PNI- Psychoneuroimmunology Theory

Humans frequently turn on the stress response that was intended to assist our survival in reaction to the everyday challenges we face. Professor Michael Marmot conducted a study in England of 28,000 people’s health over a course of 40 years. Each person was a British

Stress has a huge impact on the immune system. The immune system is interconnected. For example the immune, nervous, and endocrine system is linked through specialized communication pathways involving hormones, neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, and immune cell productions. Stress reactions can directly affect the various response systems and how they handle the neuroendocrine-products. This stress reaction directly affects the hypothalamus and pituitary peptides through the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. Some of these stressors might be life events, anxiety, and excitements.

They have also found that there are strong links between prolonged stress and disorders, mentally and physically. Kiecolt-Glaser et al 1995 also carried out research into the relationship between Stress and the Immune System. Kiecolt-Glaser et al 1995 = == ==

Two of the three models of health and healing discussed by Dossey (1999) were Era II Body/Mind Model of the 1950s and Era III Body/Mind/Spirit Model of the 1990s. According to Dossey (1999), post World War II the Medical Doctors noticed that there was proof that the functioning of the human body can be affected by other factors such as stress and emotions which, can lead to diseases such as ulcers and high blood pressure. This model brought to light the realization that treating the human body is complex because when the physical body is not well the mentation of the patient is affected resulting in exacerbation of other

Society defines stress as anything which forces us to change. Through technical terms stress is defined as “a negative emotional state occurring in response to events that are perceived as taking or exceeding a person’s resources or ability to cope.” To explaining stress researchers came up with the “Cognitive appraisal model”, this system works to tell us whether we believe we have enough resources to deal with the situation without becoming stressed. For instance as a now college student those who have had previous experience taking finales in high school can have less stress than those who have not taken it. This is because they have previous experience with taking the tests and learning how to study while those who have never taken one can become extremely stressed over the unknown of the test. Stress is one of the sub branches that is attached to the world of health psychology. Health psychology is a quickly growing branch that deals with the way the mind and body work together. Psychologists that work in the health field came up with the biopsychosocial model. This model explains the complex interaction with biological, psychological, and social factors.

The video “Stress Portrait of a Killer” was enlightening. The correlation between each individual’s placement in the hierarchy and their level of stress was not surprising. In fact, it made a great deal of sense. When one is on the lower end of the spectrum, it is a reasonable to anticipate higher levels of stress than when one is at the higher end. The latter, has more control over what is happening in their lives which in turn eliminates that stress. What I found most interesting, is that stress lowers the body’s immunity. I had no idea that the brain cuts non-essential systems like the immune system when stress is present. I found this fact fascinating and rather concerning. For as long as I can remember, I have been very susceptible to

Outline and evaluate research into the relationship between the immune system and stress related illness

Initial response to stress activates immune systems; prolonged stress weakens the immune system making you more susceptible to getting sick.

The biopsychosocial model of health is a multidimensional approach to health (Lecture 1, 2014). It focuses not only on the biology or physiology of a person, but also includes the psychology of a person and the manner in which society and culture influence health as well (Gurung, 2014). It was developed in the 21st century as an important theoretical framework to approaching health and medicine (Richtig, Trapp, Kapfhamer, Jenull, Richtig & Trapp, 2016).This approach makes the assumption that the mind and body connection is not only relevant but also vital to a person’s entire well being. It takes a holistic approach when treating an individual and can improve health in the

Although gross medical advancements have allowed the human population to live longer and fuller lives without the threat of death from infectious diseases, it is apparent that we are now dealing with a different phenomenon that may be just as harmful to our health. The impact of psychological, social and environmental factors from our daily lives is having a drastic impression on the mental and physical wellbeing of our society. It has been shown in various studies that psychological and neurological factors influence the immune system and can have an effect on our health (Breedlove, Rosenzweig & Watson, 2010). As we allow various stressors, poisonous substances, unhealthy diets and lack of rest to overwhelm our existence, we are

The nursing field is an occupation that is naturally subject to a high degree of stress because professionals in this field deal with grief, suffering, and death cases. The vulnerability to stress in the nursing occupation is also fueled by the fact that several nursing tasks tend to be mundane and unrewarding. In normal standards, nursing tasks range from being distasteful to degrading, disgusting, and frightening. Generally, many visits by patients to health care services are usually brought by stress-related illnesses to an extent that 90 percent of these visits are associated to stress. Therefore, stress is part of nearly every person's existence since it's linked to the development of mental disorders, enhanced stress-related diseases, and minimized immunologic function.

Chronic stress can also interfere with the body’s immune system directly through hormonal changes. Glucocorticoids-a hormone

The effects of constant stress on a student’s body are devastating and may have long-term consequences. When stress escalates without coping with it, numerous troublesome psychological and physiological conditions may occur. First, the stressful life of college students may result in such physical problems as sleeping disorders, breathing difficulties, headaches, and a loss of appetite. In addition, fatigue, colds, weight change, teeth grinding, increased alcohol and drug use are also common. Unfortunately, stress is often linked to the immune system suppression. It increases the chances of altering any existing disease.

Psychological stress is a result of many factors and should be dealt with very carefully. Stress can be defined as “An excess of demand made upon the adaptive capabilities of the mind and body”.(Joseph 1). Another way of putting it, is that there are some things that put certain demands on us. The effects of stress should not be limited to unpleasant emotional states. Many studies have concluded that the effects on our physical health from stress can be extremely detrimental. These adverse physical effects include heart disease and formations of cancer. There are also some societal issues that psychological stress can hamper.

Psychological and physical well-being and the overall quality of life are under a constant threat of stress and thus, psychological and medical sciences have long been concerned with studying stress response. Cox (1979) claimed that because of the poor understanding and defining it, the concept of stress tends to be rather elusive. The term, “stress”, commonly describes any physchological or physical alteration that deranges the organism’s homeostasis (or balance). This essay reviews some of the biological factors involved in stress and it has been organized in the following way. The paper begins by briefly introducing the concept of stress. It will then go on to discus and describe the automatic response (fight or flight reaction),