In fact, stress is more dangerous than we thought.

In fact, stress is more dangerous than we thought.
You've probably heard that it can raise your blood pressure,
increasing the likelihood of a stroke in the distant future, but
recently a health insurance brochure claimed that 90
percent of visits to a primary care physician were
stress-related disorders.
Health Psychology magazine reports that chronic stress
can interfere with the normal function of the body's immune
system. And studies have proven that stressed individuals
have an increased vulnerability to catching an illness and
are more susceptible to allergic, autoimmune, or
cardiovascular diseases.
Doctors agree that during chronic stress, the functions
of the body that are nonessential to survival, such as the
digestive and immune systems, shut down. "This is why
people get sick," he says. "There are also many occurrences
of psychosomatic illness, an illness with an emotional or
psychological side to it."
Furthermore, stress often prompts people to respond
in unhealthy ways such as smoking, drinking alcohol, eating
poorly, or becoming physically inactive. This damages the
body in addition to the wear and tear of the stress itself.
Stress is a part of daily life. It’s how we react to it that
makes all the difference in maintaining our health and
well-being. Pressures occur throughout life and those
pressures cause stress. You need to realize that you will
never completely get rid of stress in your life, but you can
learn coping techniques to turn that stress into a healthier
situation.
When I first got the assignment to write this book, I
immediately thought, “Sure, you can eliminate stress and
anxiety by locking yourself into a room and never talking to