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The Sick Commuter Syndrome
by Sarah Edwards, PhD
So that’s why Paul and I feel so depleated whenever we go shopping!
We work from home and live in the mountains about an hour from the city. Every three weeks or so we go into LA to run errands and do routine shopping. The trip usually ends up taking most of a day and each time we do this we notice we begin feeling ill about the time we start to drive back to the mountain.
On the way home I often feel so tired and achy that I yearn to go straight to bed the moment I get home. I can’t imagine having the energy to unload and put away the groceries et al, let alone wanting to fix and eat dinner. I’m always certain this time I will just collapse on the bed as soon as I when walk in the door.
But instead, oddly once when we get out of the car, breathe in the clean, clear mountain air and smell the vanilla fragrance of the Jeffrey Pines, suddenly we’re not only feeling better, we’re full of energy. Everything gets put away quickly and before I know it we’re enjoying a nice meal before starting out workout routines later in the evening.
Now I found out what accounts for this bizarre phenomenon. The LA Times reports that long hours of commuting are bad for one’s health. Researchers are finding that long commutes tend to:
- Raise blood pressure
- Lower thresholds of frustration at work
- Cause chest, head, back, and neck pain
- Lead to spinal deterioration
- Trigger displays of negative moods at home
- Result in more illness and missed days of work
- Increase stress and fatigue
The article is quick to point out that the affects of the “Sick Commuter Syndrome” are cumulative. In other words, the longer and more often one commutes, the more illness one may experience. Also when you in your 20s or early 30’s and have been commuting only for few years, you might not notice these affects. It’s once the years pass that the toll begins to show.
So, now I am feeling lucky. I only have to commute once every few weeks! But I’m sad there are so people must commute an hour or more each way every day, making them prone to feel these effects day after day.
These findings suggest that in the best of all possible worlds, health-wise at least, we would all work from home or near our homes and meet most or all of our shopping needs within a short walk or at worst a few minutes drive! Sounds good to me! While I hate urban sprawl, now I guess I don’t mind as much that the stores and shops we frequent are growing closer and closer to us each year as new development stretch its way up and down the Central California Valley.
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