The Steelers vs the Giants in NYC a week after Hurricane Sandy is being touted as helping to relieve the misery. Is this real or just NFL hype?

No hype. It’s real. Here’s how it works.

The worst kind of stress is long-term stress that you are held responsible for but have no control over. That’s exactly what has been happening in New York for the past long week.

This kind of stress turns on your adrenal glands and never lets them shut down. You are full of fight or flight hormones and can’t do either. There’s no one to fight and no where to go. There’s also no relief from the stress.

That adrenaline, very powerful and normally temporary, has to go somewhere so it begins to work on your insides. It shows up as other health issues like upset stomach, sleep deprivation, lowered immune system and crabbiness. The longer it keeps up the more serious the problems. Ulcers, high blood pressure and an endless list of major health issues result after long term stress sets in.

Burn It Off

You normally burn off adrenaline by fighting, flighting or lifting cars off people. That sort of thing. That super-strength burns up the adrenaline-produced high and you come back down. In the hurricane zone the problems never let up so this doesn’t happen. You end up with a traffic circle, repeating the problem which causes the problem.

Turn It Off

But if you can find a way to turn off adrenaline production, even for a little while, you can stop the endless cycle. Relaxation drops the adrenaline level which lets you get some rest. Hope sets in. Suddenly what looked impossible yesterday looks doable in the morning.

Other methods include meditation, exercise, reading fiction, a great movie, drugs or expensive therapy.

But none of them are as much fun as football.

 

Photo By Matt J Carbone via Flickr