Is Divorce Short Circuiting Your Health?

Can the emotional firestorm you are experiencing during divorce make you sick?

Not only can divorce make you sick emotionally, it can definitely impact your health in many negative ways.

In his book, Deadly Emotions, Don Colbert, M.D. explains that “The body cannot differentiate between stress that physical factors cause and stress that emotional factors cause. Stress is stress.”

As our bodies react to  the up and down swings of emotions during divorce that include fear, anger, frustration, grief and rage, these stresses causes the body to become flooded with the fight- flight or freeze hormones of adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine. ”

“The perpetual release of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol can sear the body in a way that is similar to acid searing metal. Even hours after any immediate stress-producing incident has subsided, these hormone levels can remain high and continue to do their damaging work.”

Not only do these elevated hormone levels affect our ability to concentrate and carry on our daily routines, according to Dr. Colbert, “Medical Research is showing more and more that there may be a mind-body connection to most diseases and ailments, not just a few.”

How does the emotional stress of divorce affect us physically? Our immune system responses get disrupted leaving us with  health conditions such as migraine headaches, gastrointestinal disorders, skin problems, TMJ, heart disease and autoimmune disorders such as lupus and fibromyalgia.

What can you do the next time you feel a surge of rage starting to overtake you during divorce?  Sometimes, the best thing you can do is find a way to get physical.

I recommend that you invest in a supply of cheap glassware you can throw.

Letting the air out of the storm of  pressure building up inside of you could be just what you need.

What ways do you use to quell your firestorm of emotions during divorce?

Share your ideas in the comments section below.

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