Money is a top cause of stress for many Americans.

That's according to the latest stress in America survey conducted by the American Psychological Association.

Stress can negatively affect health and even contribute to chronic health problems, such

as diabetes and heart disease.

In this episode, we talk with psychologist and researcher Linda Gallo about managing stress

and how it affects people from different economic and ethnic backgrounds.

I'm Audrey Hamilton, and this is Speaking of Psychology.

Linda Gallo is a professor of psychology at San Diego State University.

She is also co-director of the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health Studies,

which promotes research aimed at making behavioral science applicable to medicine and health care.

Dr. Gallo has extensively studied how stress and other psychological problems can lead to increased risk of chronic disease, and

she has helped develop a number of psychological interventions aimed at lowering disease risk and

lower income populations. Thank you for joining us, Dr. Gallo. Thank you very much for having me.

I think there are many people who are aware that stress can negatively affect our health,

but what are some side effects of stress that people may not expect?

What sort of diseases can be aggravated or even caused by stress?

Well, she was actually equipped to deal with stress, and stress can be beneficial,

at least initially, because it allows us to avoid danger and face challenges.

But stress becomes unhealthy when it is unrelenting and people do not experience opportunities

to recover.

So in these cases, stress can lead to physical problems, things like headaches and stomach aches

and also mental health issues such as anxiety, trouble sleeping.

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