Stress has reached epidemic proportions in the world today. Even while standards of living are increasing across the board in most parts of the world, people are suffering from chronic stress seemingly more than ever. Social media addiction, ultra-demanding corporate work schedules, competition anxiety, rising personal debt – these are all stress-inducers that are common in the modern world. People are time-starved, money is tight, and “keeping up with the Joneses” feels like a stressful necessity for millions.
In this stressful modern world, any and all developments that can reduce stress are welcome. Telemedicine is one of these stress-reducing developments. Telemedicine saves time, saves money, increases patients’ choice, and makes it possible for people to live in calmer, less busy locations where life is slower and less stressful. Telemedicine has reduced stress levels for millions of people all over the world.
Here are 8 ways telemedicine can decrease stress.
Telemedicine Is Less Costly
Personal debt is a huge cause of stress in the modern world. Mounting personal debt eats away at a person’s peace of mind. Telemedicine saves people money by allowing them to choose the most cost-effective treatment options from a much larger pool of potential health care providers. It also makes it possible to not travel long distances to get medical treatment. The money that people save by using telemedicine instead of traditional medicine can be put towards paying off debt and increasing personal savings. These money-saving benefits can greatly decrease stress.
Money is one of the biggest causes of stress, so any money saved on medical appointments is a huge help.
Telemedicine Provides More Choice
Dealing with a medical professional who is not particularly appropriate to a patient’s needs can be stressful. When a patient uses traditional medicine, they have much less choice and so often have to deal with a health care professional that they don’t feel comfortable with or trust. With limited choice, people also often have to deal with health care professionals who are charging excessive prices. The increased choice that telemedicine provides means a patient can find the perfect medical professional to meet their specific needs. This increased choice can be a big stress-reliever for patients.
Telemedicine Saves a Lot of Time
In the modern world, time is often of the essence. People have very tight schedules and deviating from these can often lead to a stressful backlog of “to do”s. Telemedicine saves a lot of time because people can consult with doctors remotely in a tiny fraction of the time it would take them to visit a surgery for an in-person consultation. These time-saving benefits can save people a lot of stress.
Telemedicine Makes It Easier To Live In Remote, Peaceful Locations
Living in a big, bustling, intensely busy city can be very stressful. Being able to live in a smaller, more relaxed town or city, or even in a peaceful rural location, can hugely decrease a person’s stress levels. Telemedicine frees people from the necessity of living in a big urban area by allowing them to get their medical needs met remotely. Many people who use traditional medicine have no choice but to live near a major hospital. Using telemedicine allows people to live in much less stressful, “off-the-grid” locations.
Living in a less stressful location is much easier when you know you have access to telemedicine.
Telemedicine Reduces the Need For Stressful Surgery Visits
Queuing up in busy surgery waiting rooms or hospital ERs can be very stressful. Not only are these places often packed, stuffy, and uncomfortable, but they also tend to be hotbeds of germs and viruses. Telemedicine allows people to avoid waiting rooms and ERs for many medical conditions. In this way, it saves people a lot of stress.
Telemedicine Makes Life Less Stressful For Patients With Mobility Issues
For patients with mobility issues who require the use of disabled parking permits, telemedicine is a huge stress reliever. Getting to a surgery or hospital can be a difficult ordeal for people who use handicap parking. Telemedicine allows people with mobility issues to consult with health care professionals remotely. This saves people with mobility issues a lot of stress.
Telemedicine Means Less Time Off Work
Traditional medical treatment often requires patients to take a lot of time off work. This can be very stressful because it often means fewer wages. It also can strain relations between a patient and their boss. The fact that telemedicine reduces the amount of time that a patient will need to take off work is often a big stress reliever.
Telemedicine Provides Stress-Relieving Education to Patients
Stress and fear often stem from ignorance and a lack of understanding about the world and the nature of one’s problems. Knowledge is the antidote to this ignorance and therefore a great reducer of stress. Telemedicine provides plenty of information for patients, giving them the option to use telemedicine apps to educate themselves about their medical condition and feel more reassured and less stressed.