Emotions are very complicated and fragile things. When channeled positively, they can do wonderful things for your health. Unfortunately, when you're feeling down and out, those negative emotions can be quite harmful to your mind and body.
Few pursuits in life offer more potential for risk and reward than your job. Although it's a fact unemployment hurts your health -- just like a death or divorce can -- the risk of losing your job can be much more damaging, according to a University of Michigan study.
Based on reports from patients about their mental and physical conditions, scientists concluded a chronic feeling of job insecurity had more influence on one's health than facing a life-threatening illness or true job loss.
Continuing, uncontrolled insecurity fuels chronic and toxic stress that can eventually damage your immune system and open the floodgates to serious illness, experts said. And, if you do nothing to deal with the real problem -- handling the stress of uncertainty better -- your brain may be affected too.
Your best bet is to learn how handle the stress in a healthy way. Before you waste money on an antidepressant that may not only toxic but useless, however, consider learning the Emotional Freedom Technique, one of the most effective energy psychology tools available to treat stress and depression.
Washington Post April 4, 2006