Hurry Sickness, Time Poverty, and Time Sickness are all labels used to describe the ramifications of living life in the fast lane. This constant over-stimulation has a far-reaching impact on health, quality of life, and society itself. However, those affected might not even be aware they are afflicted with it.

The term “Time Sickness” was first coined in 1982 by American Physician Larry Dossey,in his book Space, Time and Medicine.

As a whole, time is viewed a scarce resource. It cannot be stored, bought, or borrowed and it disappears at an alarming rate. The fear of wasting this precious resource, combined with surplus available options, has pushed people to raise their productivity quotient.

Technological capabilities are growing exponentially, to the point where every eighteen months the power of computers doubles. With this, expectations also rise quickly to meet the expansion possibilities. People are now able to do things more efficiently and quickly than ever before, but instead of using the extra time created to enjoy life more fully, society pressures people to take on additional tasks to fill that space.

Using technology and other time-saving devices is not harmful in and of itself; it is when overuse and dependence are combined with a lack of adequate downtime that real harm is caused. As new ways to save time are created, it often deepens the desire to fill that time with the multiple available distractions.

Despite all of the technology available, many people are still not able to get ahead or even keep up. They reach the end of each day feeling completely exhausted and stressed out. Dr. Dossey concluded that a distinct pathology of stress-related illnesses, ranging from heart disease to nervous exhaustion, is being created by the beliefs fueling “time-sickness.”

The body has evolved on the principal of survival of the fittest, not fastest. Filling each hour with more activity or tasks, can stretch the mind and body beyond what it is successfully capable of handling. Physical symptoms will present when the mind or body becomes overburdened. Akin to a “check engine” light, these are the initial signs of a system breakdown. Failure to make adjustments at this point, can lead to more serious health deteriorations, and even death.

Common signs are headaches, musculoskeletal pain, chronic anxiety, sleep disorders, autoimmune dysfunction, irritable bowel, and low-grade depression. While, not everyone with these symptoms has time sickness, there is a way to make a distinction. Time sick people continue their poor coping habits, even when the stressful conditions are removed. For these sufferers, common inconveniences causing time to be lost create not only cause irritation, but also physical distress.

This escalation of anxiety, over the perceived loss of control over time, becomes magnified as the number of ways one “could” be spending time increases. The concept of downtime has become a distant memory. Now any unstructured time is spent trying to decide which of the many options available, to actually do. This is alarming, because as Aristotle stated, “Thinking requires leisure time,” thus, if you forgo leisure time, your thought quality will be diminished.

Not content to just relax and take a deep breath, people often check email, text, surf the web, or catch up on work, during any amount of “downtime,”thus negating the concept of downtime in the first place. The more this cycle of constant stimulation is fed, the more necessary it becomes to the brain. Over time, this begins to change ones perception of time. The brain is constantly being rewired to reflect what it is most often fed. Behaviors create well-worn paths in the mind that deepen with use.

Healing time-sickness requires a purposeful change in ones perception of time. Creating cues and triggers to insert mindful behavior is a start. When caught in the spiral of time-anxiety, the purposeful insertion of a mindfulness behavior such as deep breathing, guided imagery, or progressive muscle relaxation, can help to develop awareness and deepen ones ability to break the cycle. This intentional slowing of behavior creates the ability to step out of the time-anxiety spiral.