Your Personality Can Be Hazardous To Your Health
I just came across a report on a new study published by Daniel K. Mroczek, a professor of child development and family studies at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana). The study looked at personality traits and how they affected mortality rates. They found
“that having worrying tendencies or being the kind of person who stresses easily is likely to lead to bad behaviors like smoking and, therefore, raise the mortality rate.”
The researchers followed 1,788 men over a 30 year period. They looked at their personality traits and smoking behaviors, to see if there were any connections. What they found was that those men who exhibit higher levels of neuroticism tend to “self-medicate” themselves by using tobacco, alcohol, or drugs.
Neuroticism is excessive worry over minor events in which there is an expectation of negative consequences or an inability to deal with those events.
What does this mean to you? Well, first of all, if you’re a person who stresses easily, such as worrying about events that are outside of your control, then you need to take affirmative steps toward realizing that you may be at risk.
Make your motto:
DON’T WORRY. BE HAPPY!
When you do worry, do you turn to bad habits to see you through? If you do, you are setting yourself up for future medical problems. At the very least, make the conscious connection that you’re reacting to stress in your life when you turn to these vices. Understand each time your partake in a smoke, drink, or pop a pill, you are reacting to stress. Once you understand this connection, you can begin to deal with the real cause of your stress. And in the meantime, eliminate the temptations to turn to these vices. Remove them from your environment. Instead, turn to healthy alternatives.
I know it’s easy to say, hard to do. But your life is at stake. Realize that it really is cutting your life short and it should be easier to attack the problem.
Stress Less and Live More
Dillon
