Stressors

Sunday, November 29, 2009
weight unknown (see more later)

In medical school psychiatric training we discovered an interesting fact about stressors. Not only are bad things considered stressors, but so are good things. For instance, when assigning points to stressors to "score" a patient, getting married ranks fairly similarly to getting a divorce or death of a loved one (no snide remarks here, folks). It's been a while, and I don't use this scoring system now, so I can't give you exact numbers on the scale, but I remember their close proximity on it because it fascinated me. If you think about it, this makes sense. Good events are, well, good, but they do cause a fair amount of change and effort on an individual's part. Even with good things come some anxiety. And we all respond a little differently to our stressors.

I. am. a. stress. eater. Big surprise, I know, but it's true. Life is one stressor after another, and with any luck the good ones balance the bad. Sometimes, though, even the usual stress load tips in the direction of overwhelming, and something has to give somewhere. The last couple of months have seemed to tip that load, both with good and with less-than-good things. On the tail end of Mom and Dad's visit, and my partial regression to childhood eating habits then, my response to the stress has been less than ideal. My nutrition has been poor. My focus on my workouts has been lacking, and I find myself feeling a bit too snug in my clothes. I also find myself wondering why I couldn't be one of those people whose response to stress is lack of appetite.

Today has been the first day in weeks that I haven't broken down and binged on something or had way too many processed carbohydrates. I still have 3 hours before bed, but I'll count that as a victory.