The kind of stress that shortens telomeres is long-term, chronic stress. In particular, long-term caregiving for a family member, job burnout, and serious traumas such as rape, abuse, domestic violence, and bullying are damaging to telomeres. And in general, it takes a long period of stress before your telomeres are damaged—a monthlong crisis at work probably isn’t enough. But when stress is an enduring, defining feature of your life, that’s when your telomeres will get shorter.
