I have just been hit with a cold.I haven’t had a cold for probably well over a year, so why did I fall victim to a cold now? Well, I am guessing that it’s largely because of an immune system that has become compromised because of the unexpected stress rising within me over the past three or four weeks. So where is my stress coming from? i.e. what are the underlying causes of my chronic stress?
Well, my training and ongoing research strongly suggest that my current stress is largely related to difficult or unpleasant emotions, both anxiety and frustration, in this case. These emotions are partly because my wife and I have agreed that I should self-isolate (from my family) because of my almost daily interactions with patients and staff at the nearby psychiatric care centre. I have moved into a small granny cottage on a nearby property, which means that I am no longer able to infect my family with the Coronavirus should I be carrying it…
And it also means that I am no longer able to get hugs and kisses from my two young sons, that I have to stand on the other side of the fence when I visit (with my face mask on), and that I spend no more than a few minutes each day engaging with them in conversation that often does not feel smooth-flowing or natural. This physical separation from my loved ones, together with the huge number of new and unexpected stressors that now exist, are quite clearly the underlying causes of my emotional stress.
Much of the above may resonate with you… but are you aware that there are also a number of other very important sources of stress that significantly impact the health of our immune system on a daily basis? If not, I hope to help build your understanding of stress and of the different potential sources of stress through a brief email newsletter that I will send out every few days, during this lockdown period.
Please keep an eye open for my newsletter and forward it to everyone you care about. It will be full of important information together with practical advice to help you and your loved ones to (pro)actively start taking small steps to remove the many possible underlying causes of stress from your life.
And don’t hesitate to send me your questions to my email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
News supplied by Alistair Mork-Chadwick.