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A flat tire waylays your carefully-timed departure for a family road trip.
Your laptop swallows hours of work with the deadline right around the corner.
An innocent mistake in your math causes your bank account balance to dip down into negative numbers.
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Sometimes we have entire weeks or months that are truly awful.
But most of the time, the impact on our daily life is temporary.
How you react today can predict your chronic health conditions 10 years into the future.
Research shows that overreacting, constantly worrying, and living in a state of perpetualanxietycan reduce life expectancy.
Click below to listen now.
Can You Worry Yourself to Death?
Many studies have found a link between anxiety-prone personality and shortened lifespan.
Neuroticism is a robust correlate and predictor of many different mental and physical disorders, comorbidity among them."
Too much cortisol has been shown to lower the immune system and affect heart health.
These are all examples of unhealthy or maladaptive coping mechanisms.
And if all else fails: Walk it off.
Go outside and take a brisk stroll.
2014;19(1):59-67. doi:10.1177/2156587213503344
Can exercise help treat anxiety?.
Daniel K. Mroczek, Purdue University, and Avron Spiro III.
Personality Change Influences Mortality in Older Men.Psychological Science.
Volume 19, Number 5.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Public Health Significance of Neuroticism.Am Psychol.
May 2009 May-June; 64(4): 241-256.
Smith TW, MacKenzie J.
Personality and Risk of Physical Illness.Annu Rev Clini Psychol.
2006; 2: 435-467.
