yes it affects every cell,,, accellerates aging especially heart disease do not doubt that is real great share

Yes, it's not all in your head by a long shot. I told my students to look at a picture of any president being sworn in for the first time, then look at their picture when they leave office. That's what stress does to a person. And that's not traumatic stress, either. They got the picture.

Muji's method is classic. I will check out the book. Thanks for the heads up, Reed!

Thank you Reed. I will check the book out. The stress definitely takes a toll on us. The more information we have, the better we can improve our lives.

A therapist I met awhile ago for a consulation... asked me if I ever suffered from.. and then she threw out a few symptoms... and I have been dealing with all she mentioned and then some... she was the first therapist to ask about physical symptoms! The therapist that I am now working with and I have been discussing these very same symptoms and we are trying to understanding how they are connected to my PTSD !!!! So yes I believe physical symptoms have an affect on our minds and the way we think and act! I will try and find this book... thanks!
MJ

I haven't read the book, but the notion sure gets my endorsement. The most effective treatment I have found for my muscle aches, psoriasis, spastic colitis and migraines is psycho-therapy. The psoriasis is all but gone. The rest are manageable when I treat them like stress symptoms.

Good luck convincing me that the brain is not the most powerful organ in the body.

Good share, Reed. Thank you.

It is what I am studying right now. It explains a lot.

I find I need to educate doctors sometimes. Several levels on my blood tests are absolutely alarming to my doctors and then I explain I have PTSD. Some get that the PTSD can do that and others are shocked. Once they learn a bit more, it helps - and I think it helps them understand other patients and not cause further PTSD by ordering slews of tests.

The adrenals, thyroid and pituitary gland can really be impacted. My doctor was sure I had a tumor until I explained why my numbers might be funky. And sure enough, they are.

My inflammation numbers are also off because of all the scar tissue causing various forms of arthritis and the muscles being so tight they cause Irritable Bowel Syndrome and chronic pain.

Something good to help doctors understand. Or to find a doctor who gets it.

Reed31,
That is a great, and interesting book. It was last week, my mom had a doctor's appoint with a immune doctor, we asked him can stress affect the immune system, he said "yes". In fact he told us about a word called Diathesis-stress model. Have you heard of that word before? I told my mom that I was suspicious of that because I remember how she would get physically sick whenever things became stressful for her. I told her how I remembered the times when I was a kid, how mom's heart would palpitate and other things would happen to her. I am affected by stress sometimes myself. Example I don't like to argue because I would get sick (I have sciezures-I lose consciousness). Also it would make me focus on that subject only and forget about anything positive. You know?

That sounds like a very interesting book, thanks for sharing the title with us! :)

I am a strong believer that stress impacts the body negatively. Since my trauma, I've been having a lot of health problems. Half of the time they are caused by stress and the other half of the time they are autoimmune. It's like my body is working harder at trying to keep me "safe" and instead I'm having all of these health problems.

I look forward to reading the book.