Health Experts Recommend Dealing With Tax-Related Stress By Tackling Problem Head On
(CBS) -- If you're stressing out because there are only a few hours left to file your federal income tax returns, there are a couple of things you can do about it.
Of course, waiting until the last minute doesn't really help but Dr. Robert Shulman, associate chair of the psychiatry department at Rush University Medical Center, suggests attacking the problem head on.
"If one can be organized, it will really decrease the effects of the acute stress of having a deadline," he said.
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Dr. Shulman says tax day brings out the same feelings that other dates do.
"It's like any deadline, any stress," he said. "The stress is the same whether tax day or it's getting things done for the holidays or the start of school. These days all result in the same kind of physiological response."
Dr. Robert Wolf, an internist at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, encourages those getting anxious about the midnight deadline to put it in perspective.
"No one is going to jail, no one is getting hurt, no one is dying," Dr. Wolf said.
The additional stress can lead to increased blood pressure and strain on your heart.
While it's too late for this tax deadline, both doctors suggest using this as a reminder to organized and get a head start on next year's returns.
