I was incarcerated in the State Prison Minimum Security for the devil weed marijuana.(A lot of it.) It was then that I first learned of the degree of stress caused by certain situations in life. Each carries a value and after a given number your chances of health problems(even though that's one of the situations) and/or suicide become much more likely. I've include one in this Hub although it's not identical to the the one I first saw but it does serve the purpose.

During my prison stay I was married 1 week before, now get this I had to report to prison. I drove myself there and my wife of 1 week drove the car back. Marriage carries a 50. My 75 year old father had died while I was out on bail. Now talk about guilt, carries a 63. Jail Term, again a 63. Gain of new family member(wife) a 39. Maritial separation, a 65. Change in financial state, 38. Foreclosure of mortgage, 30. Change in living conditions, 25. Change in residence, 20. You can see I could go on but I'm already just under the 300 range. During this time I scored high on my tests going into the system, so I didn't have to have a regular prison job. I was able to take a State test and become a tutor and teach the 3 R's (reading, riteing, and rithmatic) to inmates with less than a 6th grade education. This gave a sense of accomplishment a bit greater than the kitchen or the grounds or some other regular type job. I wrote a good bit, for enjoyment as well as letters, Xmas cards etc. I was the token white guy with the best black jazz musicians in the joint the only integrated band, "It's All In Black and White" in the prison. We always got off work to play for prison functions. Sometimes I actually felt free when I was playing. Music is a great stress reliever both playing and listening.

I am now in another multiple stress situation 16 years later. I have advanced HCV Geno-Type 1A, This is the deadliest and hardest to kill of the Hep-C strains. Mother-in -Law died of Alzheimer's in our home while I fought my illness with Interferon-Alfa 1b and Ribavirin. This is such a debilitating and nasty treatment I was asked to sign a suicide waiver before they would treat me. I told the Dr. I love myself and my family too much to ever harm them but you are the one giving me the meds that are making me so sick. If I got feeling like that I'd just come down here and pop a cap in you. With that I signed the waiver and slid it over to him, boy talk about some looks!! I still use music, writing, talking to my wife. I must say that this time is much harder than the last time. The prison stay I was only 40 now I'm 56. I haven't been cured so it's eventually going to be death or a transplant. I am also building a health related website at jgeorge1.beep.com. I guess things rolled off of us easier when we were young, but you still keep moving forward. NEVER STOP..........GO DOWN SWINGING

To sum it up, during all these stress related situations you always need some sort of diversion. Something you truely love that can provide a real escape. For me it's music and writing. For you it may be chess and photography. Everyone has something they love. During these high stress times get lost in those things and it will truely help.