Stress is inevitable, you are going to have it, how you deal with it is a matter of choice.  Stress influences our feelings, and how we behave, it also alerts us to danger, this is positive.  On the other hand, too much stress (i.e., chronic and prolonged) can cause mental and physical distress and deplete our energy bank.   In an effort to cope sometimes wrong choices are made (i.e., smoking, drinking, comfort eating or engaging in addictive behaviors) in an effort to relax.  Making the wrong choices combined with chronic stress wreaks havoc on the immune system and inflammatory processes, which has a cascading effect in the body, resulting in illness.