Article By Cathy Bykowski
Stress. Only six letters long, yet this word is so incredibly powerful. Stress has the ability to influence so much of our lives, relationships, moods, and health. For people with diabetes, stress can be particularly damaging. However, understanding what stress is, how it affects your body, and how to overcome it can begin to take its power away.
Stress is the result of your daily demands outweighing your available resources. At any given minute you have a set number of resources, which can be tangible, like money or food, or intangible, like time or patience. As long as you have enough resources to meet the demands that are placed on you, life is good. For example, your bills (demands) come in and you have plenty of money (resources) in your bank account. No problem – your demands are easily met by your resources and you have no stress. However, if the demands that are placed on you are greater than your resources, you feel it. For example, let’s say you are working against a deadline that is fast approaching. You may feel that the work you still have to do (demands) is much greater than the time left to do it (resources). This is when you experience that familiar feeling called stress.
