How to Stop Worrying

By John Swartzberg, M.D. We've evolved to worry. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that we do need to worry about certain things, particularly those that represent imminent danger. We may see ourselves as straddling the top of the evolutionary ladder, but it wasn't all that long ago that humans -- just another animal, after all -- were frequently prey for bigger, fiercer animals like saber-toothed cats and cave bears. Worry, that sense of scanning the horizon for something that might be a threat and cue the primal fight-or-flight response, was what kept our primitive ancestors alive. Modern life, of course, comes with its own myriad host of threats and fears great and small, from ISIS and global warming to whether the commuter train is going to be late again. But unless you have a show on the Discovery Channel, you're almost certainly not going to be eaten by a giant bear this week. The imminent threat-o-meter doesn't always need to be at DefCon 4. But for some of us, it often is. And worrying to excess, it's been found, can be threatening to your health. Find out: Are You Stressed Out? Too much worrying can bring on an anxiety state that has real, physiological consequences, not just emotional. When we are anxious, our bodies secrete excessive amounts of hormones like cortisol (the "stress hormone") and epinephrine, which can have damaging effects on our heart rates, our blood pressure, and even our propensity to gain weight. Chronic stress has even been fo...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news