Death by blogging? Is this really a healthy addiction?

:::shaking head::: Okay, this is just ... pitiful. I have been directed to a news article that points to blogging as a health risk.. no... correction, as a possible cause of death. Baloney. Yes, two fellows that are high up in the upper echelons of blogger ranks have died in the past half a year, my heartfelt condolences to their friends and family, but... they did not die from blogging.

Both men died of heart failure. Most of the people that read my blogs know that heart failure is a fairly common cause of death. It is the number one killer of women. So.... what is it that lead to blogging being blamed? It's a desk job that is billed in the article I read as being high stress. :::pauses and does a doubletake::: High stress? Wait... what? I stress about my work as a full-time family caregiver, I stress about the puppy that just chewed up a throw pillow all over the office floor, I stress about the yard full of snow when I was hoping to plant my pumpkins out in the garden in another week or two... I do not stress about blogging.

I'm also not a casual blogger. I maintain 20 websites and 30+ blogs. I might be a candidate for needing some kind of drug rehabilitation level intervention for my blogging addiction, but it is not causing health problems. In fact, blogging has made me healthier. ::nods:: It has. You see, I am getting up and walking around between blog posts - something I don't do when I work on my novel. When I work on my novel I sit and stare at a blank screen until sweat breaks out on my brow. Writing fantasy novels... not THERE is a high stress thing. Blogs are fun. You research and read things and then wander a bit, think about what you want to say, then come back and write up your entry. You might get up and wander again before you hit "post" or you might post fast and head off to do something else, but there is no real stress to blogging.

That is why I love it and am so addicted to it. I can sit down and chat with my friends and work in a post while I am waiting for them to respond to something, read what they said, respond, reread what I had wrote and post it. I have several blogs that are pure stress busters. One only my friends know about and can read and it is for destressing. I vent everything that makes me want to scream and they can read it or ignore it as they want to. It's great.

So, no, I don't believe that blogging is a danger to people's health. Since I started blogging my blood pressure has actually gone down (I have a monitor for my dad and have checked my own blood pressure often), I have lost over 20 pounds, and I am eating a more healthy diet than the chocolate cake and chocolate milk junk I had ate before I started blogging to vent stress.

In my opinion, blogging has made me healthier and probably given me a better chance at a longer life. If I have to be addicted, I want to be addicted to blogging. No rehabilitation desired.