Stress And The Brain Analysis

The film “Stress: Portrait of a Killer” shows how dangerous if stress stay longer in our life that will can effect on our health in many different way. Today people have a hard time to turning stress off as they have to cope with their daily life. This film points out the effect of stress on our body. It will shrink our brain, add fat to our belly, and unravel our chromosomes. So if we understand how stress work can help us figure out ways to protect our health and avoid the danger of stress.

Article Title: “A look at why stress may be good for you” by Steffan Stern. Published May 15, 2015. LA Times.

There is consistent medical proof that provides facts supporting the claim that choice can’t be argued in the majority of cases. Another recent article titled, “Allostasis and the Epigenetics of Brain and Body Health Over the Life Course”, written by Dr. Bruce S. McEwen, PhD, from The Rockefeller University in New York, deals with the topic of “The Brain on Stress”. Dr. McEwen asserts that stressful experiences are often the precursor to psychiatric disorders ranging from schizophrenia to anxiety and depression. His research shows that there is existing evidence which supports the theory that a person under a great deal of stress from traumatic events cannot control the outcome of their own behavior.

Kelly McGonigal discusses the importance of viewing stress as positive, as opposed to negative, by detailing three specific studies and findings about stress. In the first study, it was discovered that people with a significant amount of stress had a higher mortality rate; however, this was only statistically significant if the subject viewed stress as harmful. If the overly-stressed subject didn’t view stress as harmful, they were actually at the lowest risk of dying, even compared to those with a minimal amount. Therefore, it is important to change a person’s perspective of stress. In particular, McGonigal emphasizes that stress is important for a person’s body: it energizes and prepares them to meet whatever challenge they are facing. Furthermore, it helps the blood vessels remain relaxed, thereby allowing the heart to remain healthy.

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).

Stress is neutral. It is the individual's perspective that determines whether it is positive or negative. Positive stress can provide energy to handle emergencies, and overcome challenges by activating the higher thinking centers of the brain (Tennant). Stress becomes negative when the individual feels threatened and not in control of the situation. This reaction is much more powerful, affecting the brain and body in ways that can be destructive both physically and mentally (Tennant). Everyone will experience stress in their lifetime, but at what age is it most damaging? Teenagers report experiencing stress that follows a similar pattern as adults, according to a new survey released by the American Psychological Association. In fact, during

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.

Stress is a common health issue for the body and mind, but it can be managed if not avoid.

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

Stress cannot have detrimental effects not only to our mental health, but also our overall physical wellbeing as well, as discussed in “Mastering the World of Psychology: Fifth Edition” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2014). This textbook defines stress as “the physiological and psychological response to a condition that threatens or challenges an individual and requires some form of adaptation or adjustment” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2014). And so, anything that causes individuals to change to keep mental or physical balance in life, is defined as a stressor.

II. Thesis: Dealing with stress should be taken more serious in order to prevent future health complications.

In our entire life or even a day, our brain goes through more and multiple processes than us. There are things it is capable of doing and something it can’t even handle doing. The brain is probably the second most important organ in our body, following the heart, and it is responsible for the things we do and how do those things. It controls the way we walk, talk, the language we speak, the pain we feel, and most importantly, gives us the ability to learn new information and keep the memories that we want to keep. The stressing things we do to ourselves also stress out our brain which keeps us under the influence of pressure. But if we take advantage of the powerful ability of our brain, we can learn, memorize,

Stress is a big factor in everyday life. It influences how we approach life and events. Stress is why people run tight schedules and diet regularly. The power stress has is a negative effect over our brain and our body. Many people do not understand how to cope with stress. Therefore, people suffer from physical illness due to stress. Learning is not taking place when someone undergoes stress.

When we encounter a threat that we feel we do not have the resources to deal with, a stimulus known as stressors are released and as a result, makes us stressed. These stressors activate the stress-response system which sends a cascade of biological events thus releasing the stress hormones known as adrenaline and cortisol. The hormones cause our body to go into a ‘Flight or Fight’ mode and can affect us either positively or negatively. By going into flight or fight mode our blood pressure, breathing, and heart rate increases meanwhile there is a decrease in digestive activity and the liver produces more glucose for energy. The topic of stress is a very popular area of study for those interested in human sciences. In particular, stress is often viewed through the scopes of a Psychologist, Sociologist and an Anthropologist.

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.