Researchers at the University of Southampton believe that leading a stressful lifestyle could increase your risk of developing dementia. Professor Holmes and his group are conducting an 18 month study to see whether events such as moving home, losing a loved one, or changing jobs could be a factor in older adults with mild cognitive impairment going on to develop a more serious condition.
What does this research mean for the rest of us? Well, in today’s global economy it is almost unheard of for people to stay in the same home for most of their lives. Many adults find themselves moving every few years as a result of their jobs, and even people in stable employment may move once or twice as their family grows.
There’s no denying that moving home is stressful – researchers at In-Deed have found that the stress of buying and selling a home, combined with the process of packing, moving, redecorating and unpacking causes a lot of stress. The home-movers they surveyed reported hair loss, anxiety, weight loss, short term memory problems and several other health issues. Effectively, the stress of moving home made them look and feel like they were two years older. Perhaps the team at the University of Southampton are on to something!
Reducing the Stress of Moving
Moving home doesn’t have to be a traumatic experience, however. Yes, moving is a time consuming experience, but if you approach it systematically and think of the positive parts of the move you can do a lot to keep your stress levels down. Here are a few suggestions for making a house move easier:
- Keep things simple: If you’re thinking about moving home, start planning now by de-cluttering and putting some items that you rarely use into self storage. This will make life easier when you put your home on the market.
- Get into a routine: Rushing around trying to make your home look like a show-home when people are coming to view the property is not fun. Have a routine for putting things away and making things look just right. When you know what you have to do, and what order to do it in, things will go far more quickly.
- Be prepared to chase: There’s a good chance that your estate agent will move slowly, people along the chain will be slow to complete, and paperwork will take ages. Accept this now and keep your expectations realistic. If you go into the move expecting to have to chase people, you’ll be less stressed out when it happens.
- Think positively: Think about all the great things in the area you’re moving to. Is it closer to your favourite restaurant? Will your commute to work be shorter? Is the mortgage cheaper? Does moving mean getting away from that obnoxious neighbour with his noisy dog? Remind yourself about all the positive things coming out of the move when you’re feeling stressed.
- Treat yourself: After the move, don’t be in too much of a rush to unpack. Make a den, watch a movie on your laptop (or the TV, if you’ve managed to get it plugged in), and call for a takeaway. Spend the night relaxing. You deserve it!
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- License: Creative Commons image source
This article was written by Amy Fowler on behalf of Bingham Self Storage, providers of self storage space. Follow this link to their site to find out more.
Photo: illustir