You may have heard the term stress fracture, which really means tiny fractures, usually in the bones of the feet, caused by overuse of certain bones and joints.  But there is another type of stress fracture: weak bones caused by mental stress.

A recent finding showing that women with depression tended to have lower bone densities called attention to the stress/bone loss relationship. Depression decreases bone-strengthening hormones. Anxiety increases the stress hormone cortisol, which increases calcium loss in the urine.  Factor in the general poor nutrition and inactivity that often accompanies prolonged depression, and you have a recipe for weaker bones.  Relaxation and meditation lower stress hormones and increase the growth hormone DHEA-S, dubbed the “youth hormone.”