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Why stress-related illness is so hard to diagnose, and how a patient-centred playful approach can help
For at least three decades, researchers have gathered evidence that chronic stress puts pressure on the body to constantly adjust itself to restore physiological stability. This process is known as allostatic load and it creates a cascade of toxic metabolic activities that cause wear and tear on the body. Allostatic load makes people vulnerable to various types of cardiac, gastrointestinal, endocrinological, immunological, neurological, metabolic and psychiatric problems. Evidence is emerging to show that psychosocial and economic stressors influence health outcomes. But neither our physicians, nor our health-care systems, have the necessary tools and methods to integrate those social and economic factors into our [...]