Chronic Stress Research

Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological Determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1,

Stress Is the body’s way of responding to the hectic lives most of us live, whether good or bad. The body releases chemicals into the bloodstream, which creates a rush of energy and strength If an individual is feeling stressed. This energy can prove useful if an individual is in physical danger. Because it enables a person’s survival instinct kicks in; it is often described as ‘fight or flight.’ In addition, stress can also have a negative effect on the body, for example: suffering from stress and leaving it unchecked can contribute to health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Stress is defined as an automatic physical response to any stimulus that requires you to adjust to change.¹

Our book describes stress as “any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and tax one’s coping ability” (Weiten, 2014). Stress is not necessarily a traumatic, life destroying event. It can be as simple a small change in one’s daily schedule. People will have multiple stresses throughout their lifetime. Some will be little and daily, but overtime these add up and can affect you in many ways. Stress can be positive or negative and can take many forms; a few being frustration, internal conflict, change, and pressure. All of which make almost a daily appearance in my life (Weiten, 2014).

A paper due, bills to pay, kids are screaming, a test in every class, going through a divorce, meetings to attend and going to soccer practice after school. These are just a few everyday aspects of life. Everyone is busy in today’s multitasking world. However, it is important to stop and think, even on the most hectic days. People were definitely not as stressed in past years. Stress is more prevalent now than ever. To show this, the definition of stress will first be shown, which will have research on internal and external issues related to it, and then the time lapse in mental health will be presented, along with long-term health effects that stress can cause and finally how stress can be managed.

Substantial progress has been made by academic researchers to gain insight into social determinants of health. Consequently, the Centre for Urban Health at the WHO Regional Office for Europe approached the International Centre for Health and Society at University College Hospital London to help summarise research work on social determinants of health in ten messages with the main aim of translating research advances into action (Marmot and Wilkinson, 2005). The ten messages were subsequently published as The Solid Facts (Wilkinson and Marmot 1998) which include stress, social gradient, early life, social exclusion, work, unemployment, social support, addiction, food and transport. The aim of this brief essay is to demonstrate the impact of stress as a social determinant of health.

This demonstrates that people's occupations present sources of stress that can have an impact on their health. This evidence supports the view that stress is related to heart disease but does not specify whether the link is direct or indirect. Rozanski et al (1999) found that that sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) was more reactive in some people than others - some people act in response to stress with

Perceived stress may have an impact on an individual’s overall health. Many believe higher perceived stress would lead to more detrimental health impacts or vice versa. However, previous studies have presented mixed results.

The effects of stress and heart disease is explained in a study Chida and Steptoe (2009), in which investigators looked at populations of people in healthy known areas, and assessed in total twenty five different studies. Anger and hostility has a positive relationship with coronary heart disease and was greater in men compared to women. Their findings also showed that individuals who had cardiac arrest and were resuscitated, twenty five percent admitted to feeling extremely stressed with work and family instances just twenty four hours before they had cardiac arrest. Daily activities that provoked moderate, acute stress demonstrated lower levels of blood supply to the hearts muscle. Deanfield et al. (1984)

This patient’s priorities health and psychological issues are atherosclerotic heart disease and stress. Stress is a state of psychological discomfort or tension by the perception of unpleasant, threating or angering stimuli. Stress can contribute to many health problems, such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Stress its responsible for headache, insomnia, muscle tension, fatigue, chest pain, etc. Common effects of stress on mood and behavior are anxiety,

In conclusion, chronic stress can affect the body, thoughts, feelings, and behavior in negative ways. Stress can cause problems such as depression, insomnia, a weakened immune system, and much more. If a person does not recognize that they are stressed, serious health problems can result . Techniques such as meditation and exercise can reduce the effects of stress to help the body stay healthy and

veryone experiences stress atleast one time in their lives. The human body shows signs of stress in two different ways; firstly, the boost of hormones that elevate your heart rate, then your blood pressure starts to rise, and stops digestion, then secondly the symptoms you are aware of such as clenced teeth, headaches and emotional upset. (Southern Cross, 2013). The most reconginziable symptoms of stress are sleeping problems such as insomnia, heartburn, nail-biting, trouble focusing, nausea and many more, but there are also conditions that you wouldn’t know was associated with stress like anorexia and depression. (Henry, 2011). Acute and chronic stress are both different forms of stress responses. Acute stress is one of the most common forms

Stress is a steady component of American society. Being stressed has become part of normal conversations and an ideology that stress often constitutes hard work. The long term effects of stress in our bodies

Millions of Americans suffer from stress each year. In fact, three out of four people experience stress twice a month.1 Countless surveys have been completed trying to figure out what is effecting people’s daily lives, and one thing can be agreed upon; stress effects every person differently. It can cause mild to severe mental, physical, and behavioral problems and impact a person’s life more than they realize. Despite this, stress has effectively reinforced human survival because of its specific characteristics that cause alertness and enhance bodily functions. Overall, even though stress effects people very differently, it is highly detrimental if not treated once it begins.

      Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.