Should we trash all medical studies because of stress?

The impact of stress on our lives & health

I recently had a conversation with a friend who got told that one of her cholesterol values is off.

She should check with her nutrition first, see if something changes and if not, take some pills. Of course.

So she started researching, reading, checking, assessing and building up her knowledge on this topic and deciding what is best for her.

The thing is: she is one of the most healthy people I know, most grounded and relaxed, most happy in her professional & personal live and one of the least stressed people that I know.

Yet she said, when her doctor told her about the value, she felt stressed & worried, EVEN THOUGH she knew she is actually doing above average well.

Then we started talking about stress and how it affects our bodies and minds, our physical, mental and emotional health, even our spiritual health.

Stress is one major factor that contributes to degrade peoples lives. If I am honest, I know more stressed than relaxed & un-stressed people. So does she.

And I don’t mean temporary stress that will always happen, one way or another. I mean chronic stress, chronic pressure & dissatisfaction.

Ailments that have been caused after living through years of stressful lives.

So I thought: which medical study out there in the world can you actually trust?

Which study checks the stress levels of their participants and makes sure that they are actually not-stressed? That they live a non-chronic stress & non-chronically-worried life?

I doubt that most studies do that. So then, why should I trust what their outcome is? Their recommendation for me, who is mostly not stressed?

In my world: I can’t really trust them. In a way, that was a big realization for me, cos I never really connected these two things: chronic stress & medical studies.

Yes, there are studies on stress and chronic stress of course. But knowing that the majority of people feel stressed today & knowing that this affects our health negatively: every other non-stress-related study that doesn’t take this into consideration is kind of screwed. Or at least, the results are based on stressed individuals.

So what is the alternative? How do we go about our human life and make sure we thrive.

This is a question each one of us needs to answer for themselves. Like, seriously.

I can’t tell you what to do, what not to do. Neither can I tell my friend what she should do. It is not my right.

First of all I believe that we need to study ourselves and know us best as we can, how we work. Then we can assess what we need to do, go to the doctor, take their prescription or not. Or drink herbal teas & rest, de-stress and calm down and see if it gets better or not.

Yes, there are cases where we need medical professionals. And I can only hope you have one you trust & one that is not as corrupt & involved too deeply into the medical-pharmaceutical mess we have these days.

What I can for sure say is, that it is always advisable to reduce stress! ALWAYS!

And even that is very individual. Some like to meditate, others love to read, or take walks, or listen to music, or do Yoga, or pray, or puzzle… Anything that helps you to de-stress is worthy to give a shot.

Also: choosing relationships that are healthy and supportive, not draining are crucial. So is a work that you enjoy. We spend so much time working, if it is a pain for the majority of our lives, we will end up being dissatisfied and chronically stressed.

So, I am not sure if we need to dump all medical studies because of this stress-related topic… to be honest, I think there are many more reasons why to critically assess them and then, yeah, maybe dump them anyways :D

Still, if I am honest: I love science and experiments and investigating things. I believe we can be scientific about ourselves and our lifes as well, we even should.

And if we do that AND take common sense and potentially medical advice into consideration, we will get better. It is all about discernment I think. And free choice.

So for today, this should be it. I had a short, intense stomache pain today as well. By now I know how to handle it: release what needs to be released, tea, rest & sleep. Now I am better again & can finally go to bed.

What is your take on this whole topic? Or have you had a recent realization about something that you did not connect before?

Love,
Daria