The Effects Of Stress On The Human Body

Stress is very well known for just what it means: STRESS. Its effect on human beings from a local and a global standpoint is far greater than any of us imagine. Stress can overtake one’s body physically, mentally, emotionally, as well as behavioral aspects. This is not something to take lightly. This is actually very serious. If you notice, it’s not just older people that die this day and time with heart attacks, suicide, and things of this nature. People of all ages. Older people, younger people, and even really young people. Children, yes, I said children. Don’t automatically think that stress only affects older people that have lived a longer

People are increasingly facing more stress since the Human-Being society became developed and complicated, by ignoring the physical influence to our body, Human’s health suffered considerably from stress. Many people was suggested to solve the stress problem by using psychological approaches, however, the research in recent decades has identified a significant awareness gap between the benefits of physical activities and stress relief. The following paper is aiming at exploring how stress affects physical health and how to relieve stress physically.

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.

In the article,” Chronic stress can wreak havoc on the body” written by Nathan Seppa, he discusses the impact stress has on the body. Stress is a feature of our daily life. One stress in particular is chronic stress. Stated in the article, it states,” Chronic stress is the kind that comes from recurring pain, post-traumatic memories, unemployment, family tension, poverty, childhood abuse, caring for a sick spouse or just living in a sketchy neighborhood.” Chronic stress is around us constantly. According to the article, it states,” Nonstop, low-grade stress contributes directly to physical deterioration, adding to the risk of heart attack, stroke, infection and asthma. Even recovery from cancer becomes harder.” People do not realize that stress

Stress can get bad enough to where it starts to affect your body system. Things like depression, heart attacks, diseases, rashes and a low immune system can all occur to people dealing with stress bad enough. The number of common signs and symptoms is outrageous and is depressing to see that there are so many people dealing with this and how it’s such a common thing in this world. On stress.org, they talk about the different body systems and how they’re affected. The nervous, musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastro and reproductive systems are all affected in some way and in many ways to say the least. If your stress ever gets so bad, I consider seeing a doctor or specialist seeing how dangerous this can get.

Chronic Stress affects the whole body, and especially the brain. In the brain, there is a balance of hormones, and the two stress related hormones are Epinephrine (Adrenaline) and Cortisol. Epinephrine is a hormone that is released quickly and dissipates quickly. However, Cortisol stays, and when you have too much of this stress hormone, it can cause diseases such as Osteoporosis and Heart disease. It also causes weight gain and mood swings. This increase in Cortisol actually causes brain cells to die, due to assisting in creating “free radicals”, which are unattached oxygen molecules, that punctures the brain cell walls, killing brain cells. Even though brain cells are created daily, Cortisol stops and slows the production of proteins (Brain-derived neurotrophic factor) that keep brain cells healthy and

Stress is a huge factor in everyday life; something that most people experience on a daily basis, and indeed, suffer from without ever really giving it much thought at all. It is defined as “the process by which we [human beings] appraise and cope with environmental threats and challenges” (Myers, 2014, p. 2.9), and the National Institute of Mental Health states that stress is “the brain’s response to any demand” (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). It has the ability to affect the human body in both positive and negative ways, and according to David Myers, it is all in how we face these challenges (2014, p. 2.9) whether we will succeed or end up feeling even more stressed out than before. It is for this reason that the concept of

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.

Stress is one of the number one causes that contribute to people’s health problems. According to Weber.edu, “in Healthy People 2000, a report from the U.S.

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 is considered to be a major health problem affecting mental and physical health. Approximately 33% of Americans are considered to be living with excessive levels of stress. The issue with stress is that it affects and inhibits lives. Stress can affect our memory, how much sleep we are getting at night or even what and how much we eat. Even though it is known that healthy levels of stress can be good, the concern is with continuous high levels of stress, not so much low or episodic.

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.

A TED Speaker, the health psychologist, Kelly McGonigal, stated that instructing patients to reduce their physical or emotional stress is the wrong method towards their journey of self-care. Consequently, individuals who perceive stress in a positive view do not undergo the same side effects than the individuals who perceive it negatively. In fact, individuals, who believe stress as a way the body prepares itself for a challenge, tend to live healthier, gain a higher self-esteem and have a better cognitive mind. This video leads to questions such as how does stress affect the human biology? More importantly, how would this kind of information relate with stress disorders?

Stress can have life changing affects to some people will others barely notice it in their day to day life. Stress can be brought on by multiple things such as a paper or test due, or even a situation you were in before. Everybody deals with stress one way or another, big or small you have to find a way to overcome the stress. There are also many different kinds of stress that range from acute stress to chronic stress. I will explain more in depth about the different types later in the paper. There are also different levels of stress that can be determined by medical professional. Depending of what is stressing you out or making you fill stressed, there are methods to lower your stress levels and maintain a good lifestyle. Stress can cause you to act unlike yourself and make you do things you would normally not do. Many decisions must be made under stress. Choosing the correct answers on an exam or doing the right thing in an emergency are prominent examples. These examples also indicate that many decision situations are stress eliciting in and of themselves. Thus, if stress alters decision-making abilities, then difficult decision situations are prone to stress-induced changes. (Kälvemark, Höglund, Hansson, Westerholm, & Arnetz, 2004). It is almost like stress never ends, go to bed and wake up and have new things and decisions to worry about every day. How you overcome your

Psychological stress is pressure placed on a person to adapt, cope, or adjust to a situation (Rathus, 2016, p.284). The result of prolonged stress can affect a person’s mood, pleasure experience, and have harmful effects on physical health (Rathus, 2016, p.284). Society in the twenty first century places high demands on people. Technology makes it very difficult to separate work life, school life, and home life. Today, society places a high value on a busy lifestyle for individuals. For example, many places of business are open twenty-four hours a day. In addition to societal pressures, attending a university adds to the stressors a person may experience. Going to school not only includes classroom time but it also includes homework,