It doesn't seem to be a health-hot topic, but I'm pretty serious about my safety and the safety of others. After a couple close calls with family and friends, I've realized the importance of maintaining a safe lifestyle.
But, safety as a part of health didn't really occur to me until yesterday. After my midday shower, I walked downstairs to find my front door wide open. Now I have people coming in and out of my house all day - especially with the holiday around the corner. The door left open could have been a mistake done by any of my family members who had visited while I was showering. But the site of the front door open combined with the eerie silence of the house totally threatened how safe I felt, and made my mental and emotional health feel completely defeated.
Now, up until yesterday, I thought safety was limited to wearing a helmet on a bicycle, a seat belt in a car, and having a first aid kit on hand. However, I quickly found out that safety has to do with your surroundings too, and if you don't feel safe, your health is in danger, too.
For the rest of the day, I remained tense and paranoid. It felt like I was continually watching my back in my own house, and it made me completely unstable until I left that night. I couldn't eat or sleep in my house, convinced that I had missed a corner where someone may be hiding. I felt completely out of it - both physically and mentally.
I wonder how safety applies to people who live in urban and unsafe settings. To be stressed about your safety 24/7 must absolutely take a toll on a person's mental and physical health. I can't even imagine how it must feel.
Has your safety ever been threatened? Do you think there is a correlation between safety and health?
Comments (5)
That's happened to me a lot. I've walked around the entire house with a flashlight and a large knife checking everywhere, then ended up locking myself in my room and watching the door tensely.
hmm
I do think that stress from worrying can vastly affect your health.
Have you also noticed the rise in crime since the economy has been in the dumps? There really is no place where I feel safe anymore. I've even bought an alarm for my front door. And I have reason to believe that my neighbor might be a peeping tom or worst. So, I'm constantly staring out of my window.
The scariest thing that has happened to me was when someone followed me home and tried to jiggle my doorknob! Luckily, my roommate was there to help calm me down.
I think there's a correlation between safety and health in the case that if a person realizes they may not be safe, or even has a paranoid thought in that direction, they become stressed. Stress is never good for anyones health.
My safety has been threatened before, yes. But more times than not, I was paranoid over not being safe for no reason. That's why I'm so laid back about all that now, or why I try to be anyway.
I think constant stress will definitely impact your physical health
(in my psychology class we studied stress as a seperate topic for months,and let me tell you - stress kills)
but I don't think being stressed out for one day will affect you health wise
I think if you lived like that for years then you should definitely be worried
I can't imagine how i'd feel with my door left wide open :O!