Often people are weighed down with work-related stress that sticks with them well after they leave the office.
Dr. Linda Mintle shares how stress can wreak havoc on us physically and mentally.
“When people are walking around with things like elevated cortisol and other kinds of stress hormones, it actually wreaks physical damage on the body. We are creating more problems in our physical health. We are more at risk for high blood pressure or high cholesterol.”
While stress adversely affects people on a personal level, it can also negatively affect our relationships.
“There are a lot of people who come home and they’re stressed out. Home is supposed to be a safe place where you can just kind of let loose and let go. Sometimes that’s not good for the people who you live with.”
When we bring our stress from work back into the home too often or too intensely, it can cause problems and lead to unhealthy relationship dynamics.
Dr. Linda and her husband devised a plan to only spend 10 minutes each decompressing about their day before they moved on to enjoy their time together. This way they didn’t solely focus on rehashing what went on earlier in the day.
“We put that into place early on in our marriage and it made all the difference because I wasn’t carrying my stress from work home. I was shifting gears to focus on what was going on there, in the moment, instead of all the issues that went on during the day.”
Some amount of stress is to be expected in life, it’s how we deal with stress when we encounter it that makes all of the difference.
“Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7
