sometimes do not submit  it at all and just delete it.  This blog has bared my soul and my pain in several posts and it seems silly to admit that I cried while typing them up or in the torturous process of proof reading them.  Not only do I misspell alot, but my grammar is sometimes terrible.  I was asked recently what relevance my last Sunday post, "Sundays Tip For an Easier Life", had to do with health and weight loss.  The answer is it has everything and nothing to do with it.  

On the face of it, there is nothing, no tie between a simple spell and grammar check app that works seamlessly with most of the programs I use daily.  Under the surface it has a lot.  By simplifying something many of you take for granted, like spelling and grammar, I save myself stress, anxiety and grief.  That may seem melodramatic, but in dealing with my learning disability, I assure you it is not.  Any tool that efficiently trims anxiety and stress from my life makes me happier and happiness is a core point of my blog.  Personal happiness, and it's ability to decrease the effects of stress, is then indeed directly related to health.  

Retrieved from http://www.shs.uwo.ca/mentalhealth/stress1/indexstress.html

So, too, then, is the Article on bullying.  Everyone with a pulse knows that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, even NFL fans know that, with the abundance of pink on the fields.  What many don't know is that it is also National Anti-Bullying Awareness month, I wanted to shine the spot light on that as well.  I was horribly bullied for my weight when I was in school, I've even had some horrible comments made in the not so recent past.  They are still hurtful.  In fact, the portion of blog post dedicated to Jennifer Livingston of WKBT Channel 8 is directly related to her bullying experience, also due to her weight.  Karen Klein, the bullied grandmother bus monitor, was bullied for her weight, too.  Again, I would argue this is directly related to happiness, stress, anxiety and therefore health.  We are whole people, the inches we gain or loose off our hips is not separate from the rest of our person, especially when you take emotional eating into account. 

Happiness and Health

If your life has been touched by cancer, either a loved one with cancer or yourself, or if you have suffered with chronic pain, you know first hand the power of a positive attitude.  This is what we refer to as "fighting", the positive person fights their cancer, working toward that positive outcome.  Long battles with cancer or chronic pain are draining and once you give up, the battle is lost.  In fact, University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener is quoted by AARP  as saying "Happiness is no magic bullet, but the evidence is clear and compelling that it changes your odds of getting disease or dying young".

Retrieved from  http://www.nmha.org/go/mental-health-month/stress-know-the-signs

But, how does stress, or a lack of happiness, affect the ordinary person?  Women's Health states that stress is often a key factor in irregular or a lack of menstrual bleeding.  Any woman who is suffering from PCOS (Ploycystic Ovary Syndrome) knows first hand the effects of hormones on their body, stress affects hormonal imbalances which affects the symptoms of fibroid tumors, endometriosis and can even affect fertility.  But it affects men, too, with decreased sperm counts, lowered sexual desire or even impotence.  Sleep disorders, ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome...the laundry list goes on.  Our stress levels have huge effects on our health and that fact is no longer disputed.  Neither is the benefit of exercise as a stress reliever.

Tips To Be Happier

Alright, so I have laid out my argument for how happiness relates to and affects your health.  I have laid my case for why a simple spell and grammar check app can lower my stress on a daily basis and is therefore relevant to happiness, and thereby health.  I don't think I need to dwell too much on how bullying will affect happiness, stress levels and ultimately the health of those who are bullied or that weight is often a target of bullies.  Besides exercise, what can you do to relieve stress in your life and be happier, and thereby, healthier?  AARP suggests:

1. Adopt an animal companion
2. Sing along with a song or listen to music
3. Laugh it off
4. Enjoy nature
5. Help yourself by helping others
6. Try Tai Chi (click the link here or the banner on the left for a great home Tai Chi program called Tai Cheng)

Resources for more reading:

• womenshealth.com Stress Fact Sheet - you can print a pdf of the fact sheet here
• about.com on women's health "Stress and Your Health"
• Mental Health America - "Stress: Know the Signs"
• University of Western Ontario - on Health and Stress
• AARP - 6 Ways to Feel Happier, Be Healthier: How a positive attitude really can make a difference
• How Stuff Works - Is there a link between exercise and happiness?