Studies Prove Stress Can Make You Sick

As if it wasn't enough to deal with the emotional upheaval of a once-in-a-lifetime financial tsunami, the just-released results of two studies show that stress can cause physical illness. And black women are particularly vulnerable.

One study found that stress triggers spikes in blood sugar among African American women who carry extra weight around their middles. ...

The other showed that some men have a genetic predisposition to produce extra stress hormones when they're angry, causing not only blood sugar to rise but also blood pressure.

Both studies were presented at the recent American Psychosomatic Society conference in Chicago.

"Stress will bring out an underlying disease process in people who are predisposed for some other reason," said Dr. Richard Surwit, chief of Duke University's division of medical psychology and co-author of a study about black women and diabetes. Source

Basically, the danger to women is a spike in hormones released during fight-or-flight emotional reactions:

They found blood-sugar spikes occurred in participants only when two key factors were present: a lot of belly fat, plus a predisposition to secrete higher-than-normal levels of the stress hormone epinephrine, secreted as part of the flight-or-fight response to danger.

"Patients with higher belly fat do have higher blood-glucose levels," Surwit said. "But the real impact of belly fat was the interaction of epinephrine. High levels of epinephrine and high levels of belly fat are what seem to be toxic in this population."

A second study, by another Duke team, found some men have a genetic variant causing them to release twice as much of the stress hormone cortisol when angered. Cortisol is also released by the adrenal gland and is known to trigger elevated blood sugars and blood pressure. Source

Well, at least these studies provide strong incentives to get organized around health care reform -- and to practice yoga and mediation. We're gonna need it.

UPDATE - Some online resources: RELAXATION
Mental Health America - resources
National Alliance on Mental Illness - Online Community

Mental Health & African-American Health

May is Mental Health awareness month. Mental health in the Black community is an issue that is often ignored because:

There is a stigma in the Black community
The mental health establishment often mistreats blacks
Both

Terrie Williams, a high-powered publicist who has serviced Janet Jackson, wrote of her depressive breakdown in the book 'Black Pain.' At what rate do black women suffer from depression as compared to white women?

At the same rate
Twice the rate
Five times the rate

In addition to depression, African-American are more likely to suffer from certain psychological disorders particular to our community, such as:

Bipolar disorder
Schizophrenia
Phobias

Getting treatment for mental health is important, as suicide is the worse result of attempting to live with an untreated illness. How high is the rate of suicide for young black men versus young white men?

It's higher for black men
It's the same
It's higher for white men

In addition, black Americans are often exposed to stressors that lead to higher incidences of untreated, more severe mental health problems, such as:

Post-traumatic stress disorder
Job loss
Social prejudice

With the many issues our community faces, reducing resistance to psychological treatment is of critical importance. Anti-depressant drugs may help in healing by:

Numbing the pain of depression
Restoring neurochemical balances in the brain
Do they help?

What role can the black church play in mental health treatment?

A purely positive role
It's a mixed blessing
There is no role for the church in mental health treatment

Therapy through professional services are important for blacks seeking mental health treatment. Yet, aside from fears and stigmas, many blacks do not receive effective professional treatment because:

They don't have health insurance
The medical establishment misdiagnoses African-Americans
Both of these answers, and more

The good news is:

There is no good news
Black people recover at rates equal to whites with effective treatment

Mental health is an issue in our community that deserves attention and solutions. For psychological issues for ourselves and others, it is important to:

Ignore the signals
Create a proper treatment plan
Wallow away in despair

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