I am incredibly sick and can barely lift my head off of the pillow. This illness is the physical manifestation of stress.

I was hard at work on my illness as I jumped from plane to plane.  The exposure to germs did not help.

Stress, lack of sleep and not eating properly offered the perfect trifecta for illness to take hold.

Stress can suck everything out of you.

Did you know that stress causes your cells to become deformed and even die off? The saying “Stress Kills” is absolutely true.

In this case, I have a really bad cold but others have decidedly different issues.

While stress can trigger conditions such as chest pains, headaches, and stomach upsets, it can also affect your mental well-being if you don’t address it quickly. Research by the American Psychological Association indicated that 73% of Americans experience stress-related mental conditions such as various types of anxiety disorders and depression. 

Stress also causes emotional disorders such as loneliness, low self-esteem, and agitation. Additionally, it’s known to trigger appetite changes, drug misuse and abuse, procrastination, and other behavioral problems. When left unattended, it can increase your risks of developing eating disorders, cardiovascular diseases, sexual dysfunction, skin problems, and gastrointestinal issues.

Some people claim to be protecting others from stress. They do this by fighting their fights for them. Perhaps this helps some people because the issues are hidden from them. For others, this “protection” is a very different thing. They are fighting the other person’s battles for them but that other person is standing in the room listening and commenting on everything.

In my opinion, this is no protection at all.

This is about a very different thing called control and dominance.